By KEVIN ECKLEBERRY

Daily News

The Troup Lady Tigers are state-bound.

Troup made sure of that by beating Central-Carroll 51-38 on Friday night to secure the number two seed for next week’s Region 5-AAAA tournament.

The Lady Tigers have a bye into the semifinals of the region tournament, meaning they’re guaranteed one of the region’s four spots in the state playoffs.

Troup (15-7 overall) will carry an 8-3 region record into today’s regular-season finale against Cartersville.

Amber Gilbert led the way for Troup in Friday’s game with 22 points, and she was 7-of-10 from the free-throw line.

Aniya Palmer, who has enjoyed a terrific freshman season, added 15 points.

Central-Carroll, which came into the game with an opportunity to move into a tie for second place, hung in there into the fourth quarter.

After falling behind by 12 late in the third quarter, Central-Carroll went on a 7-0 run to get within five early in the fourth quarter.

It was still a seven-point game midway through the final quarter, but Troup finished the game on an 8-2 run to win going away.

“We fought through this adversity and came out with the win,” Troup head coach Carla Thornton said. “They made a run, and we got it back together.”

In the boys’ game, Troup had it all working on the way to a 76-47 victory over Central-Carroll.

Troup’s defense continued to excel, holding an opponent to less than 50 points for a third consecutive game.

Offensively, the Tigers dropped 13 three-pointers, and they tied their season high for points in a game.

Ja’Rell Smith made five of those 3-pointers, including four in the second quarter, and he finished with a team-leading 17 points.

Gabe Cofield made four 3-pointers and scored 16 points, and JaQuavo McFarland added 11 points. Qua Johnson knocked down a pair of 3-pointers while scoring eight points.

Troup (15-8 overall) improved to 8-3 in Region 5-AAAA, and it will host Cartersville in a critical game today.

If Troup wins, it will be the number two seed for next week’s region tournament, and it will have a bye into the semifinals.

If the Tigers lose, they’ll be the number three seed, and they’ll have to win a game to make it to the semifinals.