The Minden High Crimson Tide lost a hard-fought battle in their opening game of the Don Stahl Memorial Tournament to Evangel, 71-67.

Despite the loss, Tide head coach Alan Shaw saw some good things from his guys.

“We did some good things and had a good effort,” Shaw said. “Unfortunately, we came up just short. We missed a lot of easy shots around the basket, I think 15 shots in the lane. We did better at the free throw line but still struggled. There were a few calls that didn’t go our way too, but those are all things you have to overcome.”

Minden erased a slim Evangel lead late in the game, but a questionable call wiped out a basket that would have given Minden the lead.

“We had a chance to take the lead but a call went against us,” Shaw said. “Those are things we have to learn to overcome. Overall, I was pleased. Hopefully we continue to improve starting with our game tomorrow night against Doyline.”

The Tide was led in scoring by Kevin Hamilton with 21 points, Anfernee Redd with 12 points and L’Jarius Sneed with 11 points.

The Tide’s next game will be tonight at 8:30 in the Lakeside junior high gym.

The Minden Lady Tiders fared a bit better in their game, taking it to the Lady Panthers of Doyline.

The Lady Tiders were aggressive, using pressure defense to stifle the opposition on their way to a 60-26 victory.
It was the Lady Tiders first win of the season and one that pleased head coach Jacob Brown.

“We got out to a quick start tonight outscoring them 18-2 in the first quarter,” Brown said. “Tonight we got a lot of open looks that weren’t falling. We fought through it and eventually starting knocking down shots. I thought defensively we were pretty good tonight, both in the full court as well as half court.”

After jumping out to an 18-2 lead after the first quarter of play, Minden continued to push the pace, outscoring Doyline 20-6 in the second quarter for a 38-8 lead at the break.

“Towards the end of the second quarter we started to rotate some people in,” Brown said. “It was good to get some of the younger girls some varsity action. I thought they played well and we kept everybody fresh. Everybody contributed to the win.”

Tiaga Pugh led the Lady Tiders with 14 points to go with 6 rebounds. Jazmine Goodman added 9 points and 7 rebounds, Marlena Hill had 8 points and Sha Whiting and Delorea McClendon both scored 6 points.

The Lady Tiders will face Lakeside tonight at 5:30.