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By KEVIN ECKLEBERRY

Daily News

More than two months ago, the Troup Lady Tigers began their journey with a victory over Harris County.

Since then, the Lady Tigers have known nothing but success, and they can close out a perfect regular season with a pair of wins this weekend.

Troup will host Central-Carroll on Friday before finishing the regular season with Saturday’s game at Cartersville.

Troup will then turn its attention to the Region 5-AAAA tournament where it will be the number one seed if it beats Central-Carroll on Friday.

Friday will be a special day since the team’s four seniors will be honored following the game.

Amber Gilbert is the only starter among the seniors, but Tashauna Askew, Shanise Turner and Myeshia Sims are valuable members of the team as well.

“They all mean a lot to me, even the ones that don’t play,” said Carla Thornton, Troup’s head coach. “We have that bond.”

It has already been a special season for the Lady Tigers, who have made it through 20 games without losing.

There have been a few close calls, including a dramatic one-point home win over Sandy Creek, but Troup has won most of its games in comfortable fashion.

With the prospect of an unbeaten regular season looming, Thornton is making sure to focus on the task at hand.

“They’ve put in the work to make it a special season, but I still take it a game at a time,” Thornton said.

One of Troup’s few competitive games was against Central-Carroll when it held on for a 50-43 road win.

Central-Carroll (19-4) has had a superb season of its own, and it is in second place in the region with an 8-2 record.

On Saturday, Troup’s opponent is Cartersville (10-13 overall), which is 3-8 in region play.

The Lady Tigers have a bye into the region-tournament semifinals, and they’ve already qualified for the state tournament.

LaGrange, meanwhile, wraps up the regular season with Friday’s game at Chapel Hill.

It’s been a tough season for the Lady Grangers (7-17 overall), who are 0-11 against region opponents.

LaGrange has been unable to overcome a series of critical injuries to some of the team’s key players.

LaGrange, which will be the number seven seed for the region tournament, will play the sixth seed in a play-in game next week.

The winner of that game will play the number three seed in the quarterfinals of the region tournament.

REGION 5-AAAA

Overall record first followed by region record

Troup                    20-0, 10-0

Central-Carroll      19-4, 8-2

Sandy Creek            13-9, 7-3

Cedartown                9-9, 5-5

Chapel Hill            10-13, 3-7

Cartersville           10-13, 3-8

LaGrange                7-17, 0-11