The Long County Blue Tide basketball teams finally had a game at home as they hosted the Tattnall County Warriors on Saturday, December 6. The Lady Warriors avenged a season-opening loss in a 34-25 win, while the Blue Tide boys used a strong second half to pull away from the next-county rivals 66-54.

Led by Jaliah Chatman’s eight points, the Warriors went on a 10-0 run in the first quarter. They also hit three of four 3-point shots, after missing their first four attempts in the game.

A 3 at the buzzer to end the first quarter gave Tattnall County a 15-3 cushion. An 8-0 run to close the first half gave them a 25-5 lead at the intermission.

Though the Lady Tide hit one more shot in the third quarter than they did combined in the first two quarters, they still trailed 30-13 going into the fourth.

The Warriors went up 32-13 on Jayde Gunby’s layup but did not hit another shot from the floor for the quarter. The Lady Tide went on a furious 11-0 run to get within 10 points of the Warriors, thanks to Zae Buckner’s two 3s.

Buckner led the Tide with 12 points. The Tide fall to 5-2 on the year with the loss.

The Tide boys opened the season with a 55-point win in Reidsville, but both teams were cold to open the return match.

With nearly 3 minutes left in the first quarter, Jamere Martin and Zyi Holt each knocked down 3s to give the Tide a 6-4 lead.

Martin hit another three 3 in the second quarter, but the Warriors started to work into the Tide’s lead as the Tide proceeded to miss the next six 3-point attempts.

Jayden Marshall’s eight second-quarter points brought Tattnall within 18-16, and Azavior Grant’s 3-pointer helped stake the Warriors to a 22-18 halftime lead.

Martin hit his third 3 of the game to give the Tide a 32-31 lead with 4:00 left in the quarter, sparking a 12-0 run. The Warriors went on a 7-0 run, however, as two technical foul shots and Kayden Marshall’s 3 made the score 41-38 going into the fourth.

The Tide were helped out by a Warriors technical foul and Martin’s fifth 3 of the night. The Warriors were only 1-of-7 from three-point range in the fourth.

Martin led the Tide with 25 points and pulled down seven rebounds. Jonathan Talbert also made a big contribution for the Tide off the bench as he scored 16 points i the second half.

Head coach Ricky Rivera applauded the team’s resilience and toughness.

“The fact that we’re really big on doing the little things, that makes us a little bit tougher than everybody else,” Rivera said. “We focus on defense and communication and when we don’t do that early on, it’s something we do on the normal, so it’s a little bit easier for them to say ‘all right, come on guys, let’s pick it back up’...It’s kind of what we do. We focus on the little things.”