The Demopolis Lady Tigers took the sub-regional championship Monday night to become the Area 5A champions for the second year in a row.

The Lady Tigers hosted Bibb County in the final game of the area tournament Monday night to reel in a spectacular finish and the area title.

Starting cold in the first quarter, the Lady Tigers could not put numbers on the scoreboard.

Bibb County dominated the floor, putting 10 unanswered points on the board to Demopolis’ zero.

The Lady Tigers took the heat and applied pressure late in the first and scored 11 points within two minutes of play to end the quarter ahead by a slim one point lead, 11-10.

Demopolis’ high scorer Neketa Shepherd took a bad fall early in the first and left the game with an ankle injury. New head coach Tony Pittman sent in five-foot-nine sophomore Crystal Jones to sub for Shepherd.

Shepherd returned to the court in the second quarter wearing an ankle brace for support.

Pittman said he applied a new strategy Monday night to try and shut down the Bibb County scoreres.

The diamond and two apparently worked. By halftime, the Lady Tigers had tied the score 18-18 and came out in the third quarter to pull ahead with a commanding 10-point lead and never looked back.

The fourth quarter brought a little difficulty for the Lady Tigers.

Junior guard Tammy Raby was thrown out of the game after a brief altercation with a Bibb County player. Officials ruled unsportsmanlike conduct on both players and each was discharged to the bench for the remainder of the game.

With Monday night’s win, the Lady Tigers now await the outcome of the Monroeville-Wilcox-Central game to see who they will play this Thursday on the Tiger home court, which will determine which team will play in the regional tournament in Mobile.