The Commerce Tigers worked to enter the Christmas break on a high note after picking up their second region win of the season against Lakeview Academy while splitting the first two games of tournament play in Hart County.
The Tigers will have a couple of weeks to catch their breath before launching hard and heavy into their region schedule, beginning on Jan 7.
That’s when the Tigers will host Towns County in their new gym, marking the first boys’ game in the building.
Tipoff in that game is slated for 8:30 p.m.
Greenville
Commerce started off tournament play in Hart County last week in the McDonald’s Shootout by facing Greenville, SC Friday night.
The Tigers were coming off a close loss to Jefferson the week before and were looking to get back in the win column.
They did just that by besting Greenville 80-47 to open the tournament.
Tyler Gamble led the Tigers with 23 points. Channing Anderson scored 13 and Brandon Romans 12.
Lakeview
The Tigers traveled to Gainesville the next night to face Lakeview Academy in a region pairing.
It was a nip-and-tuck game, but in the end Commerce pulled out the 67-61 victory.
Romans led Commerce with 31 points. Anthony Norris scored 10.
The win moved the Tigers to 2-0 in region play.
“Lakeview played well,” said coach Chad Bridges. “They did things to slow us down offensively, and we didn’t play well defensively to slow them down. For most of the game, we were behind. We were down
by nine going into the fourth quarter. We did a good job finally in the fourth quarter of stepping up and playing the way we needed to win.”
Woodmont, S.C.
Up next, the Tigers returned to tournament play in Hart County, facing AAAA Woodmont, S.C., on Monday where they came out on the short end of a 72-55 score.
Romans led the Tiger offense with 19 points, Norris scored 15 and Bubba Bonds 14.
With the loss, Commerce moves to 6-2 overall.
For more on this story, see Wednesday's edition of The Commerce News.
