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By KEVIN ECKLEBERRY

Daily News

The Troup Lady Tigers will be road warriors the rest of the way.

Troup, after beating Chestatee in a first-round game last week, will be on the road for the duration of the Class AAAA state basketball tournament.

Troup will travel to Augusta on Thursday for a second-round game against Cross Creek, with tip-off set for 5 p.m.

If Troup prevails, it will be on the road for the quarterfinals against either McDonough or Northwest Whitfield.

While Northside Whitfield is a number one seed, McDonough and Troup are both number two seeds, but McDonough would host the game because it is on the top side of the bracket.

The Georgia High School Association held a universal coin flip on Tuesday and it came up heads, meaning the teams on the top side of the bracket will host the quarterfinal games if two teams are the same seed.

If Troup advances to the semifinals it would play at Fort Valley State, and the championship game is in Macon.

It has already been a special season for Troup, which improved to 24-1 with the 63-37 victory over Chestatee.

Troup lost in the first-round of the state tournament the previous four seasons before enjoying last week’s break-through win.

Troup head coach Carla Thornton was grateful that everything went smoothly last week, which was a nice chance of pace from previous years.

“We were talking before the game, every year around this time something happens,” Thornton said. “We had a prayer before the game (by senior Tashauna Askew) to try to shake the devil off of us and stay motivated.”

Coming into the Chestatee game a handful of players were fighting through illnesses, but they played and performed well to help Troup earn the blowout win.

“For them to suck it up and put on for their teammates tonight, that meant everything to me,” Thornton said.

Another player, senior Amber Gilbert, played despite suffering a knee injury during the region-championship game against Sandy Creek.

Gilbert, after leaving with an injury, returned and made four 3-pointers in the fourth quarter of the Sandy Creek loss.

There was some uncertainty as to whether Gilbert would play against Chestatee, but she toughed it out and was there for her teammates.

“She wouldn’t miss this for anything,” Thornton said.

Aniya Palmer led Troup with 15 points against Chestatee, and Darnesheyuna McCollough was also in double digits with 10 points.

Samarria Weldon and Gilbert each had nine points, Jada Green scored seven points, and Monyia Murphy contributed five points.

Cross Creek (19-6), which has won eight consecutive games, beat Hardaway 44-38 in a first-round game.

Cross Creek gets a lot of it offense from Jordyn Dorsey, who averages nearly 18 points per game and had 32 points in a victory over Baldwin in the semifinals of the Region 3-AAAA tournament.

SECOND-ROUND MATCHUPS

Troup at Cross Creek

McDonough at Northwest Whitfild

White County at Carver-Columbus

Woodward Academy at St. Pius

Gilmer at Luella

Dougherty at Sandy Creek

Oconee at Spalding

Americus-Sumter at Marist