HAMILTON – The Troup Tigers put one in the win column.

After opening the season with a loss to Newnan, Troup went on the road and beat Harris County 48-46 on Saturday.

“We took control in the first half, and kind of held on for dear life in the fourth quarter when we couldn’t make a free throw to save our lives,” Troup head coach Paul Brewer.

Finding a way to win a close game was big for a team with a whole bunch of players getting their first taste of significant varsity playing time.

“We’re relatively inexperienced, so as coaches we’re trying to figure out the best way to play these guys,” Brewer said. “We think we kind of found something. They went after last night which was good. We played a pretty good little team, and kind of hung on and survived.”

Dexter Shealey, who is making the transition from football where he was the team’s quarterback, led the way with 14 points, and fellow senior Isaac Moss added 11 points.

Tremayne Tolbert, a standout wide receiver on the football team, didn’t have a big night scoring, but Brewer said he still contributed greatly to the win.

“Tremayne Tolbert probably had three or four of the biggest rebounds that won the game for us late,” Brewer said. “And he had eight or nine blocked shots. He just played big. All those plays come back to help you in a two-point game.”

Brewer said it’s the type of game the Tigers may be involved in a lot this season.

“I don’t know if we’re going to be a team that puts 75, 80 points on the board,” he said. “We just don’t have that kind of experience yet. We’ll just have to be patient and play defense and see what happens.”

Troup’s girls’ team, meanwhile, opened its season with a 50-40 victory over Harris County.

Junior Kwyneshia Spence, part of an experienced Troup team, led the way with 14 points.

Sophomore Shaqoya Gilber added nine points, and sophomore Kiya Fulton added eight points.

Nine of the 11 players on the Troup roster scored.

Troup’s teams will make their home debuts on Tuesday against Chattahoochee County before this weekend’s rivalry games against LaGrange and Callaway.

Troup will visit LaGrange on Friday before hosting Callaway on Saturday.

Reach Kevin Eckleberry at (706) 884-7311 or on Twitter @lagrangesports