By Kevin Eckleberry

kevin.eckleberry@lagrangenews.com

DOUGLASVILLE – The Troup Tigers still have plenty they want to accomplish, but they can at least cross one item off the to-do list.

With Saturday’s 54-47 road win over Chapel Hill, the Tigers finished the regular season with a winning record, and that’s something they hadn’t done in six years.

The Tigers finished the season at 12-10 overall and 7-5 in Region 5-AAAA, and they’ll be the number four seed for the region tournament this week.

Troup will play fifth-seeded Cedartown on Wednesday, with the winner advancing to the semifinals while also securing a spot in the state tournament.

Troup, coming off a hard-fought win over Cartersville on Friday, had to turn around and play another road game on Saturday.

It was a struggle against the region’s last-place team, but Troup hung tough and found a way to leave with a win.

“We weren’t in it mentally,” Troup head coach Blake Craft said. “We were happy to pull it out at the end. We just wanted to get out of there with a win.”

Montez Crowe led Troup with 13 points, Jarrious Jefferson scored 10 points, and King Mwikuta added seven points.

While it has been a successful season for the Tigers, Craft believes the best could still be to come.

“We still have yet to play, in our opinion, a four-quarter game,” Craft said. “We’re competing in every game, we just haven’t had a complete game yet.”

Troup’s girls’ team, meanwhile, sewed up the number three seed for the region tournament with a 34-22 victory over Chapel Hill.

Amber Gilbert had a big game for Troup with 15 points, and she was 8-of-10 from the free-throw line.

A hallmark of Troup’s team this season has been a lock-down defense, and that was on display once again on Saturday.

Troup trailed 16-14 at the half, but it held Chapel Hill to six points in the second half.

Troup (12-8 overall) went 7-5 in the region, and it will face either Cartersville or Chapel Hill in the region tournament on Tuesday.