Palmer powers Lady Tigers to third straight win

Published 12:03 am Tuesday, December 15, 2020

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By KEVIN ECKLEBERRY

Daily News

It was a take-no-prisoner kind of night for Troup High’s Aniya Palmer.

Palmer, Troup’s outstanding junior play-maker, had a sensational all-around effort to help Troup beat Harris County 72-60 on Saturday night.

Troup led by as many as 21 points in the fourth quarter, and Harris County made a late run to make the final score more respectable.

Palmer, who helped Troup reach the Class AAAA state-championship game last season, led the way with 18 points against Harris County, and she also contributed with her share of assists, steals, and rebounds.

“You see her have a total complete game, I was real happy for her,” said Troup head coach Carla Thornton. “You know what she’s capable of. She’s real unselfish. She wants to see everybody succeed.”

Troup (3-2) has won three straight games since opening the season with losses to two of the state’s top teams in Langston Hughes and Collins Hill.

Troup beat Lanett 57-24 for its first win, and it followed that up with a 38-23 victory over LaGrange before easing past Harris County.

“Those games we played in those tournaments, we felt like it prepared us for a game like this,” Thornton said. “I feel it made us stronger.”

With Palmer leading the way, Troup reached a season-high in points with her big night.

Palmer did a lot of her damage in the first half, making two 3-pointers and scoring 12 of her 18 points as Troup built a 39-24 lead.

Troup was ahead 59-38 after three quarters, and it maintained a comfortable lead throughout the final quarter.

Samarria Weldon and Jada Green each scored 13 points, Angie Dowdell added 11 points, and Alexcia Murphy scored seven points.

Troup was supposed to open its Region 2-AAAA schedule on Tuesday at Hardaway, but the game has been been postponed.

Troup will instead begin its region schedule with a home game against Spencer on Friday.

“I’m looking forward to (region play),” Thornton said. “I feel like we’ve been battle-tested, but we can get better. There’s still a lot of stuff we messed