Class 3A basketball roundup
"How do you stop a 7-footer when you're tallest player is 6-1?" asked Bearcats coach Daryl Hamby rhetorically. The answer is you don't. Madison Academy senior center Bawa Muniru scored a game-high 20 points, including six of the Mustangs' first nine to set the tone in a game that got out of hand almost as soon as it began. "We felt like we matched up pretty evenly with them until you got to the big man," Hamby said. "We looked at film of him and we saw that he couldn't go right. But when you're 7-feet tall and you want to score, you do. "Our guys played their hearts out, but it was even hard to double him because their other players are pretty good." Mustangs' point guard Kerron Johnson added 15 points to go along with nine assists. Tyler Parke scored 13, and Jordan Matthews chipped in with 10. While the Mustangs' stars shined, Weaver's sputtered. Typically high-scoring guard Tanrrance Landrum finished with 17 points but shot 4-for-22 from the field. "They weren't doing anything different to stop me except stepping in a little quicker," Landrum said. "My shot just wasn't falling. I just picked the wrong time to have a bad game." Weaver shot 29 percent from the field, while Madison Academy hit 62 percent of its shots. The Mustangs turned a 13-point, first-quarter lead into a 23-point cushion by the half, and the Bearcats never got any closer than 16 in the second half. Sedale Moore scored 14 points and Ryan Parris added 11 for Weaver in the loss. The Bearcats, who have reached the regional in each of the past six seasons, finished the season 24-7. Madison Academy (23-8) advances to Saturday's regional final, where it'll face Crossville at 10:40 a.m. The Lions defeated Glencoe 76-65 in the other semifinal. The two teams split a pair of games already this season with each squad winning at home. — Nick Birdsong Crossville 76, Glencoe 65 Glencoe's Jay Whorton had a game-high 26 points and a 7-for-8 performance behind the 3-point line. However, his efforts weren't nearly against second-ranked Crossville. The victory by Crossville sets up a No. 1-vs.-No. 2 showdown for the Class 3A regional final. The Lions will take on Madison Academy, a 79-58 winner over Weaver, on Saturday at 10:40 a.m. The Lions (31-2) put four players in double figures, led by Mick Hedgepath with 18 points. He also had 12 rebounds. Michael West, Jasen Jonus and Jarret Williamson all added 13 points. Aside from Whorton, Jeremy Patton was the only other player from Glencoe (18-12) in double figures with 15 points. Glencoe led for a majority of the first quarter, but a Jonus 3-pointer with 2:59 remaining in the half gave Crossville its first lead at 10-9. That was the beginning of a 14-1 run that gave the Lions the control of the game. Crossville took its lead to as many as 17 points in the second quarter and 19 in the final quarter. GirlsCrossville 63, H. Bluff 58 Courtney Thacker scored 20 points and pulled down 11 rebounds to help lead Crossville to the upset. Hokes Bluff (24-4) entered the contest ranked sixth by the Alabama Sports Writers Association. Crossville was not ranked. Crossville (19-11) advanced to the 3A regional final to take on Glencoe, a 56-50 winner over Geraldine. Tipoff is set for 9 a.m. Saturday. Shooting wasn't good in the first half for either team, as both hovered around 25 percent from the floor. It got better in the second half, at least for Crossville. Crossville connected on six second-half 3-pointers. Hokes Bluff tied the game just 21 seconds into the second half, but Crossville steadily pulled away from there, taking the led up to as many as nine points. Codi Johnson led four Lady Eagles in double figures with 15 points. Kristi Doss and Amber Adcock both had 14 points, and Bethany Morgan added 10. Crossville also got 14 points from Felicity Adkins and 13 from Ashley Bright. Glencoe 56, Geraldine 50 Glencoe used the 1-2 punch of Chelsi Matthews and Mimi Williams, who finished with 19 and 18 points, respectively, to keep Geraldine at arms length. Glencoe (20-10) advanced to the regional final to take on Crossville, a 63-58 winner over Hokes Bluff. Tipoff is set for 9 a.m. Saturday. Geraldine held a one-point lead, 25-24, at the half. Matthews' jumper just two seconds into the second half gave Glencoe the lead, and the Lady Yellow Jackets never trailed after that point. Glencoe took its lead to as many as eight points in the final quarter, and Geraldine was unable to come any closer as the Lady Bulldogs failed to connect on a shot from the floor for the final 3:12. Geraldine (17-13) was led by Kristen White with 18 points and Brooke Roberts with 17. The Lady Bulldogs also suffered from 24 turnovers; Glencoe had 12. — Bran Strickland |
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