ASHFORD – The Straughn Lady Tigers continued their march toward the Final Four with a 61-33 victory over the Andalusia Lady Bulldogs Tuesday night in round one of the 4A area 2 tournament in Ashford.

The Lady Tigers jumped out front 3-0 when Brentley Armstrong knocked down a trey to start the contest. Armstrong ended the first period with 6 points to give the Lady Tigers a 14-5 lead heading into the second period. Janelle Nurse and Jacie Williamson each finished the first period with 3 points.

“I was proud of Brentley for hitting those big 3-pointers early,” Lady Tigers’ head coach Scott Kinsaul said. “It sort of eased the pressure off of us early in the game.”

Alexis and Aaliyah Lawrence had 2 points each in the opening period for the Lady Bulldogs. Shay Thomas ended the first period with 1 point.

The Lady Tigers extended their lead to 29-14 heading into halftime. Katelyn Kinsaul nailed a triple from downtown, and tacked on a free throw earlier in the period for 4 points in the the second. Paige Taylor also totaled 4 points in the period to pace the Lady Tigers.

Alex Crittenden, Kimberly Landrum, Alexis and Aaliyah each finished the second period with 2 points for the Lady Bulldogs.

The Lady Tigers continued to ride the hot hand of Taylor, who had 5 points in the third period to give the Lady Tigers a 41-21 lead heading into the final period of play. Emily Wood added a 3-pointer for the Lady Tigers, and Kinsaul tacked on 2 more points.

Thomas led the Lady Bulldogs with 5 points in the third period, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the hot shooting Lady Tigers.

The Lady Tigers took complete control early in the fourth period with a strong effort from Williamson down low. Williamson had 10 points in the final period to give the Lady Tigers a 61-33 victory over the Lady Bulldogs. Nurse added her second 3-pointer of the contest, and Kinsaul dropped in 2 more points.

Aaliyah Lawrence led the Lady Bulldogs with 5 points in the final period, and Thomas finished with 4 points.

The Lady Tigers were led by Williamson with 14 points, and Taylor finished with 11 points.

“Any tournament game is tough,” Kinsaul said. “It’s especially tough when you are playing a team for the third time. Coach Garner is a very good coach and he has them in the right direction. I’m just really proud of the win tonight, and to have the chance to play again on Friday.”

Thomas led the Lady Bulldogs with 10 points, and Aaliyah Lawrence ended the night with 9 points.

“I was very proud of the effort tonight,” Lady Bulldogs’ head coach Brad Garner said. “We played them hard, and executed things we worked on for them well. But with a team like Straughn it’s hard to overcome even small mistakes. We aren’t where we need to be yet, but we will get there.”