Shane Thomas | The Valdosta Daily TimesLowndes forward Taje Middleton (23) shoots over Columbia center Bailey Beard (52) during the third quarter on Tuesday at the Crimson Coliseum.

VALDOSTA –– The Lowndes boys struggled defensively and on the glass in a 59-52 loss to Columbia on Tuesday night.

Despite a 17-point night for Kaleb Thomas and 16 points from Miguel Acevedo, the Vikings had no answers for the Tigers’ Kenney Gaines. Gaines poured in 21 points, burying five 3-pointers in the win.

After the game, Lowndes coach Donnie Holland criticized his team’s poor rebounding and perimeter defense, which led to the Tigers warming up from long range in the second half.

“There’s only one factor in that whole game –– our refusal to block out,” Holland said. “We gave up second shot after second shot after second shot. They were 2-of-13 from the 3-point line in the first half and got all the second and third rebounds and kept putting them in.

“I told them, ‘You let that continue to hang around in the second half, they’ll start hitting a few,’ and they did. My whole end of game speech was, if we don’t start blocking out, then enjoy the score, because that’s what it’s going to be like a lot of nights.”

The Tigers finished the game with eight made 3s and outscored the Vikings 36-26 in the second half. When asked to give his assessment of his team’s defense, Holland didn’t mince words.

“Not very good,” Holland said. “We’re not very good defensively right now. We’re not a very good team right now. We’ve got a lot of work to do…a lot of work.

“I would say rebounding is No. 1 (on the list of improvements). Total defense is No. 2 and we’ve got to take care of the ball. We’ve turned the ball over too many times.”

Junior Zack McBurrough had eight points off the bench for the Vikings, who fell to 1-2 on the season.

Columbia girls 60

Lowndes 47

The Lowndes Vikettes (1-1) didn’t fair much better against the Tigers, falling 60-47 in the opener.

The Vikettes couldn’t hang on to the ball in the fourth quarter as a rash of turnovers allowed the Tigers to regain momentum and pull away late.

“We’ve got to rebound the ball better,” Lowndes girls coach Antonia Tookes said. “Rebounding is what cost us most.”

Despite trailing 31-23 at halftime, the Vikettes made key defensive adjustments to climb back into the game. After playing a 2-3 zone defense predominantly in the first half, the Vikettes went away from the zone after giving up three consecutive 3-pointers –– two by Brinaija Dixon and one by Jordan Sheppard –– late in the second quarter.

“We were in a 2-3 and I watched the young lady shoot 3s the night before,” Tookes explained. “I said, ‘We’re in a 2-3, but if she’s on your side, go man on her.’ Whoever was guarded her did not listen, so she got her shots off.

“I was wondering how many was she going to shoot before the person realized to guard her.”

Tookes opted to send a trapping pressure look at the Tigers to start the second half. As a result, the Vikettes opened the third quarter on a 10-0 run to take a 33-31 lead on a layup by sophomore Kiersten Graham with more than 2 minutes to go in the quarter.

The Tigers battled back with a 10-3 run of their own, capped by a 3-pointer from Jordan Sheppard, to take a 41-36 lead after three quarters.

Unfortunately for the Vikettes, turnovers and lack of rebounding haunted them in the fourth as the Tigers outscored the Vikettes 19-11.

The Tigers took an 11-point lead on a pair of free throws by Karlicia Mack with 2:08 remaining in the game.

A bright spot for the Vikettes was the play of Taje Middleton, who poured in 19 points on Tuesday night. Middleton scored 13 of her 19 points in the second half after canning two 3s in the first 16 minutes.

“We’ve got to play better defense,” Tookes said in summary. “Our defense is not where it should be and defense, rebounding, boxing out –– all that is heart. I guess you can’t teach heart so we’ll just see. This is a wake-up call for the rest of the season.”

UP NEXT

The Lowndes boys and girls teams host Berrien on Saturday. Tipoff for the doubleheader is scheduled for 6 p.m.