By By BRUCE HIXON Sports Editor
The message Brewton Tigers basketball coach Steve Lambert gave his troops at half-time was a simple one.
"I just told the kids they needed to pick up their level of play," Lambert said.
The Tigers did just that. Brewton used a 23-3 run that turned a second half deadlock into a decisive 43-19 road win over the Flomaton Hurricanes Monday.
It was Brewton's second win over Flomaton in a week. The Tigers posted a 30-17 win on their home court last week.
Brewton (3-1) got off to a quick start, as a pair of buckets by Jordan Knight and another by Terry Hetherington produced a 6-0 lead.
Flomaton finally got on track and scored the next seven points to take a 7-6 lead. That would be the first of five lead changes the rest of the half.
The last lead change went Brewton's way, as a steal and layup by Knight gave the Tigers a 12-11 lead with 1:31 left in the half. A free throw by Hetherington increased Brewton's half-time advantage to 13-11.
Flomaton got a bucket by Nick Lewis in the first minute of the second half to tie the game at 13-13 before the Tigers huge run began.
Hetherington started it with two fastbreak buckets followed by hoops by Alex Green and Corey Cunningham.
Brewton's lead reached double digits when a basket from the wing by Cunningham made it 26-15.
By the end of the frame two free throws by Hetherington and a basket by Knight had Brewton in control with a 30-15 lead.
Teras Fountain had a strong fourth quarter to help Brewton secure the win with four buckets. The third of Fountain's hoops gave Brewton a 20-point lead of 38-18. The Tigers led by as many as 25 points before they settled for the 24-point margin of vctory.
Hetherington led Brewton with 13 points, while Fountain added 10.
Meanwhile the Brewton Lady Tigers also improved their record to 3-1 with a 31-11 triumph over the Lady Hurricanes. The Lady Tigers beat Flomaton 36-7 back in Brewton last week.
Brewton got off to a bit of a sluggish start, at least on the offensive side.
The Lady Tigers managed just four points off field goals by Catherine Green and Mynetra Boley in the first seven minutes of the game.
That production was still good enough to get Brewton a lead, as Flomaton failed to even score during that stretch. While the Lady Hurricanes finally managed to break the ice on the offensive side a minute later when Leah Ellison scored on a baseline jumper, those were the only points Brewton allowed the entire first half.
After the sluggish start, Brewton's offense picked things up considerably the final four minutes of the first half. Latasha Boykin was a big part of that surge, as she drove in for one score, hit a jumper from the free throw line and turned a steal into a layup.
In addition to those hoops, Brewton also got buckets by Ashley Williams and Green to cap off a 10-0 run and extend the Lady Tigers' lead to 16-2 by half-time.
Brewton increased its cushion to 16 points on two occasions in the third quarter. The latter came when a bucket by Taylor Chambers made it 20-4.
The Lady Tigers' biggest bulge was the 20-point final margin when Kesha Peterson hit a three-pointer late in the game.
Green led eight Brewton players in the scoring column with eight points, while Boykin chipped in six.
Brewton's next action is Tuesday when it hosts Monroeville. Play gets underway with the girls game at 5 p.m.
Girls
Brewton 4 12 4 11 – 31
Flomaton 0 2 4 5 – 11
BREWTON- Green 8, Boykin 6, Peterson 5, Robinson 4, Boley 2, Mo. Hubbard 2, Williams 2, Chambers 2
Brewton 8 5 17 13 – 43
Flomaton 7 4 4 4 – 19
BREWTON- Hetherington 13, Fountain 10, Knight 9, Cunningham 6, Green 5