Carver pulls away to beat Lady Devils

Published 9:00 am Wednesday, November 16, 2016

TIFTON, Ga. — Alycia Reese stole the fourth quarter inbounds pass Tuesday afternoon, made two free throws after she was fouled and helped the Carver Tigers of Columbus defeat the Tift County Lady Devils, 56-47.

A rare Tuesday game, it tipped at 4 p.m. Tift’s boys were not in action, with a season debut to come later in the week.

Heading into the final frame, Carver had only a three-point lead following a 4-0 run by Tift to end the third period. Reese’s two free throws boosted the margin to four points, which quickly expanded thanks to four more points by Reese and a basket by Ja’Nya Love-Hill.

Dayana Chaney made a free throw to briefly stop the Carver run, but by the time the Lady Devils scored again on another Chaney basket, the score stood at 46-34.

Clamping down on defense, Tift County was able to create several turnovers, but they only led to a few free throws and the team went nearly four minutes between makes from the field.

Carver made six of its last 10 attempts from the free throw line, enough to withstand late three-pointers by Chaney and Joslyn Reyes.

Tift and Carver were tied at 11 after the first quarter. The Lady Devils were up as much as 11-7 following a putback from Shay Pitts, but Carver used a steal and bucket by Malasia Howard with eight seconds left in the quarter to even the score.

Chaney hit a spin move for two points one minute into the second quarter for their last extension of a lead, 14-11 at the time. The Lady Tigers then sent them through a five-minute dry spell with a press causing numerous problems. Twice Tift had to call timeouts in the backcourt to avoid using up the 10-second clock.

Even with Tift unable to score, Carver was kept from doing much damage. Reyes had a block after hustling down after her own miss and later hit the Lady Devils’ last basket of the half. They trailed 22-16 at intermission.

Tift got a break in the third. Trailing by eight points, Denise Duggins hit a shot from behind the arc. A technical foul on Carver put Chaney on the line. She made both shots to close to three points. Carver led by as much as seven three times in the third, but Reyes followed an offensive rebound and Emma Choate made two free throws for a 34-31 Lady Tiger lead after three quarters.

Reyes and Chaney each scored 17 points for Tift. Carver was paced by Love-Hill (17) and Reese (15).

The Lady Devils (0-1) will next be in action Friday with boys and girls games against Berrien. The games will be in Tifton and start at 7 p.m. Berrien will be making its season debut.