The Lady Tigers picked up their first win this weekend, placing fourth in the Community Bank and Trust Holiday Classic.
Commerce’s girls defeated Oglethorpe County in the opening round of the third annual tournament, hosted by Piedmont College.
Out of eight teams, Commerce finished fourth after opening with a win over Oglethorpe and falling to Stephens County and Hart County.
The Lady Tigers have two weeks off to regroup and heal, before returning to the court on Jan. 5 at Social Circle.
Commerce came out strong in the first round, going up 8-4 over Oglethorpe after one quarter and keeping their lead at the half, 18-14.
Commerce’s shooters were on target in the third quarter as the girls outscored Oglethorpe 20-3. The Lady Patriots tried to rally in the final quarter putting up 11 points and holding Commerce to six, but it was too little, too late as Commerce secured its first victory of the season, 44-28.
Logan Brown led the offense with 10 points, while Allie Morgan and Jessie Flint scored eight apiece. Brittany Beauchamp added six, followed by Drea Mathis with five. Jessika Kyle put in two from the free-throw line while Erica Greene added one.
It was a different story altogether in the second round. The Lady Tigers’ offense failed to materialize as Stephens took a 56-9 win.
Flint, a senior, said that the problem Commerce ran into was being unable to box out.
“We need to go back to practice and work harder and box out better,” said Flint.
Kyle scored five points and Beauchamp and Brown two each.
Commerce entered the final round playing Hart County for third place. Hart won 67-22 as the Lady Tigers’ offensive woes continued.
In the second half, Commerce’s shot percentage was 22.7 for field goals and 50 percent on three-pointers. During the Stephens game, the ladies were shooting at five percent.
Beauchamp led the Lady Tigers with eight points and earned a spot on the All-Tournament team. Flint added three points, followed by Brown, Allie Morgan, Madison Maddox, Vanessa Chandler and Jordan Lord scoring two apiece. Kyle added one point.
