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Every sports season has its end and the Troup boys basketball team finished its 2023-24 in heartbreaking fashion on Wednesday, falling to Cairo 78-71 in the first round of the AAAA state playoffs.

The Troup offense struggled to get going early and subsequently, the team trailed 19-11 heading to the second quarter.

The Tigers’ offense sprung to life in the second as Jalen Brown and Desmon Cunningham kickstarted the comeback. Both scored six points in the second and 12 points in the game.

By halftime, Troup had cut the deficit to just two points (34-32).

Troup’s offense came out of the break stuck in neutral but finally started to pick it up by the end of the third quarter. The Tigers trailed 55-50 heading to the fourth, but a raucous crowd brought energy to a team looking for its first playoff win since 2018 and just its second playoff win in the last decade and change.

Unfortunately, Wednesday did not bring the playoff win the Tiger faithful so desperately crave. 

Troup battled in the fourth quarter, cutting the Syrupmaker lead down to just one point with under two minutes to go. But every time it looked like Troup would deliver a big momentum-swinging play, Cairo would hush the crowd with one of its own.

Gavyn Gates did his best to try and lead Troup to victory, finishing with 17 points. Dee Moreland, DeJaylen Campbell, Brown and Cunningham all had 12 points each.

Troup finished the first season under Vacher Hammett with a record of 12-18 and the first playoff appearance since 2020. The Tigers will be dropping down from AAAA to AAA next season and will be placed in a new region.