The Straughn Lady Tigers used a strong second half to knock off the Andalusia Lady Bulldogs 47-29 Friday night in Straughn for the Class 4A, Area 2 championship.

Shay Thomas got things going in the first period for the Lady Bulldogs with a strong move through the lane for a layup. Thomas was fouled on the shot and knocked down the free throw for an old fashioned 3-point play.

The Lady Bulldogs then got a jumper from Merikal McCaskill to take a 5-0 lead early in the opening period.

Brentley Armstrong then got the Lady Tigers on the board with a layup.

Thomas picked up 4 more points in the opening period to give the Lady Bulldogs a 9-5 lead at the end of one.

Sarah Kate Shiver picked up a basket to start the second period for the Lady Tigers and then Armstrong knotted the game up 9-9 with a spin move and layup.

The Lady Bulldogs grabbed the lead back with a jumper from McCaskill, but the Lady Tigers tied it right back up with a layup from Harley Adcock.

Armstrong then gave the Lady Tigers a 13-11 lead with a layup, but Andalusia responded with a 3-pointer from Taz Sheridan to go on top 14-13 with 4:51 left in the first half.

Baylee Wilson answered with her on 3-pointer to put the Lady Tigers up 16-14.

The Lady Bulldogs tied the game up 17-17 with on old fashioned 3-point play from Alex Crittenden.

Straughn picked up baskets from Shiver and Lexie Cottle to give them a 21-17 advantage at halftime.

In the third period, Armstrong got the first points for the Lady Tigers after hauling down an offensive rebound.

Andalusia answered back with a turnaround jumper from Destinee Shakespeare to cut the Lady Tigers lead to 23-20.

Wilson followed with another 3-pointer to give Straughn a 6-point lead midway through the third period.

Adcock then grabbed a steal and dropped in it on the other end for a layup. Adcock was fouled on the play and knocked down the free throw to put the Lady Tigers up 29-20 with 3:39 left in the third period. Adcock ended the third period with a 3-pointer to put the Lady Tigers up 36-22 heading into the final period.

Andalusia picked up 5 points from Thomas in the final period, but couldn’t battle back into the game.

Armstrong led the Lady Tigers with 14 points and Adcock added 13 points in the win.

“Our crowd was awesome,” Straughn head coach Scott Kinsaul said. “The students showed up and showed out, and we owe them a lot of credit to our fans and students for our success. I’m so proud to be a Straughn Tiger.”

As for the game, Kinsaul felt defense was the key for the Lady Tigers victory.

“We swapped it up from the last time we played them,” Kinsaul said about his team’s defense. “They drove the lane on us and went to the free throw line a lot on us the last time we played. We’ve been working on our zone defense the past few weeks to get ready for them, and tonight I felt like our zone defense was very good. We limited their shots and they didn’t get to the free throw line as much”

Thomas led the Lady Bulldogs with 17 points.

“It’s like I told the girls, this was the same team we beat three weeks ago, but it’s a different game in the area championship,” Andalusia head coach Brad Garner said. “They have been there before and we haven’t. They were prepared for us. I’ve got to figure out something to get us going. Maybe we learned something from this. We just couldn’t find a way to score in the second half. That makes it tough.”

Straughn will host the loser between Montgomery-Catholic and St. James for the sub-regional contest.  The sub-regional game will be played Monday at 6 p.m., in Straughn.

Andalusia will travel to play winner of Montgomery- Catholic and St. James. The Lady Bulldogs sub-regional game will be at 7 p.m., Monday in Montgomery.