By KEVIN ECKLEBERRY

Daily News

It appeared to be smooth sailing for the Troup Tigers, who were ahead 50-29 heading into the fourth quarter.

The visiting Valley Rams staged a furious late-game comeback, though, only to fall short 53-49 in the second game in four days between the cross-state foes.

Troup won its fifth consecutive game to improve to 5-1, and it completed a regular-season sweep of Valley.

“It was a rivalry game, and we got out of there with a victory,” Troup head coach Blake Craft said.

Craft said the Tigers had a difficult time adjusting to a change in defense by the Rams.

“You’ve got to give Valley credit,” Craft said. “They switched defenses, and we did not adjust very well. We were playing not to lose.”

The Tigers won despite not having a single player in double digits in points.

Troup overcame that by having 11 different players score, including Brandon Smith, Gabe Cofield and JaQuavo McFarland, who had eight points apiece.

McFarland hit two early 3-pointers to help the Tigers grab a 12-2 lead, and they were ahead 18-11 after the first quarter.

Troup was ahead 32-19 at the half, and it outscored Valley 18-10 in the third quarter to go up by 21 points.

Kadarrell Hutchinson made two 3-pointers in the fourth quarter to help Valley get back into it.

Troup will host county rival Callaway on Saturday.