TIFTON – Tift County split its home basketball openers Tuesday. The Lady Devils fell to Cook, 51-40, but the Blue Devils were never headed in a 60-34 victory.

Tift was hot from the start in the nightcap, soaring to a 10-0 lead in the first 90 seconds of the game. Marquavious Johnson hit a three-pointer off the opening tip. He hit two more free throws during the stretch, which also featured a basket by Jatorion Warren and was capped by Tyree Marshall’s three from the right corner.

Cook worked their way back into the contest. Ontio Miller’s basket two minutes into the second period cut it to 16-12, but the Johnson-Warren combination pushed Tift back up by nine. When McKenzie Jackson scored on an offensive rebound with 25 seconds left in the half, it was a 26-16 game.

Six straight points, the last on another Miller bucket at 6:15 closed the gap to 26-23. But that would be the nearest Cook would get. Warren and Miller traded baskets, but then came a series of plays that permanently put the Hornets out of contention.

Jameson Turner was fouled at 3:03. When a Cook player objected with the referees, he received a technical call. Turner made two free shots, then Johnson hit two penalty points. Sixteen seconds later, Marshall buried another three-ball.

Cook’s misfortunes in the third quarter weren’t over. A foul was called against Cook on their end of the floor. Another objection was raised, resulting in the team’s second technical of the period and also fouled out Miller. That resulted in one more Tift point.

In the last 3:03 of the period, the Blue Devils went on a 12-1 run, which changed the game from 28-24 to 40-25.

Midway through the fourth quarter, Johnson converted a steal for a basket. With the score now 55-28, head coach Chris Wade opted to clear his bench. Every man in uniform played and final basket of the evening went to Tye Conner, who also converted a free throw on the play.

Johnson led the Tift charge with 22 points, Warren contributed 17 and Marshall had 10. Cook’s leading scorers were Miller (12 points) and Jamal McMillian (7).

COOK 51 LADY DEVILS 40

Tift’s girls took a 13-9 lead at the end of the first quarter, but little else went right for them on a chilly November night.

Destiny Johnson hit two quick three-point shots in the opening stanza and Tift used its height to an advantage, with Jamia Level and Tamari Way each scoring, Way on an offensive rebound.

Momentum began changing in the second quarter as Cook scored seven straight points, four by Rodrica Styles. Tift came back with five points, including a drive to the basket by Shakiria Chaney. Styles wasn’t finished for the quarter, though, and she and Brannon Allen pushed the visitors to a 22-18 halftime advantage.

Level’s two baskets to start the third tied the game. Two minutes later, Annah Daniel converted an old-fashioned three-point play for a 27-23 lead. Styles hit a three-point shot at 5:27 to put Cook up 28-27. Tift never led again.

Kalliyah Wright assisted Johnson on a shot with 2:50 to go into the third, cutting the lead to 32-30. Styles scored twice to end the quarter, Allen, twice two start the fourth. By then it was a 40-30 game.

Level pushed the Lady Devils to their closest point in the fourth (44-39), scoring on an offensive rebound at 2:50. Cook kept shooting and baskets kept falling, allowing them to pull away.

Styles had 18 points and Allen had 13. Tift was led by nine from Johnson and seven from Chaney.

The varsity opener saw the return of Lady Devils’ head coach Julie Conner to the sidelines.

Tift County will next go on the road, facing Brunswick Friday night. The Lady Devils will not play at home again until January 2019. The Blue Devils will play in the local McDonald’s Invitational at the end of December.