By Ross Johnson

Sports Writer

It was a valiant comeback, but the Troup Tigers weren’t able to knock off Kendrick Tuesday night at Troup High.

In an early 23-6 hole, the Tigers fought all the way back to trail by just one point with less than 30 seconds remaining.

After a whirlwind of events near the end of the game, Troup wasn’t able to make a last-second 3-pointer and lost 56-53.

The Tigers fell to 6-8 overall and 3-2 in Region 2-AAA.

“We got behind early big time but we fought back,” said Troup coach Thermond Billingslea. “We did some good things.”

Trailing by 10 points at the start of the fourth quarter, Troup’s Jonathan Boswell made a long 3-pointer to get the Tigers within two points with just more than four minutes remaining.

Kendrick’s lead was down to one point with 30 seconds left when a missed shot by the Tigers allowed the Cherokees (13-4, 4-1) to make an easy layup, increasing their lead to three.

Troup senior Jaquante Holloway just missed a game-tying trey with less then seven seconds, and after rebounding and getting behind the arc again, Holloway’s final shot was blocked.

It was a disappointing finish to an otherwise successful final quarter for the Tigers, who outscored Kendrick 12-5 in the final eight minutes.

The big early deficit didn’t help matters, and Billingslea wasn’t happy with the way his team played in the first quarter.

“Absolutely I was worried when we fell behind like that,” Billingslea said. “Any time you fall behind like that you wonder if you can get back in it. (Kendrick is) one of the better teams in our region.”

After allowing Kendrick to surge ahead 23-6 after the opening quarter, Troup scored 27 points before halftime to take a three point deficit into halftime.

Junior Raheem Williams, sophomore Jawuan McGee and Boswell led the second quarter charge. McGee, who finished with a team-high 15 points, nailed a 3-pointer that seemingly sparked the Tigers’ offense.

After halftime, Billingslea simply told his team to keep fighting hard.

“I was pleased by halftime we’d gotten back in it,” Billingslea said. “We played decent in the third and fourth quarters and had a chance to win it at the end. That’s all you can ask for. We probably should have won the ball game.”

The Lady Tigers didn’t have much luck on Tuesday either, dropping a region game to unbeaten Kendrick.

The Lady Cherokees are 17-0 and one of the state’s elite teams, and they flexed their muscles against the Lady Tigers in a 62-26 win.

It was Troup’s sixth straight loss as the team fell to 0-5 in region play.

Shamiya Brooks paced Troup with 15 points. Kendrick’s Deshanti Lewis and Jazmin Thomas led the Lady Cherokees with 26 and 17 points, respectively.

Troup will play at arch-rival LaGrange on Friday