By KEVIN ECKLEBERRY

Daily News

It hasn’t always been a flawless performance, but every time the Troup Lady Tigers   have stepped onto the basketball court this season, they’ve won.

Troup will look to continue its winning ways when it hosts Cartersville on Friday in a      Region 5-AAAA game.

With Tuesday’s 50-43 road win over Central-Carroll, Troup is 14-0 overall, and 4-0 in region play.

“They have to have the will to win,” said Carla Thornton, Troup’s head coach. “There have been quite a few games where we haven’t played well, but they wanted to win so bad, and they found a way to win. I’m grateful to them for that.”

Troup was pushed to the limit against Central-Carroll before pulling away late for the seven-point win.

Amber Gilbert, Troup’s outstanding senior forward, scored 15 of her 22 points during the fourth quarter to help her team stay perfect.

It was a big win over a Central-Carroll team that came into the game without a region loss.

Now, Troup turns its attention to a Cartersville team that has struggled to a 1-4 region record.

Troup then completes the first half of its region schedule with a game at Chapel Hill on Saturday.

While pleased with the perfect record, Thornton wants the focus to always be on improving.

“Don’t get content, and don’t believe the hype,” Thornton said. “Yeah you’re undefeated, but you can play better, you can do better. Don’t be caught up in what everybody else is saying, just keep working.”

Troup’s boys’ team, meanwhile, will try to put together a region winning streak when it hosts Cartersville.

After opening with three straight region losses, Troup broke through for a 62-55 victory over Central-Carroll on Tuesday.

Twelve Troup players appeared on the court, and seven of them scored, with Qua Johnson and Gabe Cofield leading the way with 14 and 13 points, respectively.

Next up was Cartersville, which is 1-4 in the region and in desperate need of a win.

“You’ve got to put them together,” Troup head coach Blake Craft said. “We finally got over the hump. Now we’ve got to keep it rolling.”

Also on Friday, Callaway’s teams will begin the second half of their Region 5-AA schedules when they make the short trip to Heard County.

Callaway dropped its first two region games, but it has won four of five since then to improve to 4-3 in the region.

Heard County, meanwhile, is tied for first place in the region at 6-1.

In the boys’ game, Callaway will look to improve on its 5-2 region record, while Heard County is 3-4 in the region.

On Saturday, Callaway’s teams take a break from region play with road games against Greenville.

LaGrange High’s boys’ and girls’ teams are off on Friday, and they’ll hit the road against Central-Carroll on Saturday.

LaGrange’s boys’ team, which won its first four region games, has lost back-to-back games to Sandy Creek and Chapel Hill to fall to 4-2 in the region.

The Lady Grangers are 0-6 in the region.

Saturday marks the start of the second half of the schedule for LaGrange’s teams.