Troup High’s basketball teams split a pair of games on the road Tuesday night at Region 5-AAAA foe Sandy Creek, with the boys’ team winning 66-52, while the Lady Tigers took a hard loss against the Lady Patriots, 54-16.

The Tigers (7-5) evened their region record at 1-1, while the Lady Tigers (0-7) are 0-2 in the region.

The boys’ game was close most of the way, with Sandy Creek leading after the first quarter 15-14, and the Tigers on top at the half 27-25.

“It was a close game,” Troup coach Thermond Billingslea said afterward. ”It stayed close until the third quarter and some portion of the fourth.”

In the third quarter, the Tigers’ came up with some defensive stops to put some distance between them and the Patriots, going up by nine at the end of the third quarter, 45-36,

Troup extended its lead in the final period.

“We played fairly good defense,” Billingslea added.

Also, no players incurred any injuries during the game which is always a plus, the coach added.

Troup was led in scoring by senior Lakeithin Buckner, who poured in 25 points.

Demetrious Trammell had 15 points, and Daryl Dunlap had 10 points.

In the girls’ game, coach Carla Thornton’s team was troubled the entire game by Sandy Creek’s quickness as the Lady Patriots ran at will against the young Troup girls.

“They were real fast,” Thornton said of Sandy Creek. “We couldn’t match their speed. It seemed like we were chasing them down the court most of the night.”

Thornton said Tuesday’s game was somewhat of a continuance of Saturday’s loss to Heard County.

In that game, the Lady Tigers had issues scoring the easy baskets.

“We missed a lot of those shots again,” Thornton said. “Then they get the rebound and sprint down the court at 100 mph. The score can get away from you pretty quickly and that’s kind of what happened tonight.”

Troup’s Sydni Jackson had four points to lead the Tigers.

Troup’s teams will visit Carrollton Friday before hosting Columbus on Saturday.