COVINGTON, Ga. – Friday’s home contest between the Alcovy Tigers and the Clarke Central Gladiators saw mixed results.
Sitting at 1-2 in 2025 action, Alcovy looked to build momentum toward a potential postseason run. However, poor offensive production and turnovers cost the Lady Tigers for the better part of the game.
Despite a valiant fourth quarter comeback by the Lady Tigers, the large lead proved to be too much as the Lady Gladiators spoiled the Lady Tigers’ senior night in a 52-47 defeat.
The boy’s squad looked to also improve their postseason chances against a winless Clarke Central team. Despite trailing at the end of the first quarter, Alcovy took charge of the game and never looked back, sending the crowd home happy with a 85-66 victory.
Late comeback not enough for Lady Tigers
Not much went right at all to start Tuesday’s contest.
Alcovy was held to just three points in the first quarter, with turnovers and missed shots plaguing the Lady Tigers.
The second quarter did not fare much better, as the Lady Tigers were only able to convert two more field goals from the floor. However, the Lady Gladiators got into foul trouble, causing the likes of Addison Way and Simaria Wilburn to convert a multitude of free throws. This brought the game to 15-24 in favor of Clarke Central to end the half.
The physicality continued in the third frame, which wound up benefiting the Lady Gladiators. Clarke Central doubled Alcovy’s total score for the quarter to give the Lady Gladiators the 44-25 lead.
But the Lady Tigers did not quit.
Seniors Janae Hutcherson, Shamariah Gibbs and Abi Pollett alongside Way and Wilburn knocked down crucial shots to close the game within five points with 2:00 to go.
As the crowd rose to their feet, the Lady Tigers continued to rally thanks to more foul trouble from Clarke Central. Key free-throws from Hutcherson brought the game within four.
But it was too little, too late as Clarke Central capitalized on a costly late-game turnover to close the game out at 52-47.
Pollett and Hutcherson were the leading scorers for the Lady Tigers with 13 points each, while Alexandra Ozuna led the Lady Gladiators with 15 points
With the Lady Tigers now sitting at 8-11 and on the bubble for the postseason, head coach Justin Hunter outlined what Alcovy needs to do to pick up ground in region play.
“We need to stay away from slow starts [and] continue to play solid defense for four quarters,” Hunter said. “ You could also say that on the point production. We gotta have a better than a 3 point first quarter. We gotta do better than that.”
Seniors lead the way in dominate region win
Alcovy came into Friday’s contest expected to comfortably win over the winless Gladiators, and that they did.
Despite the 0-16 start for Clarke Central, the Gladiators kept it interesting in the first quarter. Freshman Wyatt Wells went 3-for-5 from three-point range to help the Gladiators take a 19-12 lead to start the contest.
From the second quarter on, however, it was the Tigers who roared back to control the game.
2023-24 All-Cov News MVP Nick Durham went on a scoring frenzy to begin the second frame, complete with two one-handed jams. Senior Khamani Thurman also continued his solid season, adding 14 points himself in the quarter.
A three-pointer from Lee San Felipe allowed the Tigers to enjoy a 44-33 lead to close out the half.
The seniors continued to show out in the third quarter, with Durham, San Felipe, Jaqari Smith and KJ Anderson all contributing to give the Tigers a sizable lead. The third quarter ended in a notable moment, when the Gladiators’ Colin McIntosh nailed a half-court buzzer beater to bring the game to 62-49 to close out the frame.
Despite being up by 13, Alcovy never let off of the gas. The Tigers added 23 more points to bring home the 85-66 victory.
Durham led all scorers with 34 points in what has been another MVP-esque season. He said that this win was especially important for all of the seniors.
“We all had a plan going into tonight to just have fun for senior night,” Durham said. “We all just came into it [the game] not overthinking and being all tense. Everybody just came out and had fun.”
Thurman logged a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Along with Durham, Thurman said this latter part of the season has been one to remember with his teammates and coaches.
“You only got one senior night, you gotta win it,” Thurman said. “I’ve been cherishing every moment… you gotta love your teammates like you love your family.”
Head coach Taylor Jackson said that the team had some work to do despite the win – particularly with offensive rebounding and toughness in the paint – but noted the effort of Friday’s contest was where it needed to be.
“Just really really pleased overall with the entire team effort,” Jackson said. “Guys cheering for each other, the bench energy was great. It was nice to get a senior night dub.”
