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Tigers/Rebs pack the gym

By Michael Butler

It was standing room only - again. It was the second matchup between Tallassee and Reeltown in a week with the same outcome.

On Monday in Reeltown, the Tigers and Rebels met on the high school basketball court for the first time in more than 15 years.

On Saturday at Stumberg Gym, Reeltown's girls completed the sweep of Tallassee with a 54-46 win. They won on Monday in Reeltown 50-29.

Tallassee's boys had another lopsided win. After beating the Rebels 62-22 on Monday, the Tigers won 69-22 on Saturday. A 16-0 second period shutout fueled a 31-0 run by Tallassee in the runaway.

Coach Keiven Mixson' team improved to 22-4 matching last season's win total.

"I've never seen anything like it before," Mixson said of the rivalry. "It's good for the community. It's only going to get bigger and bigger. To have a crowd like this on a Saturday afternoon is incredible.

Tae Collins and Tyrek Turner led all scorers with 12 each. Eric Shaw, the South Carolina football commit, led Reeltown with 9 points. THS was without the services of starter Truck Griffin, who was on a football visit to Alcorn State.

"I told the guys before the game that we miss Truck, but it's good to see some of our other players step up. We are more than six deep. That's our goal, to get to a nine or ten-man rotation before the area tournament."

Jamar May made the most of his minutes, scoring 11.

"When your time is called, you have to step up. He was ready to play."

May also stepped up against Brewbaker Tech on Friday.

"He came in against Brew Tech and gave us four quick points and had about three or four rebounds."

Tallassee beat the Rams before another capacity crowd in Montgomery 53-47 clinching the top seed for the upcoming area tournament.

"For three years we have built this program up. It's a milestone of going on the road and beating a good team. We know we can win at home. We can play with anybody in the state and win in our gym. Can we go on the road in a tough environment and pull out a win? I was so anxious to get over there. I wanted to see how our guys are going to play.

"We set the schedule up this year with Auburn and Homewood. We did it on purpose. I think it paid dividends. We've played in front of big crowds. We were used to it. I keep saying we can't one up it. To beat Brew Tech, that's huge. I had some people say that's probably one of the biggest wins in school history."