Erica Bennett drives to the hoop against a Dallas County defender.

Once again, the Demopolis Lady Tigers used a dominant brand of defense, limiting the Dallas County Lady Hornets to just five points in the second half en route to a 55-23 victory in the 5A Area 6 Tournament matchup.

The win guaranteed Demopolis (21-3) a spot in the sub-regional tournament.

“Our focus tonight was to come out and play great defense and establish the tempo and a rhythm that we are capable of playing in when we’re at our best and we did that tonight,” said Head Coach Tony Pittman.

The Lady Tigers got off to an early advantage, which allowed Coach Pittman to tinker with his lineup.

“We were able to get out to a big lead and play some young kids and we’re happy to see that going into the playoffs,” said Pittman. “You have to do that to keep the level play the way we want to play each and every night and mixing it up gave the young kids a chance to play with the veterans and have the ability to play in the continuity of the offense.”

DHS rushed to a 20-9 first quarter lead and pushed that to a 34-17 halftime lead.
In the third quarter, Dallas County only scored one point while the Lady Tigers scored 17. The visiting Lady Hornets did win the final quarter 4-2 thanks Jaliah Banks who finished with nine points to lead Dallas County.

Courtney Hill scored 15 to lead Demopolis and Erica Bennett finished right on her heels with 11 points. Darneshia Harris and Ivery Moore both scored eight to round out the leading Lady Tigers.

Demopolis returns to action Feb. 10 against Wilcox Central, who secured a 51-35 upset victory over Sumter Central early in the evening, for the 5A Area 6 Tournament Championship.
Pittman said, “We’re looking for a great game Wednesday night. Wilcox wants to advance and play at home just like we do. It’s going to be a chess match between myself and the other coach and will boil down to who can come out and stable themselves defensively.”

That game is scheduled to start at 6 p.m. at Demopolis High School.