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It came down to fine margins in Troup’s narrow 52-50 loss to Fayette County in the region tournament semifinals on Thursday. 

After leading at the end of the the first, second and third quarter, it was a bitter defeat for the Tigers, who had a chance to earn a home playoff game and a spot in the region championship game with a win. It was not to be as the Tigers could not overcome their fourth quarter woes.

The Tigers defense was suffocating in the first half, which allowed them to take a 12-9 lead after one and a 20-16 lead into the halftime break.

The defense was not as clinical for the Tigers in the second half however.

Despite the defense not being as sharp, the offense for the Tigers heated up in the third quarter, and they were able to stretch their lead to six heading into the fourth quarter.

An early surge in the fourth quarter quickly had the game tied, and it was back-and-forth from there with Fayette County making just one more crucial play down the stretch than the Tigers.

Alexia Murphy dominated for the Tigers despite drawing all the attention of the defense and finished with a team-high 16 points. Freshman Sheniyah Philpot continues to impress and finished with 11 points. Angie Dowdell has been one the best players for the Tigers this season, and they missed her down the stretch after she fouled out early in the fourth quarter. She finished with nine points in the game.

Troup will play Starr’s Mill in the third-place game on Friday. With a win, the Tigers will earn a third seed in the playoffs and a loss will see them go in as a fourth seed. Troup will be on the road in the first round of the AAAA playoffs regardless of that game’s outcome.