JASPER COUNTY – A key road matchup for the Alcovy Tigers resulted in two victories against the Jasper County Hurricanes.

After falling to the Ola Mustangs the previous night in a close matchup, the Lady Tigers bounced back in a 54-45 win over the Lady Hurricanes. 

On the boy’s side, the Tigers struggled to get going early. Limited production on the offensive end led the Tigers to a back-and-forth matchup with the Hurricanes. Ultimately, Alcovy escaped with the victory with a final score of 56-52, spoiling the Canes’ season opener.

Janae Hutcherson shines in Lady Tigers’ return to the victory column

The first quarter did not fare well for the Lady Tigers as Jasper County freshman Jazmin Maddox led the Lady Canes on an initial 10-2 run to set the tone early. In total, the Lady Tigers were held to eight points in the first quarter.

Going into the second quarter trailing 18-8, the Lady Tigers turned on the jets. Key moments from Janae Hutcherson, Shamariah Gibbs and Samaria Wilburn resulted in a 14-0 offensive run. This allowed the Lady Tigers to enjoy a 24-22 halftime lead.

Just when it felt like the Lady Canes would take back the momentum, another late offensive surge allowed Alcovy to take back the lead. The offensive efforts of the Lady Tigers were capped off by a buzzer beater from recently returning Addison Way, who missed some time due to injuries.

From that point, the end result was never in doubt as the Lady Tigers held onto the lead to bring home the 56-52 victory.

Hutcherson led all scorers with 21 points, cementing herself as the team’s leader moving forward. Wilburn added 11 points while Gibbs added 10. Maddox led all Lady Canes’ scorers with 16 points.

After experiencing the heartbreaking loss to Ola, head coach Justin Hunter felt that the Lady Tigers corrected their previous mistakes from the night prior.

“We felt we kinda rushed it [on the offensive end Thursday night],” Hunter said. “So tonight in a similar situation, we took our time, used the clock to our advantage and I think that ended up working out for us.”

Sitting at 3-6, the Lady Tigers have not had the season they would have hoped. Injuries to key players like Kendall Banks, who is out for the season, and Way have played a factor in the team’s lineup. 

But as the team gets healthier, Hunter is optimistic about the team’s outlook for the remainder of the year.

“If we’re healthy, I like our chances against anybody,” Hunter said. “And the execution, it’ll go up like the stock market. But if the effort is consistent, committed and competitive, because of who we have on our team, I feel we can do that.”

Alcovy spoils Jasper County’s season opener in back-and-forth matchup

Fresh off of an important win against the Ola Mustangs, the Tigers struggled to break away from the hometown Jasper County Hurricanes, who opened their season on Friday night.

Both teams were limited on offense in the first frame scoring 21 points total. But a go-ahead layup from Khamani Thurman put the Tigers up 12-9 to close out the first quarter.

Much of the same was the story for the second quarter, with the Tigers extending their lead to 25-19, despite accounting for several turnovers.

The slow start continued into the third frame as a combination of Malik Epps, JaMarkus “JT” Thomas and Tayshawn Reeves tied the game up with 3:00 to go in the quarter. But it was star guard Nick Durham, who only accounted for eight points in the prior half, who shined again for the Tigers. 

Durham ended the third frame with 13 points and led the Tigers to a 45-40 lead to close out the quarter, thanks to a buzzer-beater layup through two defenders.

But the feisty Hurricanes would not go away. A 7-0 run from Reeves, Deron “Dee” Pennamon and Epps tied the game again midway through the fourth quarter at 47 apiece.

The Tigers returned on the offensive attack with three consecutive scores from the backcourt combination of Durham and Jaqari Smith. Just when it seemed as if the game was out of reach for the Canes, Epps cashed another 3-pointer with a graceful bounce from the rim to bring it within three points.

After fouling Durham, the Canes struck again, this time with a crucial layup from Thomas to bring the game to within three once again. But it was too little, too late for the home Monticello team as time expired, giving the Tigers their seventh win of the season.

As usual, Durham led all scorers with 27, while Smith contributed 15. Thomas led the Canes with 13 points, while Epps scored 11, including three 3-pointers.

Head coach Taylor Jackson acknowledged the team’s rusty performance, but admired the team’s determination in the victory.

“Just really, really proud of finding a way to win in a hostile environment,” Jackson said. 

Sitting at 7-2 and with the most momentum in years for this thriving Tigers’ squad, Jackson said the challenge moving forward for the Tigers is knowing that every team on the schedule is going to take them seriously.

“It’s not the same, like, maybe as it’s been in the past, you know, prior seasons where it was like ‘Alcovy’s coming to town,’ like they [Jasper County] were up for it,” Jackson said. “Salem was up for it. You’re getting people’s best hits. You have to hit your best all the time. 

“There’s no room for error, because in the state tournament, it’ll be too late.”