Lady Tigers fall at buzzer

The Demopolis Lady Tigers (10-3, 0-2) suffered an overtime heartbreak Tuesday night as Selma’s Brenna Porter hit a buzzer-beater from the left block to push the Saints to a 40-39 win.

“We should have never been in that predicament,” Demopolis coach Tony Pittman said. “That’s very tough. You play Sumter Central here, you should have won that ballgame. Then you come back here with a chance to get back in the area and we lose that game.”

Selma inbounded the ball from in front of its own bench with only a second remaining, kicking the ball first to the corner and then into Porter for the game-winning shot.

On the previous possession, Demopolis point guard Jonniece Collins knocked down one of her two free throw attempts to give the Lady Tigers a 39-38 lead with only 8.9 seconds remaining.

Selma’s Takeesa Wilson kept her team in the game with 13.8 to play when she drained an open three from the top of the key with 13.8 left in the overtime period to tie the game at 38.

The Lady Tigers took the lead with 1:08 to go when Caleb Washington knocked down a pair of shots from the charity stripe before Alexis Jones added to the advantage with two free throws of her own.

In the overtime period, the Lady Tigers made four of their seven free throw attempts.

It was late effectiveness from the line that got the Lady Tigers into overtime as Jonniece Collins nailed a free throw with six second left in regulation to knot the game at 34. Her moment came just 8.5 seconds after Selmas’ Kendra McCovery hit a free throw to put Selma up 34-33.

In the fourth quarter and overtime, Demopolis went 13-for-17 from the free throw line while failing to connect on a single field goal over that stretch.

“Wouldn’t get into an offensive set,” Pittman said of his team’s scoring struggles, which saw it hang only 26 points over the game’s final 28 minutes of play. “It had nothing to do with their pressure. I think we just got caught up in the moment and got away from the game plan.”

Washington led Demopolis with 10 points while Collins added eight. Porter led Selma with 10 while McCovery contributed eight.

Demopolis is scheduled to travel to Greenville Friday night for another area contest.