Lady Tigers overcome early deficit to stay unbeaten

Demopolis finished the first half on a 15-0 run and held off a late Sumter Central charge to pick up a 49-43 win Wednesday night.

The Lady Tigers (14-0, 3-0) trailed 13-9 midway through the second quarter before embarking a 15-0 run that culminated when Erica Bennett drained a triple off a DeeDee White dish to beat the first half horn and send Demopolis to the locker room with a 24-13 lead.

“We were struggling shooting the ball from the outside. We were pressing a lot. The shots were good shots, but we were really pressing,” Demopolis coach Tony Pittman said. “So, to see one or two go in really helped us going into halftime and we were able to calm down and play our brand of basketball.”

Demopolis stretched its lead to as much as 14 in the second half but saw a three-point barrage from Kia Dent and Keona May narrow the gap before Treionna Hudson turned drives into free throw opportunities to get the Lady Jaguars back in the game down the stretch.

Hudson connected on a free throw with 1:18 left to narrow the gap to 43-38 before cashing in an and-1 chance at the 43.1 mark to make it 45-41. Sumter could get no closer as DeeDee White and Darnesha Harris each hit a pair of free throws in the final 40 seconds to ice the win for Demopolis.

“It was a great test for us. It really gave us an opportunity to see what we really need to go back and work on,” Pittman said. “We gave up a couple of deep shots which, you know, hitting from way out there you just have to take your hat off to them. But, in the end, we were able to do what we needed to do to win the ball game.”

Ivery Moore led Demopolis with 15 points while White added 13. Harris had nine while Bennett scored eight. Hudson paced Sumter with 13 points while May had 12.