By Stan Beall
The Star Herald
ETHEL —
The Ethel Lady Tigers have battled all year, none more than last Friday night when they defeated the East Oktibbeha Lady Titans at the Ira Jones Gymnasium 52-39.
Both teams battled to a deadlocked 8-8 tie after one quarter of play, but the Lady Tigers took control of the contest in the second quarter by outscoring the Lady Titans 15-5 to take a 23-13 lead into the intermission.
The Lady Tigers outscored East Oktibbeha in the third quarter 14-13 to increase their lead to 37-26 as the game entered its final stanza.
The Lady Titans fought hard in the fourth quarter and pulled within five points of the lead, but the Lady Tigers were able to push back the threat and again outscored the Lady Titans 15-13 to win the contest 52-39.
"We've gone from learning how to play hard earlier in the year to now expecting ourselves to play well," said Lady Tiger head coach Patrick Dillinger. "It's never been about effort, we've played hard all year. I'm really glad we got this win." The leading scorers for the Lady Tigers were Dotty Johnson with 15 points, Lindsey McNeal with 11 points, Lauren Bouchillon with eight points, Keshauri Merritt with six points and Brooklyn Whitman with four points.
The Lady Tigers played Weir Monday night in the opening round of the Region 3-1A Tournament and lost the contest 55-16, ending their season.
