By By BRUCE HIXON Sports Editor
Ron Jackson was not aware of the accomplishment, but he understood the importance once he was notified.
Jackson and his T.R. Miller Lady Tigers wrapped up the Class 3A Area 1 regular season championship and the right to host next month's Area Tournament when it downed the visiting W.S. Neal Lady Blue Eagles 56-24 Friday.
Friday's win over W.S. Neal was the Lady Tigers' third of the season over their arch rival. Friday's victory also guaranteed the teams will meet for a fourth time in the Area Tournament opener.
For the second time this season, T.R. Miller junior center Joy McCorvey outscored the Lady Blue Eagles (4-12 overall, 0-5 in Area 1) by herself with a double-double of 29 points and 10 rebounds.
McCorvey had nine of those points during T.R. Miller's 13-0 run to start the game. After W.S. Neal's Tiffany Pettis ended that string with a hoop, McCorvey racked up three more field goals that helped T.R. Miller (19-1 overall and 5-0 in the Area) run its lead up to 20-2 by early in the second quarter.
Three field goals by Jasmine Sanford and two more hoops plus a free throw by McCorvey, who had 20 points in the first half, knocked the lead up to a first half high of 37-4 headed into the final minute of the half.
The Lady Tigers continued to add to their lead in the third frame where it reached a game high gap of 49-9 after a basket by Rebecca Scott with three minutes left in the quarter.
The Lady Tigers, who played at Pensacola Saturday, are back home Tuesday against Escambia County.
At T.R. Miller
W.S. Neal 2 4 10 8 – 24
T.R. Miller 16 21 12 7 – 56
W.S. NEAL (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) Tagudar 3-0-0-6; Smith 2-0-0-4; Pettis 2-0-0-4; Matthews 0-1-1-4; Williams 1-0-0-2; Bradley 1-0-0-2; Marshall 0-0-2-2 (Totals: 10-1-1-24)
T.R. MILLER (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) McCorvey 13-0-3-29; Sanford 4-0-1-9; Lane 4-0-0-8; Smith 2-0-2-6; Scott 1-0-0-2; Redfern 1-0-0-2 (Totals: 25-0-6-56)
Tuesday's game
T.R. Miller clinched no worse than a share of the Class 3A Area 1 regular season title Tuesday when it drilled the visiting Straughn Lady Tigers 49-21.
"With Straughn being a new team to our area this year, we didn't know a lot about them. We didn't worry too much about what they could do. We just concentrated on what we do best, which is play defense," T.R. Miller coach Ron Jackson said.
Jackson's emphasis on defense may be a bit of an understatement after his club smothered Straughn (7-7 overall, 1-2 in Area 1) throughout the game. The host Lady Tigers held Straughn to a mere two field goals and just five points for the
See LADY TIGERS Page 8
game's first 18 minutes.
During that time frame T.R. Miller strung together a 21-0 run and a 37-5 lead.
While defense was the host Lady Tigers' calling card, it was not their only ace in the deck. T.R. Miller created several second and third opportunities at the basket through 18 offensive rebounds.
Joy McCorvey, Jasmine Sanford and Keonshaye Lane combined for 45 of T.R. Miller's 49 points. McCorvey collected 13 of her game high 20 points in the first half when T.R. Miller steamrolled its way to a 15-3 first quarter advantage and a 35-5 halftime edge. Sanford and Lane also finished up in double figures with 15 and 10 respectively.
McKena Parker and Abby Bracewell both had six points to pace Straughn.
At T.R. Miller
Straughn 3 2 8 8 – 21
T.R. Miller 15 20 9 5 – 49
STRAUGHN (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) Parker 1-0-4-6; Bracewell 3-0-0-6; Daniels 2-0-1-5; Stokes 2-0-0-4 (Totals: 8-0-5-21)
T.R. MILLER (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) McCorvey 8-0-4-20; Sanford 7-0-1-15; Lane 1-2-2-10; Smith 1-0-1-3; Watson 0-0-1-1 (Totals: 17-2-9-49)