Bass, Tigers 3-Peat As Region Champs As Tucker Defeats Lovejoy 53-48

On Saturday, the Tucker Lady Tigers would face the Lovejoy Lady Wildcats in the Georgia High School Association Class 6A Region 4 Championship. Lovejoy would get on the board first when #24 Sr. Amber Thorton would drive and score the 2-point basket just seconds into the opening quarter as the Wildcats would go up 2-0. The Tigers would eventually get on the board and tie the game at 2 after #15 Sr. Bria Bass (18 pts) would draw a shooting foul and hit both of her free throws. Lovejoy would then go on a 7-2 run to take a 9-4 lead with 4:15 to go in the opening quarter.

The Tigers would cut the Lovejoy lead down to 3 after a steal by Bass and fast break layup by #5 Sr. Morgan Collins and then go on to tie the game at 11 after Bass drained a 3-point basket with 1:20 to go in the first quarter but it would be the Wildcats holding onto a 13-12 lead as the quarter came to an end. As the second quarter began it would be the Tigers to score first courtesy a layup by #11 Jr. Taylor Smith as Tucker took the one point edge now leading 14-13. After the Tigers took a 16-14 lead, Lovejoy would score 5 unanswered points to regain the lead and go up 19-16 with 3:48 to go in the first half.

Tucker’s Smith would help the Tigers tie the game at 19 after hitting a 3-point basket but Lovejoy would answer right back to go back up 21-19 on the ensuing possession with 2:00 to go in the first half. With 1:40 to go, the Wildcats would find themselves up 23-19 but a Lovejoy ten second violation would turn the ball back over to the Tigers and lead to Tucker’s #45 Jr. Destiny Dennis drawing a shooting foul in which she made both free throws and then Tucker would get another steal and layup to tie the game at 23 with :30 to go. The Wildcats and Tigers would remained tied at 23 as the half came to an end. As play resumed, Lovejoy would score first in the second half to go up 25-23 but Tucker’s Bass would answer with a 3-point basket to go up 26-25 but then Lovejoy would answer right back with a 3-pointer of their own by #4 Fr. Anaya Boyd (14 pts) to give the Wildcats the 28-26 lead with 5:40 to go in the third quarter.

As the quarter continued, The Tigers would find themselves lead 30-28 with 3:29 to go in the third and would come up with a steal and layup by Collins to go up 32-28. As play continued, Lovejoy would cut the Tucker lead to 3 but Tucker's Smith would connect on a 3-point basket to give the Tigers a 36-30 lead and that would be the score as the third quarter came to a close. As the fourth quarter go underway, Tucker would increase their lead to 8 after #25 Jermese Davis snuck back door for a 2-point layup as the Tigers went up 38-30 and Lovejoy used a timeout with 7:19 to go.

Out of the timeout Lovejoy’s Boyd would hit a 3-point basket from the corner to cut the Tiger’s lead down to 5 but Tucker’s Bass would draw a shooting foul and hit both free throws to put the Tigers back up 40-33 with 6:20 to go. With 4:47 to go in the fourth, the Tigers would be holding on to a 7 point lead up over the Wildcats 45-38 and would add to that when Bass drew another shooting foul and hit both free throws to give Tucker a 47-38 lead with 4:00 to go in the fourth quarter. The Tigers would continue to lead the Wildcats as play continued but Lovejoy would manage to cut the lead down to 4 with :12 to go as the Tigers led 52-48 but that would be the closest the Wildcats would get as Tucker would go on to win the Region 4 Finals by a score 53-48.