By Andrew Garner

The Andalusia Star News

 

Straughn’s Lady Tigers made sure their roar was heard Monday night.

The Lady Tigers took Katy Perry’s popular song to heart as they played like champions to beat Southside Selma 49-41 to claim the Class 3A, Area 2 championship for the second straight year.

A big part of the win was the home crowd that was packed Straughn’s gymnasium.

Lady Tigers coach Scott Kinsaul said the packed house was “unbelievable.”

“I’m just so humbled by them showing up and supporting us,” Kinsaul said. “The girls deserved it. The crowd was just unreal.”

SHS faced adversity early and throughout the contest as the Panthers didn’t slow up their pressure defense and penetrating offensive attack.

The Lady Panthers ended the first period on a 6-0 run to cut Straughn’s 8-point lead to 16-14; kept the pressure up in the second to only trail 28-19 at halftime; and didn’t go away for the entire second half, despite trailing for the final 16 minutes.

However, second-ranked SHS (25-1) played a little better with the lead and held the Lady Panthers at bay down the stretch.

Kinsaul said he told his team how elated he was on how they responded to “adversity.”

“I thought they had the heart of a champion (Monday night),” he said.

“There were several times they could’ve folded, but they kept making plays and when we needed a rebound, we got it; when we need a score, we got it; when we needed a stop, we got it.”

The Lady Panthers will play at T. R. Miller or Cottage Hill on Thursday night.