The Long County Blue Tide basketball teams hosted their regular season home finales on Friday, February 6 but it was the away teams that came away with the sweeps, as the Liberty County girls won 46-36 and the Panthers boys prevailed 42-37.
The Lady Tide looked to avenge a 30-28 loss to the Panthers from January 23, but it was a slow start for the Tide that they never really could get over.
The Panthers opened on a 17-3 run as they hit their first three shots from 3-point range. The run finally ended with Zae Buckner’s three-point play for the Tide.
The Tide trailed 29-16 at the end of the first half. The Tide went on a 6-2 run to cut the Panthers’ lead down to single digits and their run was up to 8-3. The Panthers were 0-of-7 from the field to open the third quarter and missed another six 3-point attempts before finally hitting one late in the third.
This drought helped the Tide get the deficit down to four points, but Liberty County stretched the lead to 37-29 going into the fourth.
The Panthers went up by 10 points just two minutes into the final quarter and relinquished the lead.
Buckner and Amya Edwards led with 11 points each for the Tide as they fell to 12-10 and 6-6 in region play with the loss.
With the win, the Panthers officially clinched the number one seed in their subregion heading into the region tournament, while the Tide held on to the number three seed.
It was the seventh straight win for the Liberty girls, who improved to 13-7 on the season and 10-3 in Region 3-AAA. The Lady Panthers also posted a 72-5 drubbing of Islands and a 45-38 win over Windsor Forest.
The boys took the floor coming off a beatdown of the Panthers on the road two weeks earlier. It looks like they had a chance to do the same thing for their senior night as they held the Panthers in check for the first quarter.
Jonathan Talbert made a big play early on a tough layup to make the score 7-0. The Panthers were 0-of-9 from the field to open, including missing the eight shots from 3.
The Panthers hit a shot at 2:10 in the first, which ended up their only points of the quarter as the Tide led 12-2 going into the second quarter.
The Panthers finally hit a three in the second quarter with 3:25 left in the half. The Tide kept their tough defensive play up as they led 24-12 at the half, with Talbert leading with 10 points and seven rebounds.
The third quarter was vastly different for the Tide as they were held in check by the Panthers. They scored just two points in the third quarter with the Panthers cutting the deficit down to single digits.
The Panthers got three straight three-point plays as they got within one point with 1:45 left in the third before taking a 27-26 lead going into fourth.
The Panthers kept up their attack in the fourth quarter as they had a 40-37 lead with 17 seconds left in the game. The Tide could not get a shot off as the Panthers got the ball back and hit two free throws to close out the game.
This is the first region loss for the Tide on the year as they fall to 19-5 and 11-1 in region play. The Panthers are now 11-2 in region play..
The win was the sixth straight for the Panthers, who improved to 13-7, including a 64-38 rout of Windsor Forest and a 47-30 defeat of Islands.
Talbert went for 13 points and 10 rebounds while Zyi Holt added 11 points. The Tide close out the regular season against the Southeast Bulloch Yellow Jackets.