The Demopolis Tigers junior varsity boys’ basketball team began the evening with a 44-28 win over Sunshine to begin the ‘Demopolis Classic.’

With the win, the Tigers move to 2-1 on the season.

“We played real aggressive defense and got after them,” head coach Todd Cassity said.

“Overall, the team handled the ball a lot better than we have, we were able to get the break, and score on lay-ups a lot.”

The Tigers did a good job of boxing out defenders to get rebounds on both sides of the ball, and solid defense proved to be the difference for Demopolis.

“Overall, it was the fact that we were able to play full-court defense,” Cassity said.

“We were able to get steals and put a lot of pressure on them.”

Leading the way for the Tigers was Brandon Burrell with 10 points.

Joseph Seale chipped in with six points.

The leading scorer for Sunshine was Rico Long with 19 points.

The Tigers JV boys’ team returns to action tomorrow night when they battle Francis Marion on the road.

Tip-off is set for 5:00 p.m.

Varsity girls’ team sends Akron running

The DHS varsity girls’ basketball team again showed their strength up and down the court last night, as they battled the Akron Rams to a 70-13 victory last night in Demopolis.

Demopolis, ranked No. 2 in the AHSAA Class 4A polls, moved to 4-0 with the win.

“We came out in the first quarter and established our defense,” head coach Tony Pittman said.

“And that’s normally what gets us going in a ball game.

We came out and established our defense and got points off our press, and that usually gets us into the rhythm.

That was key in our win.”

Akron didn’t score a single point until the 2:03 mark in the second quarter when the Rams hit a free throw.

At that point in the game, the Rams were 1-6 from the line.

At halftime, the Tigers held onto a 34-1 lead.

“Defense and the overall balance of the team are our team’s greatest strengths,” Pittman said.

“We don’t rely on just one person to do the scoring.

We have people that can score in the lineup as well as coming off the bench to score.

So I think that’s a big key for us as well.”

Leading the way for the Tigers was Katissia Johnson with 14 points.

Jasmine Simmons chipped in with 11 points and Shawnese Armstead added 10 points.

The Tigers varsity girls’ squad returns to action tonight to battle Greensboro in game two of the ‘Demopolis Classic.’

Tip-off is set for 6:45 p.m.

Due to press deadline, the varsity boys’ basketball game will be covered in tomorrow’s edition of The Times.

The boys’ team will be playing again tonight at 8:00 to battle Sunshine in game two of the ‘Demopolis Classic.’