Brookwood’s Martha Grace Dixon drives the ball inside with a Tiftarea defender following close behind Tuesday night.

THOMASVILLE — Coming off a split against Valwood, Brookwood’s basketball teams were looking to gain some footing in GISA Region 3-3A on Tuesday.

Playing Tiftarea Academy, Brookwood’s girls — who won a region game last week after losing all of them last year — fell behind early and fought back to within four points, but took a 57-40 loss at Joe and Mary Beverly Athletic Center Tuesday night. The boys overcame a slow offensive start and rode a strong second half for a 47-34 win over the Panthers, their first region win of the year.

The boys were engaged in a defensive battle at the start of their contest, with both teams scoring below 10 points in the opening quarter. Scores from a Kyle Ostrom 3 and a Christopher Watt layup were the only ones the Warriors could muster in the first, as they trailed 7-5 after one. Tiftarea held on to its slim lead by the time halftime rolled around, with a 15-12 advantage at the half.

“The first half, we just couldn’t make a basket,” Brookwood boys coach Brad Piazza said. “But if you only give up 15 points in a half, you’re going to stay in it no matter what.” 

Brookwood finally took their first lead of the game in the third, when Christian Bell connected on a layup for a 22-20 score. The Warriors allowed only five points in the third quarter, and broke the game open late. After Tiftarea tied the game with a 3 in the fourth, Brookwood went on a 13-0 run to put the game away, topped off by a steal and score from Eli Miller. All of a sudden, the Warriors held a 15-point lead late, and the bench did the rest in the final minutes.

“We changed defensively a little bit,” Piazza said. “I think that was the key. We came out and really did a good job defensively. We got some steals and easy buckets to knock the lid off of it.”

Ostrom led his team with 13 points, and Bell added 11, with the latter’s points coming on 9 of 10 made free throw attempts.

The girls began scoring with a 3 pointer from Mollie Vick, but the rest of the first quarter was rough for the home team. Tiftarea responded immediately with a 11-0 run, and Brookwood could not work inside well. Trailing 11-3 with 2:20 left in the quarter, Holland Walker added the second Warriors score of the game with another 3, cutting the lead to 11-6. However, the Panthers capitalized on a steal and an intercepted pass to eventually take a 17-8 lead heading into the second.

The Panthers continued to maintain their lead, but Walker added two more 3s to narrow Tiftarea’s advantage to 23-17 midway through the period. With the Warriors inching closer, the Panthers scored a layup at the buzzer for a 27-19 lead at the half.

Jordan Burns and Martha Grace Dixon led Brookwood out of the locker room, cutting Tiftarea’s lead to 27-23 with 6:33 left in the third, the closest the Warriors came to overtaking their opponents. The Panthers quickly made their lead more comfortable, engineering a 12-0 run to put the Warriors back in a sizable deficit at 35-27. 

Walker added her fourth three of the game in the final quarter, but it was not enough to propel the Warriors past their opposition, as the Panthers scored just enough to outlast the home team. 

Walker led the Warriors with 21 points on the night, with Burns totaling seven points.