Tigers pounce early and claim victory over Saints

Published 12:35 pm Wednesday, January 27, 2016

Malik Moore looked impressive guiding the offense in the second half. The freshman looks to get more integrated in the rotation as the area tournament looms.

Malik Moore looked impressive guiding the offense in the second half. The freshman looks to get more integrated in the rotation as the area tournament looms.

The Tigers pounced on the 6A Selma Saints early and did everything necessary to snap a four game losing streak in a 62-52 victory Tuesday night in Demopolis

“Today we did well. We did exactly what we were coached up to do,” said Head Coach Ashley Allen. “We needed to keep possession as much as we could and be more fundamentally sound.”

DHS (10-8) amassed a 22-7 lead in the fourth quarter on the strength of outside shooting and a great tempo on offense.
However, Selma did not go quietly and won the second quarter 18-10 and the third quarter 14-12.
In the fourth quarter, DHS erupted once again and won the quarter 20-13 to earn the 62-52 win.

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The early lead allowed the Tigers to run some seldom used players as well as younger members of the varsity team.
Recently, Allen moved Malik Moore to the varsity team and in the second half Moore handled most of the point guard duties for the Tigers with noticeable success.
“He has great poise. He’s young. I want to get him implemented in the offense real early do he can get acclimated,” said Allen. “He definitely knows what he’s doing as far as getting the tempo slowed down and the offense under control.”

Xavier Jowers led Demopolis with 17 points and five rebounds while Antoine Collier hit nine free throws to push his point total to 15 points. Usual leading scorer Josh Moore had nine points and five rebounds, but spent most of the night resting because of the lead.

Quentravious White led the Saints and all scorers with 20 points.

The Tigers could still finish as the second seed in the 5A Area 6 tournament, but it will come down to a coin flip as DHS, Dallas County and Wilcox all finished with the same record.
“Anything but number four,” joked Allen when talking about seeding.
Both teams that finish in the area finals will move on to the Central Sub-Regional Tournament.
Coach Allen mentioned that the next two weeks is about composure and working on fundamentals and controlling the ball. Allen said, “It’s just like football, the more you control the ball the more you can control the defense.”

Demopolis returns to action Friday night on the road against the Linden Patriots. The Tigers claimed
a 62-45 victory at home over the Patriots in their Dec. 11 meeting.