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By ZACHARY SEIFTER/ Staff Writer

Chilton County High School’s girls basketball team knocked off Thompson High School on Nov. 30 by a score of 44-42. The victory gave CCHS some revenge from a game earlier this season in which the Tigers lost to the Warriors 59-54.

This game was close the whole way, as neither team led by more than eight points at any point in the game. The Tigers jumped out to an early 7-6 lead after one quarter, and led 19-18 at halftime, but things got far more interesting in the second half.

The Warriors quickly found themselves in foul trouble in the third quarter, fouling CCHS three times within the first two minutes. The Tigers took advantage, hitting five free throws to take a 24-20 lead.

However, Thompson quickly gained momentum, going on a 9-1 run that gave the Warriors a 29-25 lead late in the quarter. It appeared as though they would go into the fourth quarter with a two-possession lead, but a buzzer-beating, three-point shot by the Tigers cut the Thompson lead to three points going into the final period.

In the fourth quarter, the Warriors continued to gain momentum. They took advantage of some early CCHS fouls, hitting some free throws to take an eight-point lead. However, the Tigers buckled down and began climbing back into the game.

Marlie Giles and Iasia Anderson took over, drawing some key fouls and hitting clutch shots, including a game-tying jumper by Giles with under a minute remaining. Anderson gave the Tigers the lead two separate times with some late free throws, and the defense stopped Thompson on its final possession to clinch the big win.

“One thing I noticed, first time since I’ve been here, that we never panicked,” CCHS head coach Paul Dubose said. “When things went right, we stayed even-keeled. When things went wrong, we stayed even-keeled. We never panicked one time, we just trusted what we were doing. The girls executed, and then it was nice to show some emotion at the end when we finally went ahead.”

The Tigers improved their record to 4-6 with the victory. Now, they will look to build momentum off this big win.

“It definitely propels us to the future, especially to the bigger teams we’re going to play,” Giles said of the victory. “… We can beat those in our area tournament, especially if we just beat Thompson, a 7A (school).”

The Tigers will look to score another victory when they travel to Shelby County on Dec. 2. Tip-off for that game is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.