CLASS 5A, AREA 5 FINAL: Fourth time the charm for Brew Tech in win over Pike Road; Lady Patriots win tourney

Brew Tech’s Jayden Stephens goes up for a shot during the Rams’ win over Pike Road on Wednesday. (Graham Dunn)

By GRAHAM DUNN

At times, coaches can prove to be prophetic.

Brewbaker Tech boys basketball coach Kendric Larkin was certain that his team would not lose for a fourth time in a season to Pike Road.
“I told them all week it would be tough to pull it off,” he said. “We’d been close in the other three games.”

Larkin’s prediction was correct. The Rams needed overtime but topped the Patriots, 76-72, to earn the Class 5A, Area 5 tournament championship on Wednesday.

It was the first Area tournament title for Larkin as a head coach and the first for the program since 2019.

“It’s pretty exciting to get this for him and ourselves,” stated tournament MVP Micahi Gilchrist. “It’s like he told us… we didn’t think they could beat us four times in a row. We were confident all night. Even when we were down, we knew we would find a way to come back.”

The Rams maintained the lead for most of the game, leading by as many as 13 points in the first half before Pike Road closed the gap just before halftime with a 9-2 run.

Brew Tech held a slim one-point lead heading into the fourth quarter when the Patriots caught fire, taking their first lead with 6:35 remaining on a Jayden Cooper layup.

The Pike Road lead would grow to four points but the problems coach Obidiah Threadgill had preached about to his team reared its head.

“Free throws, turnovers…. We had opprtunities,” he said. “We had the lead but all season I have waited to see who we have that can step up in the moment. We didn’t get stops when we needed them. They hit too many 3s and that’s the difference.”

The two teams spent the rest of the fourth period going back and forth with the lead. The final frame had five lead changes and five ties.

Overtime had more of the same until Kevin Honer hit a 3-pointer with 2:18 left that gave Brew Tech the lead for good. He would add three free throws on the next possession to give the Rams a six-point lead.

Pike Road had some life when it had a rare four-point possession to pull within two with 40 seconds left.

Brew Tech’s Kaiden Askew made one of two free throws before Pike Road’s final possession came up empty on three misses on 3-point attempts.

Honer had key shots throughout the game, finishing with four treys and a total of 19 points.

“I had confidence in my shot all night,” Honer said. “I feel like my teammates needed me to step up and I felt like when I let go of the shot, it was going to go in.”

 Gilchrist added 16 points for the Rams (16-12), who will be at home for the Sub-regional round on Tuesday. They will face either Sylacauga or Central-Clay County. Those teams play on Friday to decide the Area 8 champion.

Jayden Cooper led all scorers with 25 points. Kelby Westry added 18 points for the Patriots, who fell to 19-7 on the season.

Pike Road will face the runner up of the Area 8 tournament.

 Pike Road girls win area tourney

The Lady Patriots jumped out to a quick lead and never looked back to earn the Class 5A, Area 5 championship with a 59-34 win over Brewbaker Tech on Wednesday.

Jazz Johnson pumped in 29 points and added 14 rebounds for the Patriots, who improved to 19-8 on the season.

Jada Roberts added 18 points for Pike Road. Isabel Dang led the Lady Rams with 14 points including four 3-pointers.

Both teams will play in the Southeast Sub-Regional on Monday with Pike Road at home against Sylacauga while Brew Tech will travel to Talladega.