Class 4A basketball roundup
However, long before Thursday's nightcap the Class 4A Northeast Regional at Jacksonville State University, Guntersville coach Ronnie Stapler told his team exactly how this one would go. For his Wildcats, it would be won or lost in the beginning. His team responded to their coach's warning jumping out to an early lead and then held off Tarrant in the end to earn a 63-58 victory. With the win, Guntersville advances to Saturday's regional final against Cherokee County, a 64-45 winner over Saks. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. "The key was the first quarter," Stapler said. "There was no way we could afford to get behind 10-0 or 12-4 to these guys. "They were just too athletic to have to try and catch up against them." Guntersville (29-5) did just like their coach wanted, running out to a 12-point lead, 17-5, on a 3-pointer by Ben Cooper with 3:10 remaining in the quarter. While Tarrant quickly cut the led back to single digits, Guntersville kept the Wildcats at bay. Guntersville never relinquished the lead, but it did begin to get hairy late. Around the three-minute mark in the final quarter, Tarrant twice cut the lead to as few as four points. Guntersville's Darius Steger had a team-high 26 points, followed by Trevor Diamond with 19 and Cooper with 10. JeDarius VanBuren had 26 points for Tarrant (19-4). |
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