Lady Devils start region tournament Thursday
Published 11:00 am Wednesday, February 8, 2017
- Audrey McElhaney will be one of the leading players for Tift County when they take the floor Thursday against either Lowndes or Camden County at the region tournament.
TIFTON, Ga. — Tift County’s Lady Devils get their portion of the Region 1-AAAAAAA tournament started Thursday at 6 p.m., the first of possibly two games this week.
Tift (17-8) faces the winner of Camden County and Lowndes. If the Lady Devils win the Thursday game, they will face Colquitt County Friday for the region championship.
The game between Lowndes and Camden was Tuesday. Though Camden split with Lowndes during the regular season, Tift head coach Julie Conner was expecting the Vikettes to move on to the semifinals.
“They have a good team,” said Conner. “It’s always hard to beat someone in their home gym.”
Strangely, that has happened often in Region 1 this year.
Camden beat Lowndes on the road; Tift and Lowndes each won at the other’s home gym. Lowndes ended up going winless in the region at home, as did Camden.
Conner might even prefer the opponent to be Lowndes. Both the Vikettes and Colquitt handed Tift painful losses during the year.
“We need to settle some scores,” she said.
The Lady Devils are going into the tournament with a spark, having caught fire against Camden to win the regular season finale, 40-29.
“I’m waiting for them all to click at the same time,” said Conner.
They all had their moments Saturday.
Keisha Jackson came off the bench for five quick points before halftime. Kaysie Harrelson took advantage of a technical foul and made four free throws to start the third quarter. Audrey McElhaney assisted Harrelson 30 seconds later, turning what had been a one-point Tift lead before the run into a 29-17 contest.
Harrelson, said Conner, had “ice water in her veins.”
McElhaney, who scored her 1,000th point this season, and Dayana Chaney were the heartbeats of the team, she said. Juniors Mary Alex Anders and Joslyn Reyes both contribute in many different ways.
By finishing second in the region, Tift qualified for the state tournament, the seventh straight bid for the squad.
Conner would like to finish as either champion or runner-up, which would give them a first round game at home. Finishing third would mean a trip to Cobb County as Region 1 will be playing Region 3 in the opening round.
“I don’t want to have to drive,” laughed Conner. “We have to get through Thursday.”
