Lady Tigers secure top seed by beating Armuchee
The Darlington Lady Tigers didn’t leave any room for late-game drama this time around against Armuchee.
A month after escaping with a razorthin 34-32 win over the Lady Indians, Darlington closed out the regular season in style on Friday night at Armuchee, using a strong second quarter to pull away and earn a 57-35 victory.
It was a significant win for the Lady Tigers in several ways. Not only did it give them their 20th win of the season, it secured the top seed in Region 7-A Division I heading into next week’s region tournament. As the top seed, Darlington gets an automatic berth into the semifinals and also a bid into the state tournament.
It also completed a three-game sweep over Armuchee, with Darlington winning both regular season games and also a matchup in the Seven Hills Rotary Christmas Tournament.
“We set our goal at the beginning of the year to be the top seed in the region, and our girls have been diligent and focused on that,” said Darlington head coach Samantha Rush, who saw her team improve to 20-5 overall and 12-2 in region play. “I was really pleased with our defense tonight. That got us started, and then we shot well from the outside and worked it inside when the opportunity was there. I thought we went up strong in the lane, we finished well and our team played an all-around great game. They are really focused right now.”
The Lady Tigers set the tone in the opening minutes of Friday’s game. On Darlington’s first three possessions, Allie Cordell drilled a 3-pointer, Jyjy Johnson got a steal and hit her two free throws after she was fouled and Caroline Brewster nailed a 3-pointer.
Meanwhile, on the defensive end, Georgeanna Dempsey blocked three Armuchee shots in the lane and altered another one, establishing a theme for the night. The Lady Indians had very little success in the paint all game long, scoring mostly on jump shots and free throws.
“In the first half, Darlington shot the ball really well and we didn’t adjust to the physicality of the game,” said Armuchee head coach Michelle Arp. “We got some open looks, but we just didn’t finish well. We played better in the second half, but we just didn’t handle the physical nature of the game early on. Everyone knows that Darlington has a good inside game, but tonight they shot very well from outside too. We just need to learn from this and adjust how we play against teams like this.”
Trailing 15-7 after the first period, Armuchee (13-11, 8-6) tried to be more aggressive in the post, but Darlington seemed to answer each attack. The Lady Tigers blocked three more shots in the second quarter, and Armuchee only hit two field goals in the period, both of them outside jump shots. The Lady Tigers closed the half on an 11-1 run and took a 35-13 lead at the break.
Armuchee senior guards Maggie Duke and Bailey Tomlin got hot in the third quarter, hitting three 3-pointers on three
straight possessions to cut the lead to 16 points, but the Lady Indians could never get any closer. Darlington’s lead reached 26 points by midway through the fourth quarter.
Johnson led Darlington’s offense with 15 points, 12 of which came in the first half. Dempsey added 13 points, while Cordell finished with nine.
Armuchee was led by Duke’s 11 points, including three 3-pointers, but she was the only Lady Indian in double figures.
Both teams now turn their attention to the region tournament which will start on Wednesday at Armuchee.