From staff reports

The Troup Tigers made history Friday night in Mil-ledgeville.

The Tigers beat the Baldwin County Braves 2-1 to secure the first state-tournament win in school history.

The Tigers will try to get state win No. 2 Tuesday when they travel to Cairo for the second round of the Class AAA playoffs.

Also on Friday, the girls’ teams from Troup and LaGrange saw their seasons come to an end with first-round losses.

Troup coach Mark McCloud said it wasn’t the team’s best effort of the season, but it was enough.

“It wasn’t pretty,” McCloud said, “but we got the win.”

McCloud said the Tigers came out flat in the beginning of the game as the Braves put a goal on the board just minutes into the game.

The Tigers would counter in the waning minutes of the half, as senior Russell Dougherty got a header past the goal keeper to even the score 1-1 going into intermission.

The second half was an evenly matched battle between the two squads, and with time ticking down it looked as though the game was going to be decided in overtime.

The Tigers were saved from overtime, though, when Jordan Vann, who has led the team in scoring this season, got a hard fought goal, getting the Tigers the 2-1 win.

“Jordan willed us to that win,” McCloud said. “He fought hard for the ball and was not going to be denied.”

McCloud added that even though the team started out flat, as the game wore on he saw a renewed sense of urgency among the team.

“There was a definite sense of urgency in the second half,” McCloud said. “No one on the bench was sitting down. Everybody was standing up and cheering their teammates.”

LaGrange’s girls’ team lost to West Laurens 4-1 in Dublin.

It was a tough loss for the Lady Grangers who came into the game with high expectations for the tournament.

“The girls played hard,” head coach Rusty Cook said. “We had a great group of senior leaders this season that we are going to miss next year. They should all go away from this season with their heads held high.”

The lone Granger goal of the night was scored by senior Anna Simmons.

The loss put a cap on a successful season for the Lady Granger, who should be well-positioned to make some noise next season with a lot of talented players returning, including freshman Cassidy Kemp, who set a school record with 22 goals.

Troup’s girls’ team found itself up against a formidable opponent in the Richmond Hill Lady Wildcats, a team that took the region 3-AAA title with an undefeated record, and posted a 14-3 record overall.

Though the team played its hearts out according to coach John Bernard, it wasn’t enough to avoid a 10-0 loss.

“We played pretty well out there,” Bernard said. “We just came up against a pretty strong team.”