HARDWOOD ACTION HEATS UP: Straughn Tigers take 2-of-3 from Andalusia

Published 12:05 am Tuesday, November 27, 2018

The Straughn Middle School Tigers won 2-of-3 games over Andalusia Junior High School on Monday night in Straughn.

SEVENTH GRADE

ANDALUSIA 51, STRAUGHN 38

In the opening game of the night, the Bulldogs surged in the second half to pick up a 51-38 victory.

Tyler and Tevin Sigers came out strong and had the Bulldogs up 12-8 at the end of the first period.

Tevin Sigers goes up for a layup.

Straughn grabbed the lead early in the second period when Ryan Cobb converted on an and-one opportunity to put the Tigers up 13-12.

Both teams continued to battle as they Bulldogs went into halftime with a 20-17 advantage.

Andalusia’s Jordan Stallworth got the scoring started in the second half to put Andalusia up 22-17.

The Tigers cut into the lead when Grant Barnes buried a 3-pointer.

Straughn rallied with buckets from Kaden Wiggins and Cayne Grantham to tie the game, 24-24.

Andalusia got the lead back when Ty. Sigers knocked down a 3-pointer from the top of the key.

At the end of the three periods of play, the Bulldogs were on top 31-28.

In the final period, the Bulldogs came out strong and pulled away for the victory.

“Overall, we were out of school a whole week and we started out flat,” Andalusia coach Niguel Jones said. “We been getting stops all year on defense. We kind of started off slow and they broke the press a couple of times. In the fourth quarter, we kind of figured it out and got into our press and created turnovers. That allowed us to get some easy layups and get us a big lead at the end.”

GIRLS

STRAUGHN 32,

ANDALUSIA 21

In the second game of the evening, the Straughn Lady Tigers fought their way to a 32-21 victory.

Straughn’s Carlin Bates was fouled as she made a shot to start the scoring, and then converted on the free throw to put the Lady Tigers up 3-0 midway through the opening period.

Andalusia took a brief lead when Zion Williams got a steal and then scored to put the Lady Bulldogs on top 4-3.

Straughn then got a steal and layup from Ora Hall to put the up 5-4.

Melonie Harris tacked on a couple of buckets to help the Lady Tigers take a 12-6 lead into the second period.

Hall added five points in the second period and Harris had two puts to put Straughn on top 19-9 going into halftime.

Straughn continued to surge and went up 27-15 with one period left to play.

The Lady Tigers then held off the Lady Bulldogs for a 32-21 victory.

“I felt we did really great in the first half,” Straughn head coach Stacy McLaurin said. “We played really hard and in the second half we got a little lazy and sluggish, but we came on strong at the end.”

EIGHTH GRADE

STRAUGHN 28,

ANDALUSIA 23

In the final game of the evening, both teams went back-and-forth before the Tigers were able to pull away for a 28-23 victory.

Both teams struggled to get things going and the score was just 2-2 after one period of play.

Micah Turner got the Tigers on the board first.

Straughn grabbed the lead to start the second period when Caleb Cooper hit a 3-pointer to put the Tigers up 5-2.

Andalusia answered with buckets from Dylan Jackson and Dominix Ball to go up 6-5.

At halftime, the game was tied 7-7.

Straughn began to inch away in the third period with another 3-pointer from Cooper to help them go up 18-14 heading into the final period.

Andalusia cut Straughn’s lead down to one late in the game, but the Tigers hit free throws down the stretch to hold on for a 28-23 victory.