You could feel the energy from the opening tip, as the Tallulah Falls Lady Indians cruised to a 55-34 win over visiting Mt. Pisgah on Wednesday evening, securing the program’s 3rd Sweet 16 berth.
TFS (14-4), the region champions out of 8-AA, outscored Mt. Pisgah (9-16) 24-12 in the first half on the way to the win. After the visitors came out with the hot hand, it was 6-3 with Tallulah trailing. A big 17-0 run that spanned to the second quarter put TFS up for good.
Veronaye Charlton, Kailyn Neal, and Molly Mitchell all connected on 3-pointers in the opening quarter, and a Breelyn Wood jumper just before the buzzer had the Lady Indians up 18-6. Mt. Pisgah went on a 6-0 run later in the second, but it was 24-12 going into the break in favor of the Lady Indians, who used 5 different scorers in the first half and forced many turnovers on the press. Both Charlton and Denika Lightbourne, who had a 3-point play in the first as part of the big run, had 7 points apiece in the first half.
Mt. Pisgah narrowed the gap to 33-26 in the third quarter with timely shots, but Lightbourne scored 8 of Tallulah’s 11 points in the quarter to keep TFS up 35-26 heading into the final stanza. The Lady Indians were up by as many as 23 points during the second half, and Lightbourne had 15 points in the second half alone.
Lightbourne led all scorers with 22 points, while Charlton closed with 16, Neal 6, Mitchell 5, Macy Murdock 3, Wood 2, and Barrett Whitener one. The Lady Indians made 5 3-pointers, including 2 apiece for Charlton and Neal.
The Lady Indians advance to the second round, the Sweet 16, and will play host on Friday to Heritage, who took down Eagle’s Landing Christian on Tuesday night in their first round game. It marks the first Sweet 16 run since the 2019-20 season for TFS.
