The Florala Wildcats clinched the seventh grade Covington County Junior High basketball tournament championship Thursday night in Pleasant Home with a 36-9 victory over Straughn Middle School.

Florala darted out front quickly to start the game and buckets from Zacchaeus Reese, Ja’Mon Mitchell and Dixon Drakkar had the Wildcats on top 12-1 at the end of the opening period.

Straughn’s lone point in the period came from Tucker Livings at the free-throw line.

Reese started off the second period with a mid-range jumper that put Florala up 14-1.

Livings answered with a strong drive through the lane, dropping in the basket and drawing a foul in the process. Livings drained the free throw to cut the Wildcat lead down to 14-4.

Reese, Mitchell and Mehki James followed with a 6-0 run to close out the first half for the Wildcats and give them a 20-4 lead heading into the third period.

The Wildcats picked up right where they left off to start the third period with Reese and Mitchell helping build a 27-4 lead.

Justin Gillepsie got a steal for the Wildcats and turned it into an easy two points.

Chandler Mitchell kept the Tigers alive with a deep 3-pointer, but a steal from Bryant Harper, who then dished the ball to Reese for a layup, helped the Wildcats take a 32-7 lead into the fourth period.

Harper picked up another assist to start the fourth period with a strong pass to Drakker who finished with a lay up to give Florala a 34-7 lead.

The Tigers weren’t giving up and a point each from Livings and Bryce Coleman cut the lead to 34-9.

Florala ended the night with another basket to give them a 36-9 victory.

Reese led the Wildcats in scoring with 15 points. Ja’Mon Mitchell finished with 9 points.

“I was very proud of these guys,” Florala head coach Troy Stewart said. “We finished the year undefeated (9-0). These guys came in and worked hard during the summer and we knew if we just played our defense we could be successful. Our defensive pressure was key for us tonight,”

Livings led the Tigers with 5 points.

The seventh grade all-tournament team included Florala’s Mehki James, Zacchaeus Reese and Ja’Mon Mitchell, Straughn’s Chandler Mitchell, Mason Turner and Tucker Livings and Pleasant Home’s Ross Wilson.