A trio of wins last week against Riverside, Social Circle and Lakeview not only extended the Commerce Tigers’ win streak to five, but it also allowed them to clinch first place in the subregion.
Commerce clinched the subregion lead title with a thrilling last-shot win over Lakeview Saturday night in the CHS gym.
The Tigers are 8-2 in the region and 15-5 overall.
The Tigers look to wrap up their regular season on a winning note as they were scheduled to travel to Towns County Tuesday and host winless (in region) Tallulah Falls Friday night. Commerce bested Tallulah Falls 78-35 on Jan. 29.
Details of the Towns County game were not available at press time. Tipoff against Tallulah Falls is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Friday.
Riverside
The Tigers started the week by hosting Riverside Tuesday night, Feb. 1.
Commerce took control from the outset, building a 21-4 lead in the first quarter. The Tigers extended their lead to 49-18 at the half and 68-32 after three quarters, winning 76-35.
Bubba Bonds led the effort with 17 points and six steals. Brandon Romans scored 14, followed by Anthony Norris with 12 (and 10 rebounds and four assists), Chase Klugh nine, Channing Anderson seven (with four rebounds), Marquese Butler and Tyre Treadwell with four points apiece, Thomas McMillan with three and Tyler Gamble with two points and five assists.
Social Circle
On Thursday, the Tigers travelled to Social Circle to make up a game postponed from Jan. 15.
Commerce was up by two, 17-15 after one quarter, but Social Circle had a 56-51 lead at intermission. Commerce outscored the Redskins 18-10 in the third period to go up 41-38, then dominated Social Circle in the fourth to win 75-62.
Romans led in scoring with 21 points and had seven rebounds. Gamble contributed 16 points, six assists, six rebounds and four steals, while Norris scored 14 points, had eight rebounds and four steals.
Bonds scored 12 points, Anderson scored six and had eight rebounds and Klugh and McMillan scored three each.
Lakeview
On Saturday, the Tigers knew they had to beat Lakeview to capture the subregion title and the top seed in the Region 8-A tournament.
The game was nip and tuck from the start, with both teams trading the lead. Late in the fourth quarter, it looked like the Lions were going to hand the Tigers a loss as they led 49-47 as the clock wound
down. But a three-pointer from Tyler Gamble with nine seconds left in the game gave Commerce the lead, the 50-49 win, and the subregion title.
For more on this story, see Wednesday's edition of The Commerce News.
