The Greenville Lady Tigers closed an already strong area run with an exclamation point, sending the visiting Sidney Lanier Lady Poets packing with a decisive 63-37 win at home.

Greenville head girls basketball coach John Jones said that the performance was one of the best of the season thus far.

“It was one of our better games as of late,” Jones said.

“We were able to score pretty well offensively and get into the 60s. It started really slowly for both teams, but it built up and ended up being a really good night for us.”

The slow start was remedied by usual excellent perimeter shooting from Eboni Etheridge. Shakireyonna Rudolph followed up with several aggressive attacks on the basket, getting to the free throw line with an and-one attempt for a 3-point play.

Another 3-pointer from Mayou Patton sealed the deal and permanently shifted momentum in the Lady Tigers’ favor in the first half, and gave Greenville a huge dose of confidence heading into the locker room.

“Eboni was comfortable the other night,” Jones said.

“It was one of her better nights all around. She was comfortable putting shots up, and she was boxing out and getting rebounds on the defensive side. It was an all-around great night.”

More impressive is that the Lady Tigers were able to overcome adversity in the form of a slow start as well as Sidney Lanier’s twin towers in the paint, which Greenville overcame with a combination of agility with a small-ball lineup as well as battling head-to-head with them for rebounds.

“They had some good guards who could shoot, and of course their presence down low was great considering how tall their girls were,” Jones added.

“They always made it difficult to rebound, and they were able to get offensive boards and some putbacks. We really worked on boxing out and making sure we were able to clear the lane and keep the tall girls under control so we could get the ball out and push them up the floor.”

The win will prove crucial for the Lady Tigers in the coming days, as Greenville will face another tough challenge Saturday in the form of the visiting Georgiana Lady Panthers.

Following the final regular season game, the Lady Tigers will take a week off in preparation for the upcoming area tournament, set for Feb. 8 at Brewbaker Tech.

The first round will see the No. 2 seed Lady Tigers squaring off once again against the Lady Poets of Sidney Lanier.