AHSAA STATE TOURNEY: Catholic topped by Talladega; Pike Road eliminated

By TIM GAYLE

BIRMINGHAM – Using a strong first-half performance from Justin Bufford, the Catholic Knights battled evenly with defending state champion Talladega for a half. But without all of its weapons, the Knights were no match for the Tigers.

Talladega concentrated on stopping Bufford in a decisive third quarter and rolled out to a lead Catholic could not overcome in the final minutes, falling 64-57 on Tuesday evening at the Birmingham Jefferson Convention Center’s Legacy Arena in the Alabama High School Athletic Association state tournament.

“It did get away from us there in the third (quarter),” Catholic coach Mike Curry said. “In any game, a team’s going to make runs and they made their run right there. They made more plays than we did. We weren’t as sharp as we needed to be against a good team.”

Defending 4A state champion Talladega (26-6) will face Williamson in the 4A finals on Friday at 5:45 p.m.

Catholic ends the most successful season in school history at 30-5, two wins shy of its goal.

“There were some guys hurting in that locker room and they should be,” Curry said. “And I am too. But I told them that at the end of the day there’s only going to be one team hoisting that (championship) trophy. Everybody else is not going to have a good feeling. We make no bones about it, Talladega was a better team than us tonight. They played their hearts out and I thought we did, too.”

For a half, the Knights defied the odds as Bufford carried the bulk of the scoring load to help his team to a 29-28 lead. Bufford made half of his team’s field goals, scoring 14 points, while the rest of the Knights went 5 for 16 from the field.

“We had a slow first half,” Talladega guard Arron Green said. “We wanted to come out after halftime and punch them in the mouth.”

The Tigers opened the second half with a 15-2 run as Catholic continued to struggle from the field. Bufford missed all four attempts from the field and his teammates were silent as well.

“We were pressing and it looked like we’d have a steal and they’d make a layup or we’d foul them,” Talladega coach Chucky Miller said. “You had to draw back the press and go to your half-court defense. I thought we made a lot of stops that (third) quarter. Maybe they didn’t prepare as much for that.

“I thought we picked up the pressure in the second half. In the first half, I guess we were just playing to get to the second half. We fouled too much and made too many turnovers.”

Bufford finished with 16 points, five rebounds and six blocked shots, but had just two points in the second half.

“We wanted to notice wherever he was in our zone,” Miller said. “We weren’t going to foul his shot – he’s got a nice, high delivery – but we wanted to put pressure on him and give the ball up. I know they had a couple of guys hit 3s but we’ll give them 3s if he doesn’t get going because when he gets going, it seems as if the whole team gets going.”

DJ Carter picked up his scoring in the second half and finished with 15 points. Myles Butler, who finally broke his scoreless drought with 6:09 remaining in the game, finished with seven points, as did T.J. Dudley. Johntarius Green didn’t score until his 3-pointer with 1:19 remaining in the game for his only points in the game.

Despite the disappointing finish, the Knights won the Area 4 title in Curry’s second year, won the area tournament title for the second consecutive year, advanced to the regionals for only the fifth time since winning the 2000 state title, reached the regional finals for only the third time since 2000 and advanced to the state tournament for the first time since 2000.

“I’m very blessed to have been put in this position with this team and this coach,” Bufford said. “I don’t want to do it with anybody else. These are my brothers.”

The Knights had four returning starters from last year’s team, but broke new ground with a trio of newcomers – Bufford, a senior who transferred from Ellwood Christian in Selma; Dudley, an emerging sophomore who provided power in the paint; and Green, a freshman who directed the Knights’ offense.

“I thought with the guys we had coming back we had a chance to be good,” Curry said. “Adding not just JB but adding LJ (Green) and ‘Bull,’ TJ Dudley, those are three quality people and quality players. But you never know, it all depends on how guys mesh and how things jell, but they all bought in and things just took off. I’m super proud of these guys and proud to be their coach.”

PIKE ROAD Girls’ run ends

There’s a lot to be said for familiarity.

Pike Road, making its first-ever trip to the state tournament, played well for a half and tried not to display the wide-eyed look many first-time participants have.

Defending two-time championship Pisgah didn’t have 2019 Miss Basketball Annie Hughes, but the Eagles had plenty of talent that had played in the state tournament before and knew it was their turn to shine.

Chloe Womack had 26 points and eight rebounds, Molly Heard had 10 points and eight rebounds and newcomer Kallie Tinker had 18 points and six rebounds as the Eagles pulled away to a 72-58 win at Legacy Arena on Tuesday morning.

“We were trying to prepare for this game and there really wasn’t a way to prepare for their height and size,” Pisgah coach Carey Ellison said. “We had to try with fundamentals. Shot making was the difference. We made open 3’s. Molly got over whatever kept her not being at full speed in the first half. Offensively, we haven’t been shooting real well and today we had some drop and I’m glad we finished.”

Pisgah (30-3) will be shooting for its eighth state championship on Friday when it faces the winner of the T.R. Miller-Lauderdale County game. Pike Road ends the season at 26-5, its first loss to a 3A team this season.

“Everybody wants a ring, but they’ve got to understand that Pisgah is used to this,” Pike Road coach Courtney Ward said. “This is our first time playing on a big floor. It’s a growing process. I think we did an outstanding job for a lot of kids to be here for the very first time.” 

Early on, the Patriots were a good match for Pisgah, climbing out to a five-point lead a little more than five minutes into it on a Skye Harris 3-pointer. But the Patriots would make just two 3-pointers the remainder of the game, hitting just 3 of 22 long-range shots that reduced their effectiveness.

A pair of Tamirea Thomas baskets in the paint staked Pike Road to a six-point lead early in the second quarter but Pisgah eventually trimmed the deficit to two points at the half, 26-24.

The second half was a different story as the seasoned Eagles turned up the pressure on the newcomers. Pike Road connected on just one field goal over the first three minutes as Pisgah built an eight-point lead, whittled it back to three with two minutes left, only to watch the Eagles score the last 10 points of the third quarter.

In the final two minutes, five Pike Road possessions ended with missed shots, a turnover and a pair of missed free-throw attempts as the Eagles crashed the boards and turned the game in their favor.

“Since our 3’s weren’t really going in, we knew we had to attack,” Womack said. “If we could get them in trouble and get their post players on the bench, we knew that would help us a lot.”

In the fourth quarter, Pisgah led by as many as 18 points and Pike Road never got closer than nine.

Womack, a senior who hit just 2 of 11 shots last year in the championship game against Montgomery Academy, took over the leadership role from the graduated Hughes and was 15 of 16 at the free throw line. Heard, a freshman last year who was 1 of 5 against Montgomery Academy, was a valuable contributor in the paint and Tinker, an eighth grader who watched from the bench a year ago, was effective in leading the Eagle offense.

Aaliyah Manora led Pike Road with 13 points, followed by Koya Knight with 12 points and nine rebounds and Thomas with 12 points and eight rebounds, Harris with 11 and Sheria Clement with 10.

“There were some guys hurting in that locker room and they should be,” Curry said. “And I am too. But I told them that at the end of the day there’s only going to be one team hoisting that (championship) trophy. Everybody else is not going to have a good feeling. We make no bones about it, Talladega was a better team than us tonight. They played their hearts out and I thought we did, too.”

For a half, the Knights defied the odds as Bufford carried the bulk of the scoring load to help his team to a 29-28 lead. Bufford made half of his team’s field goals, scoring 14 points, while the rest of the Knights went 5 for 16 from the field.

“We had a slow first half,” Talladega guard Arron Green said. “We wanted to come out after halftime and punch them in the mouth.”

The Tigers opened the second half with a 15-2 run as Catholic continued to struggle from the field. Bufford missed all four attempts from the field and his teammates were silent as well.

“We were pressing and it looked like we’d have a steal and they’d make a layup or we’d foul them,” Talladega coach Chucky Miller said. “You had to draw back the press and go to your half-court defense. I thought we made a lot of stops that (third) quarter. Maybe they didn’t prepare as much for that.

“I thought we picked up the pressure in the second half. In the first half, I guess we were just playing to get to the second half. We fouled too much and made too many turnovers.”

Bufford finished with 16 points, five rebounds and six blocked shots, but had just two points in the second half.

“We wanted to notice wherever he was in our zone,” Miller said. “We weren’t going to foul his shot – he’s got a nice, high delivery – but we wanted to put pressure on him and give the ball up. I know they had a couple of guys hit 3s but we’ll give them 3s if he doesn’t get going because when he gets going, it seems as if the whole team gets going.”

DJ Carter picked up his scoring in the second half and finished with 15 points. Myles Butler, who finally broke his scoreless drought with 6:09 remaining in the game, finished with seven points, as did T.J. Dudley. Johntarius Green didn’t score until his 3-pointer with 1:19 remaining in the game for his only points in the game.

Despite the disappointing finish, the Knights won the Area 4 title in Curry’s second year, won the area tournament title for the second consecutive year, advanced to the regionals for only the fifth time since winning the 2000 state title, reached the regional finals for only the third time since 2000 and advanced to the state tournament for the first time since 2000.

“I’m very blessed to have been put in this position with this team and this coach,” Bufford said. “I don’t want to do it with anybody else. These are my brothers.”

The Knights had four returning starters from last year’s team, but broke new ground with a trio of newcomers – Bufford, a senior who transferred from Ellwood Christian in Selma; Dudley, an emerging sophomore who provided power in the paint; and Green, a freshman who directed the Knights’ offense.

“I thought with the guys we had coming back we had a chance to be good,” Curry said. “Adding not just JB but adding LJ (Green) and ‘Bull,’ TJ Dudley, those are three quality people and quality players. But you never know, it all depends on how guys mesh and how things jell, but they all bought in and things just took off. I’m super proud of these guys and proud to be their coach.”