Willie Cooper scores 21 to lead Albany Middle past Tift County

ALBANY — Sometimes at the middle school level, the difference between winning and losing isn’t a set play or a hot streak — it’s which team figures out the chess match first.

Albany Middle School did exactly that Thursday afternoon.

Behind a big second-half surge from Willie Cooper and a timely late push from Lamisky Clinton, the Albany Middle boys shook off Tift Middle School’s pressure defense and pulled away for a 40-34 non-conference victory.

It didn’t start smoothly. Cooper opened the game with a 3-pointer to give Albany a quick spark, but Tift County answered by turning up the heat with full-court pressure. The Blue Devils’ press took the Indians out of their rhythm and limited Albany’s shot attempts, helping Tift take a 6-5 lead by the end of the first quarter.

Tift County, which rolled out a lineup that looked more like a varsity team than a middle school group — with several players standing 6-foot-3 or taller — continued to make life difficult early. But Albany began to solve the puzzle in the second quarter.

After beating the press a couple of times, the Indians forced Tift to back off. Then Albany made its own adjustment, switching from full-court defense to a half-court trapping scheme. The change slowed Tift’s offense and allowed Albany to claw its way back in front, taking a slim 13-12 lead into halftime.

The game turned decisively in the third quarter.

Josiah West knocked down a 3-pointer to ignite the Indians, and Cooper took over from there. The eighth-grader poured in 10 points in the period as Albany outscored Tift 14-6, finally creating some breathing room against the taller Blue Devils.

Tift County made one last push in the fourth quarter, trying to use its size and pressure to get back into the game. But Clinton made sure the rally never fully materialized, scoring eight of his points in the final period to keep Albany comfortably in front down the stretch.

Cooper finished with a game-high 21 points to lead the Indians. Clinton added eight, and West chipped in five in a balanced effort that was as much about adjustments and discipline as it was about scoring.

In the earlier 6th/7th grade game, Tift County won 44-26.