Tucker’s Jakobe Williams glides in for a layup during the Tigers 76-56 Region 4-5A win over the Arabia Mountain Rams on Tuesday night. (Photo by Mark Brock)
A 10-0 fourth quarter run by the Tucker Tigers helped salt away a 76-56 Region 4-5A road win Tuesday night over the Arabia Mountain Rams to earn a split on the night.
Arabia Mountain (5-5, 0-2) trailed by as much as 21 in the third quarter before rallying behind a pair of Kameron Gribble three-pointers, the second of which came with 7:58 to play to cut the lead to 12 at 57-45.
Tucker (4-4, 1-1) answered with two free throws by Josiah Lawson and a three-pointer from Jaden Ward to push the lead back to 17 at 62-45 with 6:06 to play. Steal and basket by Julian Shanks at the 5:25 mark would be the last basket for the Rams for the next 3:29 of the game.
Tucker’s Lawson kick started the 10-0 run at that point by driving for a layup and would score two more layups in the run to go with baskets by Kyhari Dunn and Jamar Graham to push the advantage out to 72-47 with 2:52 to play.
The Rams then put up five quick points on two free throws by Joseph Smith and three-point play following a steal by Julian Shanks and would get no closer than 20 in the final 1:20 of the game.
Lawson hit for 10 first quarter points including a 6-0 run of his own as the Tigers built a 21-11 lead heading into the second quarter.
Jamar Graham came off the bench to score eight points, including two dunks, and grabbed five rebounds with the Tigers expanding their lead to 42-23 at the half.
Corde Neyland’s 12-foot jumper with 3:04 left in the third quarter made it 54-33 with 3:04 left in the period. Gribble’s first three in the run for the Rams came with 1:28 left in the third quarter. Graham grabbed an offensive rebound with five seconds left in the period and put it up and in to make it 57-42.
Lawson led all scorers with 29 points and added 7 rebounds and he was joined in double figures by Tiger teammates Kyhari Dunn with 15 points and 6 rebounds and Graham with 12 points and 12 rebounds.
Arabia Mountain got a team-high 10 points from Tristen Anderson while Julian Shanks and Joseph Smith finished with 9 points and 5 rebounds apiece.
Arabia Mountain’s Liyah Croxton (11) drives against Tucker’s Mariel Austin (4) in third quarter action of the Tigers’ 75-23 win on Tuesday. (Photo by Mark Brock)
(G) Arabia Mountain 75, Tucker 23
Eight three-pointers, including four consecutive to open the game fueled the Arabia Mountain Lady Rams to 75-23 Region 4-5A home victory over the Tucker Lady Tigers in the opening game on Tuesday night.
Charmaine Owens opened the game hitting back-to-back three-pointers before Tucker got a basket from Jaymee Carter that made it 6-2 with 5:14 left in the opening period.
Shanya Heath then followed with her own back-to-back threes as the Lady Rams (10-0, 2-0) went on a 13-0 run to take command of the game. Liyah Croxton had four points in the run and Owens added three more.
An offensive put back by Tucker’s Mariel Austin and three-pointer by Ka’Nya Hairston pulled Tucker within 19-7 before Kira Bailey hit a layup with two seconds left to make it 21-7 heading into the second period.
Heath led a 15-0 run to open the second quarter for the Lady Rams, hitting for 11 points to open a 29-point lead on the way to a 45-14 halftime score.
Tucker put up only nine points in the second half as Arabia opened the second half with a 12-0 run before Hairston hit a three-pointer for the Tigers to end an almost five-minute drought.
Shanya Heath finished the night with 24 points (4 three-pointers) and Charmaine Owens finished with 16 points and 7 rebounds to lead Arabia. Ka’Nya Hairston finished with a team-high 12 points for Tucker (1-7, 0-2).