Straughn falls to Brantley
(jon menard)

Senior guard Abby Bracewell pushed the Tigers to their sixth win of the season with a last second three-pointer, finishing off a Straughn comeback win over Brantley Tuesday night.  The Lady Tigers trailed Brantley throughout the contest, taking their first lead of the game in the closing minutes of the third quarter with a basket by Katy Messick. A three by the Bulldog’s Jessica Daniels only seconds later would cause Straughn to go into the final frame facing a 22-24 deficit.  The Bulldogs opened up the fourth with another three, this time by Shery Gully, and Straughn responded with a 8-0 run, giving the Tigers their biggest lead of the night at 30-27.

That lead was short-lived however and Daniels’ second three of the half tied up the game at 33-33 with only two minutes left.  A missed free-throw by Brantley’s Eisha Person gave Straughn a chance to take back the lead, and with 51 seconds left, Bracewell set up behind the arc and delivered an arching shot straight through the hoop.  Brantley’s hurriedly in bounded the ball to Gully, who ran off a screen and hit a wide open jumper from three point range to tie the game once again with 30 ticks remaining.

Since the last three baskets had been three-pointers, it was only fitting that the game would end on one.  Andrea Sport brought the ball up court and the Tigers swung the ball to the right side into the awaiting hands of Bracewell. With five seconds left in the contest, Bracewell set up and shot the final dagger of the night, with her basket falling through the net with only three seconds remaining.

Brantley would get one more chance, but a fumbled inbounds pass ruined any Bulldog chance at another shot attempt.  Bracewell led Straughn with 22 points, with 13 of those coming in the second half.  Gully finished with 17 for Brantley.  With the win, the Lady Tigers are now 6-3 on the season.

Varsity Boys drop to Brantley

Like the girls, the Straughn boys also faced a big deficit early, the only difference being that they boys were not able to pull out a win.
The Tigers actually took an early 5-3 lead, but a 17-5 Brantley run to finish the quarter gave the Bulldogs a 20-10 advantage after one.  The Bulldogs increased the lead to 14 after three early second quarter points by Jeffrey Daniels, but the Tigers answered back with a 6-0 run of their own that included baskets by Trenton and Trevor Driver. Both teams traded baskets for the remainder of the quarter and Straughn still trailed by 10, 19-29, going into the half.  The Tigers clawed their way to within six with another jumper by Trenton Driver in the third and found themselves down by only eight going into the final frame.  However, a 12-5 run by Brantley to close the game, which included 10 points from the charity strike, dropped the Tigers to 2-6.  Trenton Driver led Straughn with 17 points, while Thad Frazier led the Bulldogs with 13. 

The boys will next face off against Andalusia today in the Bulldogs 40th annual Christmas Tournament. Tip-off for the Tigers is scheduled for 8:30 p.m.