Newton Citizen

McDONOUGH - The Alcovy girls finally settled down in their first game of the Henry County Classic, but by then it was too late.

The Lady Tigers (0-8) started the tournament by losing to Dutchtown 63-28 Friday at Henry County High School.

"We had two bad games and I guess they were anticipating having another bad game," Alcovy coach Suzanne Smith said. "We just have to get over it and realize that we can play the game."

In the first quarter, Alcovy allowed Dutchtown to build an early 18-4 advantage. By the end of the first quarter, the Lady Tigers trailed 22-5.

Although the Lady Tigers continued to struggle to hit their shots, they were shooting the ball more, which was something that Smith was looking for out of her squad.

"We're playing better than we had in the last three games. We're definitely shooting the ball more," Smith said.

After giving up 13 points, mostly from the paint, Alcovy found the missing spark. The Lady Tigers outscored Dutchtown 9-2 in the final four minutes of the second period. Despite the comeback, Alcovy trailed 37-14 at halftime.

Dutchtown's Jequila Lily controlled the territory under the basket for the Lady Dawgs, scoring 10 points in the second frame.

Dutchtown came out for the third quarter and dominated the entire court by pressing the Lady Tigers. The result was turnovers, missed shots and blocked shots for the Lady Tigers.

After three quarters, the Lady Tigers were 5 of 12 from the foul line as they were down 55-18 heading to the fourth period.

Freshman Lisa Kossally paced the Lady Tigers with 12 points, while sophomore Alex Tucker had 11.

In Thursday action against Madison County, the Lady Tigers lost 74-17 against the defending Region 8-AAAA champion in Danielsville.

Manny Fils can be reached at manny.fils@newtoncitizen.com.