Both the Lions and Lady Lions of Lithia Springs picked up losses on the first day of the first annual Carrollton High School Holiday Tourney on Wednesday, but it was not for lack of trying. Both the girls and the boys teams ran into very good Greater Atlanta Christian squads in round one.

The Lady Lions took on an always tough Greater Atlanta Christian team in the first round, falling 68-50. The Lithia boys ran into a road block as they took on the No. 1 team in the state, falling 72-60.

The Lions boys found themselves down by only two after the first quarter, trailing 21-19. GAC managed to pull away a little in the second quarter and took a 41-34 lead into halftime. Lithia trailed 57-44 at the end of the third.

“We had our opportunities, but we had a couple of big misses in the fourth quarter” said LSHS coach JW Cantrell. “Neil [Phillips] dominated the game, but we struggled shooting all night.”

Phillips scored 27 points for the Lions.

“Neil is always prepared,” Cantrell said. “He doesn’t back down from anyone.”

“He may be only 6-foot-4 but I wouldn’t trade him for a 6-foot-8 guy,” he added.

Beau Carter added 14 for the Lions.

In the girls game, GAC took a 15-12 lead after the first quarter and led 36-24 at the half. The Lady Lions were not able to reel GAC in in the third quarter as they dropped behind by 18, 53-35. Lithia played even with GAC in the final quarter as both teams put up 15 points.

“We have to learn to be consistent,” said LSHS head coach David Mills. “Just too many high and lows. We’ll get back to fixing it.”

Greater Atlanta’s Brianna Cummings led all scorers with 26 points.

Tashara Jones led Lithia springs with 25 points. Selena Crummie followed with 11.

The Lady Lions will play Friday at 4 p.m. against the loser of Chapel Hill and Monroe today. The Lithia boys will play Friday at 5:30 p.m. against the loser of today’s game against Oxford and Chapel Hill. Both games will be held at East Carroll Park.