Free throws seal Lady Devils win over Valdosta

Dec. 17—TIFTON — Tift County and Valdosta wrapped their season basketball series Saturday night at The Palace. Results were the same as their first set in Valdosta, but much closer.

Tift's Lady Devils won the opener, 42-35, with Valdosta pulling away in the boys game, 40-30.

With head coach Julie Conner-Johnson out of town, the reins were handed to Getoya Cobb to lead Tift County's girls. Cobb joins an elite few coaches in history with a perfect record.

It did not come easy.

Tift scorched the Lady Wildcats in Valdosta, but never broke away in the return match. The game might have even gone the other way had a three-point shot fallen.

A Valdosta steal turned into a Nadia Gardner basket with 1:23 left in the game, narrowing the Lady Devils' lead to 38-35.

Valdosta soon had the ball again, but a deep shot try was blocked by Jalaya Miller. Seconds later, Chasity Degale fouled out when she barreled into Faith Hillmon under the basket.

The game was still 38-35 and still far from over. A jump ball went to the Lady 'Cats on Tift's side of the floor. After a timeout, they forced a foul from Caitlyn Burgess, her fifth.

Valdosta had a chance at a tie with 19 seconds to go but it missed and Jimmya Cushion was fouled attempting to run down the rebound. That put Valdosta over the limit and sent Cushion to the free throw line. She buried both and the Lady Devils had breathing room at 40-35.

Soon it became more. Hillmon tipped a pass and Burgess came up with a steal as Valdosta attempted to hustle up the floor. Burgess was fouled again and she went 2-of-2 at the stripe to seal the score with eight seconds showing on the clock.

The 25:30 of game time that preceded the finish was just as tight.

Tift started hot again, going up 7-0 in the first 2:30, courtesy of Burgess, Hillmon and a three-pointer by Jalaiah Rainey.

Gardner hit from the top of the key and sank another jumper for Valdosta to pull to 8-7 in the next three minutes. A Burgess steal and score in the last minute helped make it an 11-8 Lady Devils lead at quarter's end.

The hosts threatened to break away in the 2nd, Burgess capping a 10-5 run that increased their margin to 21-13 at 2:37. However, a Meyauna Webb steal turned into points and JaMya Evans basket cut that to four points before Burgess' quick hands allowed Tift to go to the locker room up 23-17.

Tift pulled away again at the start of the 3rd on seven Cushion points in 2:30, making the score 31-19.

Valdosta began working their way in it with a 10-3 streak that included a three by Degale. Four Degale points at the start of the 4th put it officially in ballgame status with Tift's lead cut to 36-32 with 5:24 to go.

Burgess and Cushion tied for Tift top scorers at 13 apiece, Miller adding in 9 points and several blocks. Gardner and Degale each tallied 12 for the Lady Wildcats.

'CATS 40,

TIFT 30

The Blue Devils had two major obstacles in facing Valdosta: 1) Denying Israel Jenrette opportunities for easy baskets and 2) Figuring out how to score without disturbing Jenrette and other VHS interior giants.

For the most part, Tift kept the ball away from Jenrette, who did not score in double figures. However, his teammates were up to the challenge, though it took until nearly the end of the third quarter for the Wildcats to pull away.

Down a point at the break, the Devils pulled even at 5:26 in the 3rd on a jumper by Corey Howard. Eric Love hit a three and Ronald Hudson provided free throws for a five-point VHS lead.

Tift briefly kept pace with Kaden Lawson on the offensive glass, but the rest of the quarter was all Wildcats.

Grant Jackson and helped them open an eight-point lead. Jason King thundered a dunk in the last minute, but the biggest combination came within the final second.

Bryson Henry was fouled as the horn sounded, giving him two free throws. Two-tenths of a second were put on the clock, meaning that when Henry's second attempt bounced off the iron, Jenrette's tip was in time, putting Valdosta comfortably ahead at 34-21.

Fred White, the smallest man on the floor for the Blue Devils, found possibly the only opening all night in the paint in the 4th, Tift's first basket in nearly a quarter.

Love pushed the advantage back to 15 at 40-25, but soon both squads were deep into their benches. A bright spot for the Blue Devils saw their youth go 5-of-6 at the line in the last two minutes, Quay Bell getting them to 30 points.

Tift's best quarter was the 1st, locking down Valdosta defensively while building a 10-5 lead. TeShawn Bryant and J.J. Lamar buried shots from behind the arc before Valdosta head coach James Lee called time to regroup his players.

King's and-1 at 6:33 capped a 6-0 run for an 11-10 lead. The Devils jumped right out with more triples from Lamar and Lawson. But in the meantime, already shorthanded with Malachi Evans out because of his ejection Friday, Bryant picked up his fourth foul, leaving them with few options at guard.

Valdosta amped up its defense. On the other end, Jackson threw down a dunk and then King came through for a 17-16 lead at intermission.

Love was the only man for either side in double-digits for the night, at 11 points. Jenrette was held to 8. Lawson led Tift at 7, with Lamar contributing 6.

Both schools have home games Tuesday night. Tift takes on Cook and Valdosta also plays a neighbor in Brooks County.