It may not have been their best performance of the 2003-2004 season, but thanks to a Thomasville Lady Tigers poor offensive performance the Demopolis High Lady Tigers prevailed in their quarterfinal match-up Friday morning beating Thomasville 54-38.

The Lady Tigers collected a season high 31 turnovers Friday, a habit the Tigers had hoped to leave behind in Demopolis. But thankfully the Lady Tigers of Thomasville was happy to help the DHS Lady Tigers out, shooting 12-of-67 (18 percent) from the field and 13-of-26 (50 percent) from the line.

The Lady Tigers dominated the first half shooting 11-of-22 from the field and 4-of-8 from the line to take a commanding 26-13 halftime lead. In the second half the Lady Tigers must have decided to put the game on cruise control, but soon looked to be asleep at the wheel.

In the third period, Thomasville shifted to a man-to-man defense and a full-court trap that the Lady Tigers looked like they had never seen before. Though Thomasville never really made a threat to take the lead, they still caused enough problems to force the Lady Tigers to turn the ball over 17 times in the second half.

Leading the way for the Lady Tigers was Gabrielle Essex with 14 points, two blocks, six assist and seven rebounds. "Essex in my opinion is one of the top four prospects in the state of Alabama, if not one of the best players in Alabama," Carswell said.

Following Essex was both Johnson and Armstead with 11 points apiece. Thomasville out performed the Lady Tigers in every category Friday except shooting and blocked shots.

With the win the Lady Tigers advance to tomorrow’s semi-final match-up with the Andalusia Bulldogs to determine who will make the trip to Birmingham for the Final Four.