By By Adam Robinson – sports editor
Sticking with the theme of the previous two games before theirs Tuesday night at home, the T.R. Miller Tigers knew that one quarter could decide the ball game.
In the first game of the night, it was the third quarter that turned the tide for the B team in their loss.
In the girl's action, it was the second quarter that propelled them to their win.
In the boy's game, it was the third quarter that did it.
After holding a two-point advantage in the first quarter, the second and fourth quarter of play saw equal amounts of scoring, but in the third quarter, Escambia County held a 16-11 scoring advantage in the quarter to outscore the Tigers by five and take the three-point win 58-55 Tuesday night in Brewton.
With the loss, the Tigers dropped to 10-7 on the season.
In the game Tuesday night, after falling behind early 4-0 and 6-2 at the 5:20 mark, the Tigers roared back and tied the game at 6-6, 8-8 and 10-10 before taking a 12-10 lead at the 1:00 mark.
After the Blue Devils tied the game at 12-12 with 37.3 seconds left, Terry Hetherington gave the Tigers a 14-12 lead with 28.6 seconds left as the Tigers held the two-point lead at the end of the quarter.
The second quarter was about as even as possible until about the 1:40 mark when Escambia County held a 27-23 lead with 1:40 left before the halftime break.
After falling behind by four points, the Tigers responded with a 6-0 run to take a 29-27 lead at the half.
During the run, Justin Payne, Hetherington and David Payne scored for the Tigers.
The third quarter was the determining factor in the outcome of the game.
In the quarter, the Tigers jumped out to a 32-27 lead with 7:24 left in the quarter after a 3-pointer by Derrick Riley.
After taking a 34-29 lead with 6:45 left, Escambia County came back and tied the game at 34-34 with 5:24 left in the quarter before taking a 41-36 lead after a 6-0 run.
The Tigers cut the lead to 41-38 with 1:37 left before Escambia County took a 43-38 lead with 44.2 left.
A Corey Cunningham bucket with 23.3 second left cut the lead to 43-40 at the half for the Tigers.
The fourth quarter saw 30 points scored between the two teams. Of the 30 points scored, half came on free throws in the quarter.
T.R. Miller was seven-for-10 in the quarter for seven of their 15 points while Escambia County was eight-for-17 in the quarter scoring eight of their 15 points on free throws.
Combined, the two teams were 15-for-27 from the line in the fourth quarter alone.
In the fourth quarter, Escambia County built leads of 47-43 and 50-46 before the Tigers came back and tied the game at 50-50 with 3:06 left in the game.
The Tigers took the lead on their next possession at 52-51 with 1:57.
Escambia County took the lead next at 54-52 and then held a 58-55 lead after a pair of free throws by the Devils and a pair on a technical fouls called against the Tigers.
T.R. Miller had one last chance to tie the game with 3.1 seconds left, but a turnover gave the ball back to Escambia County and they ran the clock out to take the 58-55 win.
Terry Hetherington led the Tigers with 22 points.
T.R. Miller 55, Andalusia 57
Just like in their previous meeting on the year in Andalusia, Friday night's game between the T.R. Miller Tigers and the No. 6 Andalusia Bulldogs came down to the wire again Friday night in Brewton.
Chalk this one up as an instant classic as this one was tight at the end and had all the emotions on the court and in the stands.
After taking the opening quarter 18-13, the Tigers trailed by two in the second quarter only to still be up 30-27 at the half.
Andalusia opened the third quarter on a 6-0 run to take a 33-30 and held a 15-8 advantage in the quarter to hold a 42-38 lead heading into the fourth quarter of play.
In the fourth, both teams played hard and Andalusia put together an 8-0 run to take a 52-42 lead with 4:45 left in the game. The lead was short lived as the Tigers roared back on a 7-0 run to cut the lead to 52-49 with 2:25 left.
The Tigers continued to fight back and cut the lead to 54-53 with 1:15 left as leading scorer Brandon Andrews connected for two free throws.
At the 36.4 second mark, Andalusia took a 56-53 lead after two made free throws as T.R. Miller cut the lead to one after Corey Cunningham was fouled on a 3-point attempt and made two-of-three free throws to cut the lead to 56-55 with 17.5 seconds left.
After an Andalusia miss on the first shot of a one-and-one with 13.5 seconds left, the Tigers drove the court and had a good look at the basket and missed as both teams scrambled for a rebound and the Tigers had about three chances to tip in the game winning shot.
A Bulldogs rebound with .4 seconds left and a made free throw gave them a 57-55 lead as the missed the second free throw and time expired.
Andrews led with 18 points.
With the loss, the Tigers dropped to 10-8 on the season and 2-4 in area play and claim the third spot, as a coin flip will determine the area winner between Andalusia and Hillcrest.