AISA BOYS RECAP: Edgewood gains lessons in loss; Autauga, Chambers advance
Edgewood’s Austin Champion rises for a layup against the Escambia Academy Cougars on Wednesday. (Tim Gayle)
By TIM GAYLE/DYLAN HURST
They grew up in a hurry.
The Edgewood Academy boys’ basketball team, mired in a losing streak and in need of more points early in the season, was standing toe to toe with one of the most athletic teams in Class AA on Wednesday in the Alabama Independent School Association state tournament at the Multiplex at Cramton Bowl.
The Wildcats had taken an early lead over Escambia Academy in Wednesday’s quarterfinal, survived a rally by the Cougars and were still battling back and forth for the lead in the 31st minute of the game. Finally, a turnover led to a quick Cougar basket, another turnover led to a foul and a pair of turnovers and the Cougars had escaped with a 56-51 win over the Wildcats.
Escambia (14-5) will play Chambers Academy in the AA semifinals on Friday at 7:30 p.m. Edgewood ends the season at 11-17.
Playing that close, only to lose, made the pain even worse.
“It is a heartbreaker, but I’m so proud of this group,” Edgewood Academy coach Darryl Free said. “This group, in November, doesn’t hang with that group like it did today. Not having a single senior, starting two eighth graders, the ceiling is high for this group. Does the loss hurt? Yeah, it hurts, but it also shows these boys they’re capable of playing with the best this league has to offer. Every other team in this state will, at the least, graduate one or two kids. We won’t. We’ll only get better as we move into next year.”
Edgewood’s Thomas Justiss drove the baseline for a reverse layup with 1:27 remaining to tie at 47-47 but the Cougars answered quickly as Brian Brown took a pass from Ja’Daniel Nettles with 1:09 remaining for an easy basket, then repeated the formula 18 seconds later following an Edgewood turnover for a 51-47 lead. The Cougars added two more points on a pair of Nettles’ free throws to finish off the Wildcats.
“We wanted to slow them down a little, because they do play fast and they’re very athletic,” Free said. “But I told (Edgewood’s players) that fundamentals can sometimes counter athleticism. We’ve played multiple teams this year that are very athletic but the game of basketball is a beautiful thing. There’s a lot to say for fundamentals. As long as we played fundamental basketball, I knew we’d have a chance.”
Austin Champion finished with 20 points to lead Edgewood, followed by Cooper Hall with 10, but Champion spent much of the fourth quarter with Nettles on his hip as the Cougars adjusted their defensive scheme to slow the Wildcats’ leading scorer.
“We kind of expected that,” Free said. “We prepared for that all week. We thought they would run that earlier in the game, actually, and they didn’t. So our guys stepped up. We were ready for it, so we adjusted and kept playing.”
Maliki Haynes led Escambia with 14 points, followed by Brown with 13, Landon Sims with 10 and Charlie Sasser with nine.
Autauga Academy 62, Lowndes Academy 45
Top-ranked Autauga Academy is heading to the AISA Final Four after the Generals’ high-tempo offense and defensive takeaways led to a win over Lowndes Academy, 62-45, in the Alabama Independent School Association Class AA quarterfinals on Wednesday night at the Multiplex at Cramton Bowl.
The Generals reached their stride early and raced out to a 17-9 lead by the end of the first quarter, but the Rebels matched Autauga in the second and third quarters and were trailing just 46-40 heading into the fourth. Costly turnovers hurt the Rebels in the final frame as the Generals were able to capitalize and pull away.
“(Autauga) was making some shots late and getting rebounds off the glass and I think we may have ran out of gas a bit there in the fourth quarter,” Lowndes Academy coach Barry Mohun said. “I’m really proud of our guys. We were going to have to play a certain way and we were hoping that Autauga was going to have to play a certain way to be a competitive game.”
Rob Rose led the Generals in scoring with 25 points along with five assists and two steals. Josh Palmer added 13 points with seven rebounds and two assists. Pharrell Banks scored 11 points along with five assists, five rebounds and four steals. AJ Perry scored seven points and had four assists. Deuhn Carroll added six points, seven rebounds and two assists.
Rebounding was the name of the game for the Generals in the final quarter and head coach William Turner talked about how important his team’s successful rebounding and great free-throw shooting was to their victory.
“It was hugely important.., we really limited them to one shot every possession when it came down on offense,” said Turner. “On our side, we were getting multiple rebounds every possession, and also knocking down free-throws, which we traditionally haven’t been great with during tournament time, but tonight they kept going in.”
Jackson Self led the Rebels with 15 points, followed by Clayton Hussey and Lee Harris with nine points each, Colby Briggs with eight points and Trey Thomas and Chase Rodder with two points each.
Autauga (16-0) will play Patrician in the AA semifinals on Friday at 4:30 p.m. at the Multiplex.
Chambers Academy 53, Wilcox Academy 49
The Rebels trailed by seven points entering the final period, but scored 21 points in the final eight minutes to rally past Wilcox 53-49 in the AA quarterfinals at the Multiplex at Cramton Bowl on Wednesday morning.
Chambers will play Escambia in the AA semifinals on Friday at 7:30 p.m. at the Multiplex.
The Rebels got a pair of 3 pointers from Jordan Whaley and multiple baskets from Cayden Hayley, T.Y. Trammell and Jarquez Banks in the fourth quarter while holding Wilcox to just four field goals in the final eight minutes.
Hayley finished with 18 points, followed by Kross Colley with 10 and Trammell with nine.
Julian Curry, an eighth grader who had staked Wilcox to an early lead with three 3 pointers in the first quarter, led the Wildcats with 18 points, followed by Cooper Dixon with 17.