It was a rough night all around for the Chilton County Tigers in an 89-50 loss to Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa in a class 6A boys basketball sub-regional matchup on Feb 13.

The Tigers hosted the game, but the home crowd could only do so much to help with the on-court performance.

CCHS held its own for much of the first quarter, but Hillcrest’s hot shooting eventually opened up a 31-16 lead at the end of the first quarter.

“It was probably our worst shooting night we’ve had all year,” CCHS head coach Deon Timmons said.

The remaining three quarters were an uphill battle, as the Tigers continued to lose traction in the game, and the deficit became insurmountable.

“They [Hillcrest] came out ready to play, and we were just going through the motions,” CCHS senior Mondez Jones said.

Timmons experimented with several different lineups throughout the game including using players that been called up from junior varsity.

“We were trying to find the perfect combination,” Timmons said.

However, none of the lineup shuffling proved a consistent fix, and CCHS remained searching for an answer to slow down Hillcrest’s attack up until the final buzzer sounded.

According to Timmons, the game was lost on the boards, where CCHS struggled to win the loose-ball battles all night long.

Despite the loss, Timmons was proud of what the team was able to accomplish on the year especially the growth that he saw in the play of his young guards.

Hillcrest’s man-to-man approach on defense frustrated the Tigers, and the offensive output reflected that.

According to Timmons, figuring out man-to-man teams was something that gave CCHS trouble throughout the regular season. That trend continued in the playoffs.

Seniors Patrick Rogers and Jones led the Tigers with 16 points apiece in the game. No other players on the CCHS roster scored more than three points.

“We might have had some ups and downs, but when it comes down to it we’re all still a family,” Jones said. “We stick together through the hard times.”