By BY BRUCE HIXON – SPORTS EDITOR
The holiday season is supposed to be a time of joy, but do not tell that to the T.R. Miller Lady Tigers.
T.R. Miller limped out of the Robert Burke Holiday Classic at Pensacola Catholic High School with its third loss in as many games Friday when it fell to the host Lady Crusaders 46-36. Earlier in the tournament the Lady Tigers (4-5) dropped a 56-34 decision to Woodham, Fla. and suffered a 58-19 setback against Washington, Fla.
T.R. Miller returns to the court Thursday when it opens up Class 4A Area play against Hillcrest-Evergreen.
Woodham 56, T.R. Miller 34
It took the Lady Tigers nearly 11 minutes before they made their first field goal and another nine minutes before they made another in Wednesday's 56-34 loss to the Woodham, Fla. Lady Titans in Wednesday's tournament opener.
Cold shooting from the floor was just part of T.R. Miller's problem. Perhaps even more detrimental to its cause was 27 turnovers.
Woodham (10-3) already had a 7-2 lead more than five minutes into the game when it strung together an 11-0 run that extended the lead to 18-2. The Lady Titans eventually ran that lead up to 32-8 at halftime thanks largely to the play of Tenae Kemp, who had 15 of her game-high 24 points in the first half.
Woodham's lead reached as half as 37-9 halfway through the third quarter, just seven points shy of Florida's 35-point second half mercy rule.
T.R. Miller vs. Woodham
T.R. Miller 2 6 8 18 - 34
Woodham 15 17 10 14 - 56
T.R. MILLER (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) Smith 3-1-3-12; Williams 2-0-1-5; Green 1-0-3-5; Grice 2-0-0-4; Thompson 2-0-0-4; Peterson 1-0-1-3; McCorvey 0-0-1-1 (Totals: 11-1-9-34)
WOODHAM (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) Kemp 8-1-5-24; Nixon 4-0-3-11; Rush 4-0-0-8; Lindsey 3-0-0-6; Jones 1-0-0-2; Buford 1-0-0-2; Qualls 1-0-0-2; Dorant 0-0-1-1 (Totals: 22-1-9-56)
Washington 58, T.R. Miller 19
T.R. Miller went from the frying pan against Woodham to the fire Friday when it was burned 58-19 by Washington, Fla. Washington, ranked No. 1 in the state in its Florida classification, ran its record to 15-0.
Washington ran away from the Lady Tigers from the word go, as it led 15-4 after one frame, 37-14 at halftime and 56-14 after a 19-0 surge in the third quarter.
T.R. Miller vs. Washington
Washington 15 22 19 2 - 58
T.R. Miller 4 10 0 5 - 19
WASHINGTON (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) Smith 8-0-5-21; C. Brooks 2-0-4-8; K. Brooks 3-0-1-7; Fountain 2-0-1-5; Dilworth 2-0-0-4; Jones 2-0-0-4; Joshaway 1-0-1-3; Preston 1-0-0-2; Wilson 1-0-0-2; Starta 1-0-0-2 (Totals: 23-0-12-58)
T.R. MILLER (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) Boley 2-0-0-4; Smith 1-0-2-4; Green 2-0-0-4; Peterson 0-0-3-3; Grice 1-0-0-2; Williams 1-0-0-2 (Totals: 7-0-5-19)
Pensacola Catholic 46, TRM 36
The Lady Tigers best chance to snatch a win in the tournament slipped away in the second half of their 46-36 loss to Pensacola Catholic.
T.R. Miller got three-pointers from Ashley Williams, Catherine Green and Nakiya Smith as well as a three-point play from Kesha Peterson in the opening quarter where the Lady Tigers took an 18-11 lead.
It took the Lady Tigers three more quarters to match those 18 points. Ten of those came in the second quarter thanks largely to three buckets from Smith, as T.R. Miller clung to a 28-26 lead headed into halftime.
That lead melted away in the second half where T.R. Miller scored just eight points and five of those did not come until the waning moments of the game after the outcome had been decided.
Pensacola Catholic (7-6) went on a decisive 18-3 run in the second half topull away.
TRM vs. Pensacola Catholic
T.R. Miller 18 10 2 6 - 36
Pensacola Cath. 11 15 4 16 - 46
T.R. MILLER (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) Smith 3-1-1-10; Williams 2-1-2-9; Green 1-1-1-6; Peterson 2-0-1-5; Grice 2-0-0-4; Shedrone 1-0-0-2 (Totals: 11-3-5-36)
PENSACOLA CATHOLIC (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) Ingram 5-0-1-11; Freedman 3-0-5-11; Harris 3-0-0-6; Santilepeo 3-0-0-6; Bell 3-0-0-6; King 1-0-0-2 (Totals: 20-0-6-46)