THOMASVILLE — Thomasville’s No. 3 ranked boys basketball team engaged in a close battle with Monroe, but the Bulldogs went on a late 9-2 run to pull away, securing a 70-60 win on Tuesday night.

The Bulldogs are a perfect 7-0 going into their first region game against Berrien on Friday.

“We have to continue to battle, we have to continue to fight and continue to grow up,” Thomasville coach Ben Tillman said. “We’re going to be fine. We just have to continue to do what we do.”

The Bulldogs have had a penchant for starting slow at times, only to make it up in the last two quarters. Against the Tornadoes, Thomasville got off to a relatively fast start, beginning the game with an 8-0 run capped off by a 3 from Reggie Perry. However, Monroe climbed back in with a 8-1 run to follow Thomasville’s stretch. 

The Bulldogs seemed to be pulling away near the end of the first half, taking a 20-11 lead with 5:21 left in the second, but the Tornadoes came back again to leave Thomasville with a slim 31-30 halftime lead. Shots were not falling for the Bulldogs like they wanted, especially off of offensive rebounds. With Monroe finding success with fast break points, transition defense will be something Thomasville will be working on going forward, as the team continues to gel together in the early part of the season.

“There’s just a lot of stuff we have to clean up,” Tillman said. “Once we figure out how to continue to play together, I think we’ll be fine. We’ve got a couple of days off, we don’t play until Saturday, so we’ve got a chance to fix it before Saturday.” 

Monroe continued to nip at Thomasville’s heels in the second half, but 3s from Perry and Luke Wallace in the third helped the Bulldogs take a 52-44 advantage into the fourth.

The Tornadoes provided a little bit of a scare in the final period, narrowing the Bulldog lead to 55-52 with 4:06 to play. A key basket from Titus Wright and a 3 from Quindarius Thomas kept Thomasville ahead 64-59 with two minutes left. Wright ultimately sealed the game with a timely block that led to a late Thomas layup. 

Perry finished his night with a team-leading 20 points, with 16 of them coming in the second half. Thomas added another 11 points.

Thomasville girls 58, Monroe 53

The girls game was even closer than the boys game that came after it. Through the first two quarters, the Tornadoes and Bulldogs were neck-and-neck, with both teams matching nearly every score the other would make.

Monroe led 28-27 at the intermission, and went on a 5-0 run to start the second half. The visitors led 44-38 going into the last quarter of play, but Thomasville’s Naomi Toles came through with a couple of plays to help put the Bulldogs on top — a jumper and a layup to take Thomasville to within one, trailing 44-43. Tre’Oncia Andrews made a key shot to tie the game at 45-45 with five minutes left. 

The Tornadoes took the lead again, but with three minutes left, Lindsay Tillman made a shot as she fell to the floor, and tied the game at 50-50 by completing a three-point play with a free throw.

Sha’Morria Davis finally gave the Bulldogs the lead with a made shot, and Tillman gave Thomasville some breathing room with a much-needed 3 with 1:52 left. Those two plays, along with some made free throws, ended an 8-3 run to complete the win.

Andrews finished her night with 15 points, and Tillman totaled 11. Toles had eight points, which all came in the fourth quarter.