Darlington’s boys’ and girls’ Middle School basketball teams took home region titles on Feb. 6, with the boys defeating Rockmart 48-41 in the final round of the region tournament and the girls defeating Armuchee 34-23.
“We really hit our stride at the end of the season when the tournament began,” said coach Kevin Ivester (’87). “Our focus became much sharper in the way that we prepared for each game. We watched film of each team and really studied what they did. Then, we went to practice and laid out a game plan. We really concentrated on our offensive sets and running them well. After watching film of the teams, we knew we could exploit certain holes in their defenses, and everything really came together for us offensively when we saw that.”
In the first round of the region tournament against Cedartown, the Tigers played their best half of the season and won the game 50-37. Hackett Shiflett hit three big three-pointers to jumpstart their surge. In the semifinals, the boys played a Chattooga team that they had split with during the regular season. In the end, Darlington came out on top with a final score of 52-21. Burton Dulaney hit three three-pointers in the second quarter to kick up the Tigers’ lead. In addition, Bo Tucker added 12 points that game and was dominant rebounding the ball, while Logan Rice played his best game of the year, scoring 10 points and adding multiple rebounds.
In the finals, the Darlington boys played a very athletic Rockmart team that was 14-2 coming into the game. After putting up 50 points in the previous two games, the Tigers knew their offense was where it needed to be. They led 22-15 at the half, but allowed some points in the third quarter. At the end of the third, they trailed 33-30. However, in the fourth quarter Darlington outscored Rockmart 18-8, to win the game by a final of 48-41. Jeremiah McClure was the most dominant player on the court, scoring 24 points. Shiflett also hit a three-pointer that put the Tigers up by six points with about a minute to play.
“I am so happy that these kids were able to experience this and have that feeling of pure exhilaration when you win a championship,” Ivester said. “Everyone on the team contributed to this accomplishment, and everyone had a hand in winning the trophy. We have some really strong players coming back next year, and we are already looking forward to another great season.”
This title marks the fourth region championship the Middle School boys have won in the past 10 years. The Tigers ended their season with a final record of 13-4.
The girls’ Middle School basketball team lived up to the goals set for them at the beginning of their season, finishing with a region title and a final record of 17-0.
“There were high expectations for the Darlington girls this season coming off a loss in the finals last year,” said coach Tommy Atha. “We finished last year with a record of 15-3, and this year we were able to go undefeated with only one returning starter off last year’s team that sent six girls to the varsity program this year.”
The Lady Tigers trained hard during the summer, going undefeated at Samford University team camp and again at the team camp at Model Middle School. Then, the opening game of the season proved to be one of the closest of the year with a hard-fought win against Chattooga (31-25). The only other close game was a three-point, come-from-behind win against Model (31-28) on Jan. 11.
“These girls were determined not to let anything disrupt them on their way to perfection,” Atha said. “Even though we never suffered a loss, we continued to improve as a team over the course of the season and jumped out to quick leads in all three games in the tournament. Many young girls were able to gain valuable playing time in games the proved to be blowouts.”
According to Atha, the 18 Lady Tigers each made valuable contributions in practices and/or games. The girls were led by Maggie Beth Atha, Anna Cantrell and Sara Beth Womble. He also referred to Rachel Simon and Ashley Edge as “dominating presences” who will be looked to for leadership next year.
“Going into the last game, I was pretty nervous because Armuchee has a very good team and it is hard to beat a good team three times in the same year,” Atha said. “It was a relief to see how hard we were playing when the game started. At one point, we had a 19-point lead in the championship game, which felt pretty good! I have always believed that you will play like you practice. Therefore, we strive to practice at game speed and it seemed to work in our favor this year!”
