By Kevin Eckleberry

Sports Editor

The season has come to a close for the Troup High Lady Tigers.

In a play-in game in the Region 2-AAA tournament, the Lady Tigers fell to the Columbus Lady Blue Devils 41-29 Monday afternoon in Columbus.

Columbus, the tournament’s No. 6 seed, advances to face LaGrange at 7 p.m. today at Shaw High.

The winner of that game moves on to the semifinals and secures an invitation to the state tournament.

The Lady Tigers headed into the region tournament on a high note after beating LaGrange Thursday, but that momentum didn’t carry over to the Columbus game.

Troup struggled offensively.

The Lady Tigers didn’t score more than nine points in a quarter, and they trailed 12-11 at the half.

The Lady Tigers were down 26-20 through three periods, and they were unable to make a run in the fourth quarter.

Shamiya Brooks scored 11 points, but no other Troup player had more than six points.

LaGrange has beaten Columbus twice, but both games were close.

In the first meeting on Jan. 15, the Lady Grangers faced a double-digit deficit in the fourth quarter, but they rallied for a 65-63 win.

Terryuana Godwin provided the spark, scoring 18 of her game-high 30 points in the fourth period.

The rematch was just as close, with LaGrange surviving for a 50-48 win on Feb. 5.

Arneshia Williams had 15 points in that win, while Godwin added 14.

If LaGrange wins today, it would be at home for Thursday’s semifinal game at 4 p.m. against Northside.

All of the semifinal games will be at LaGrange High.

On the boys’ side of the bracket, the fifth-seeded Troup Tigers will play fourth-seeded Carver at 5:30 p.m. today in an elimination game at Shaw.

The teams have played twice, with each team winning once.

On Jan. 9, Troup beat Carver 62-61.

In the rematch on Jan. 29, Carver won 78-70, giving Troup the first of four straight losses to close the regular season.

If Troup wins tonight, it would face top-seeded LaGrange at 8:30 p.m. on Thursday in the semifinals.

A victory would also guarantee a spot in the state tournament for Troup.

LaGrange, which completed a 25-0 regular season with Thursday’s win over Troup, earned a first-round bye by winning the region’s regular-season title

Kendrick, the No. 2 seed, also earned a bye.

On the girls’ side, the byes went to top-seeded Kendrick and second-seeded Northside.

The Grangers have already beaten every team in the region twice, but they’ll have to beat two of those teams again to earn the region’ top seed for the state tournament.

“That’s how it works,” LaGrange head coach Mike Pauley said. “You have to keep proving yourself.”

The Grangers held a scrimmage game Monday, and Pauley brought in some officials to add some weight to the occasion.

The rest of the week leading up to Thursday’s game, Pauley said the team will work on different situations it might face down the road.

Pauley said the goal is to be able “to react to any scenario. What if they run this zone, or that zone. We’re trying to be creative in how we think. Every game will come down to one or two possessions. If you win by more than one or two possessions, you’re lucky.”