The Long County Blue Tide basketball teams got big region wins in their second straight night of games when they hosted the Groves Rebels for homecoming on Tuesday.
The Long County girls won 59-56 and the boys used a late run to post a 59-40 win.
The Lady Tide looked to avenge an earlier 43-42 loss to the Lady Rebels and things started off well for them. They held the Rebels scoreless for the first 4:00 of the game as they built a 6-0 lead.
Lady Tide senior Shuntaja Garcia hit a layup while getting fouled and hit the free throw to put her team up 12-3 late in the first. They led 14-6 going into the second.
With an 18-8 lead early in the quarter, the Lady Tide let the Rebels make a comeback midway through the quarter as a 6-0 run made the score 18-14 with 3:45 left in the half.
The Rebels got four points after a three-point play and a putback layup on the missed free throw. This made the score 21-18 with 2:10 left to play.
However, a 7-0 run closed out the quarter for the Tide as they led 28-18 at the half.
Early in the third quarter, the Rebels went on a 6-0 run to make the score 31-24, but the Lady Tide held a 40-31 lead going into the fourth quarter.
It was then the Rebels finally started to work back into the game. They cut the score to 50-44 with 4:03 left in the game before the Tide built a 55-47 lead late.
The Rebels completed another run, 7-0 this time, to make the score 55-54 with 1:35 left. However, the Lady Tide did not let the Rebels score until the final seconds as senior Makinzie Moody went 1-of-2 from the free throw line to make the score 57-54 with 37 seconds left.
Amiyah Edwards got a steal on an inbounds pass before scoring a layup to make the score 59-54 with just 15 seconds left in the game.
Moody finished the night with 31 points and seven steals while Garcia added 13 points and seven rebounds.
The Lady Tide moved to 3-11 and 2-5 in the Region 3-AAA with the win.
The boys took the court and the game proved to be a back-and-forth contest until the fourth quarter. The Tide led 5-2 early, but a 7-0 run gave the Rebels a 9-5 lead midway through the first.
A 9-2 run closed the first quarter with a 14-11 lead for the Tide.
Juju Clark hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to make the score 27-18 at the half. The third quarter was pretty quiet as well until the final seconds as Zyi Holt banged a halfcourt 3 at the buzzer to make the score 38-31 going into the fourth quarter.
The Tide held a 38-33 lead early in the fourth quarter before Clark was fouled on a made layup. His free throw made the score 41-33 before he was fouled after the free throw.
This gave the Tide the ball back under their own goal and another layup made the score 43-33 with 6:15 left in the game.
The Rebels were previously 0-of-8 from 3-point range in the game and finally made a 3 with 6 minutes left in the game.
With a 47-40 lead late in the game, a Ja’mere Martin 3 made the score 50-40. This sparked a 12-0 run to close out the game.
Holt finished the night with 15 points while Martin added 10. With the win, their third straight, the Blue Tide are now 10-10 and 5-3 in region play.
Both teams will have big road games this week with a game at Calvary Day on Friday and at Windsor Forest on Saturday. Both games will have region tournament implications for the boys.