DOUGLASVILLE, GA – For a split second, Douglas County looked like its 2013-2014 season was going to be an early exit.

This was when the Tigers went to its trademark defensive pressure. Its defense did helped Douglas County get back into the game in the second quarter before eventually beating Valdosta 88-76 in the first-round of the Class AAAAAA state playoffs.

Douglasville hosts Hillgrove in the second round on Tuesday night.

“What we saw in the scouting report we wanted to get the ball out of No. 15’s hand,” Tigers coach Hollis Bethea said. “Our job was to make him beat us. We changed that in our rotations a little bit.

Once Douglas County (22-5) saw it was going to have trouble stopping Valdosta’s Rashad Lewis, The unsigned senior helped the Wildcats was unstoppable getting through the defense with ease. His effort helped propel Valdosta (17-11) to a 27-17 lead in the second quarter.

He finished the game with a game-high 34 points.

Douglas County called a timeout and went into its defensive playbook and Valdosta’s players did not know what hit them.

Turnover after turnover combined with some empty trips helped Douglas County tie the game 27-27. The Tigers then took off from there and never looked back. Valdosta called its own timeout to settle down and make adjustments but nothing worked. The Wildcats looked out of sync against the defensive pressure.

“The press hurt us,” Valdosta coach Antonio Hayes said. “We came in with a game plan and the kids panicked. They (Douglas County) didn’t start off with a press. They just hit us with the element of surprise.”

Preparing for the Tigers defense all week is completely different than actually seeing it for the first time. Douglas County flew around the court and made it difficult to pass the ball around the court.

“There were a lot of arm high passes,” Haynes said. “They are pretty long and they were getting their hands on the passes.”

Valdosta looked to make a run early in the fourth quarter. The Wildcats clawed to within nine points (64-55) but could never get over the hump. Douglas County just knocked down its free throws late to seal the game.

“I just told them to keep your poise,” Bethea told his team during Valdosta’s comeback. “We needed to hold it together and win the game.”

Playing together was the reason Douglas County was able to get the victory. Valdosta started the game out in a triangle-and-two in order to keep Brandon Roberts and Corey Tillery from touching the ball or getting open shots. Douglas County’s other players took advantage of the Wildcats aggressive defense.

Senior Justin Bridges was all over the floor and played with a lot of energy. He finished with a game-high 23 points, while K’Ja Johnson added 15 points. Roberts, who scored most of his points in the second half, chipped in with 14 points.

“In the first quarter we did what we wanted to do,” Haynes said. “The press just killed us. That is when we started going down hill.”