By KEVIN ECKLEBERRY

Daily News

It was a big step for the Troup Lady Tigers.

Facing Cedartown in a matchup of teams tied for second place in Region 5-AAAA, Troup was in control from the get-go on the way to a 61-37 victory on Wednesday.

Troup (14-7 overall) improved to 7-3 in the region, and if it beats Central-Carroll on Friday, it will be the number two seed for next week’s region tournament.

That’s important because the top two seeds won’t have to play until the semifinals of the region tournament.

Sandy Creek is 10-0 in the region, and it has already wrapped up the number one seed.

“That’s huge to get that bye in the region tournament,” Troup head coach Carla Thornton said. “This time of year, everybody’s hurting, and you’re trying to grind it out.”

In Wednesday’s game, the Lady Tigers were ahead 19-13 after the first quarter, and they held the Lady Bulldogs to four points in the second quarter to build a 35-17 lead at the half.

Cedartown got as close as 14 points in the third quarter before Troup regained control.

The Lady Tigers turned a pair of turnovers into layups by freshmen Aniya Palmer and Samarria Weldon, and they were ahead 45-27 with two minutes left in the third quarter.

Jada Green’s 3-pointer with 1:18 to play in the third quarter capped a 7-0 run, and Troup was ahead by 21 points.

Cedartown got within 16 points early in the fourth quarter, but Troup closed the game on a 13-3 run to win going away.

Palmer led Troup with 17 points, including 12 in the second half, and Weldon added 14 points.

Monyia Murphy chipped in with nine points, Green scored eight points, and Amber Gilbert had seven points.

“We got a lot of contributions from a lot of people tonight,” Thornton said. “That’s always a good sign.”

Thornton was also pleased to see some of the players who didn’t start contribute.

“The bench, I’ve been telling them I need them to step up,” Thornton said. “I can’t keep playing everybody the whole game. So I though they came in and brought great effort.”