By Damian Mitchell | news@clantonadvertiser.com

After a sluggish start, the No. 1 seed Chilton County Tigers junior varsity team pulled away from the No. 4 seed Isabella Mustangs 49-24 in the Chilton County tournament semifinal matchup on Jan. 4.

The game started off very slow as neither team could find the bottom of the net, which led to few points being on the scoreboard as the halftime score was 18-13 in favor of CCHS.

“The first half we were sluggish but that’s why you play two halves,” said Chilton County coach Reginald Jackson.

The second half was indeed a different story, at least for one team. Chilton County increased their full-court defensive pressure that led to a few Isabella turnovers and rushed shots that did not help the Mustangs.

“Once we picked the tempo up and brought the pressure, the game started going in our favor,” Jackson said.

The Tigers started the fourth quarter on a 14-0 run, as the Mustangs could not find a way to beat the pressure from the Tigers.

Chilton County outscored Isabella 19-3 in the fourth quarter alone.

“I was proud of my guys tonight, we played a little sloppy but we could always do better,” Jackson said.

With the win, the Tigers will advance to the county championship game Jan. 6 where they will face the winner of Maplesville and Jemison.