Lady Tigers stay hot with home win
Published 11:23 pm Monday, January 16, 2017
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By Kevin Eckleberry
kevin.eckleberry@lagrangenews.com
LAGRANGE – They’re flying high.
The Troup Lady Tigers overwhelmed Central-Carro ll 70-24 on Saturday afternoon to improve to 3-1 in Region 5-AAAA.
Troup (10-6 overall) has won five of its past six games, and its only loss during that stretch came by one point to Chapel Hill in its region opener.
The Lady Tigers have rolled to three consecutive region wins, and they’ve won each of those games by at least 10 points.
Saturday’s game was over early, with the Lady Tigers soaring to a 17-point lead after the first quarter, and they continued to pull away.
“Our main focus was, do we want to be 3-1 in the region, or 2-2? We control our own destiny,” Troup head coach Carla Thornton said. “It’s anybody’s ballgame in the region.”
Shaqoya Gilbert, who scored 17 points in Friday’s win over Cedartown, kept it going with an 18-point performance against Central-Carroll.
Amber Gilbert, a freshman post player, added 12 points, and Jedda Madden scored 10 points.
Kwyneshia Spence scored seven points, and Akhya Mitchell and Aundracia Riggins had six points apiece.
A bright spot for Troup has been the performance of Amber Gilbert, who has provided a strong presence in the post.
Thornton said Amber Gilbert’s teammates have done a great job of helping her adapt to the high-school game.
“The main thing with her, since she’s a freshman, is consistency,” Thornton said. “She’ll have those freshman moments where she doesn’t take it as seriously, but she’s going to be fine, though. She sees that we do need her. And the girls are doing a good job of keeping her motivating. I’ve got to give them credit for that.”
In Saturday’s game, Gilbert exploded for eight points in the first quarter as the Lady Tigers surged to a 21-4 lead.
There was no let-up in the second period, with Mitchell scoring all six of her points as Troup went up 39-12 at the half.
Gilbert hit a 3-pointer in the third period to give the Lady Tigers a 30-point lead, and they were ahead 59-23 heading to the final quarter.
Thornton was able to get everybody some playing time in a fourth quarter that was shortened to six minutes.
In Friday’s 54-33 win over Cedartown, Shaqoya Gilbert made three 3-pointers and scored 17 points, Madden had 14 points, and Spence added 13 points.
Troup will be busy this week with four games, beginning with Tuesday’s region showdown at Cartersville.
Troup will be at home on Wednesday against Sandy Creek for a game that was postponed because of the winter storm two weekends ago.
Troup hosts Chapel Hill on Friday before ending the week with a road game against Sandy Creek on Saturday.
