CLASS 6A AREA 3 CHAMPIONSHIP: T'Birds dance their way to first title; PCHS girls top Carver
The Thunderbirds of Park Crossing won the Class 6A, Area 3 tournament championship over Robert E. Lee on Friday. (Staff Photos)
By GRAHAM DUNN
Rhythm has a place in basketball.
It’s not just for the dancing following a big victory, but don’t tell the Thunderbirds of Park Crossing, who danced their way to the school’s first area tournament championship on Friday at the “Thunder Dome.”
Yes, they were “shaking a leg” after the win, too.
“It feels great, and something we hadn’t felt here before,” stated tournament MVP Dee Smith. “We had some revenge on our minds since they beat us the last time. So we had to come with everything we had, played with intensity and keep the pressure on.”
It worked as the T’Birds knocked off Robert E. Lee, 72-55, to claim the Class 6A, Area 3 tourney title, a first for the program in its eight-year history.
Park Crossing coach Courtney Ward preached intensity on the defensive end of the court since she knew their opponent would bring it, too.
And when her team had the ball, attack the basket. That worked too and got Park Crossing to the free throw line a total of 52 times in the game.
“I told them we had to dominate the boards, fight for every loose ball and don’t back down because we knew that is what Lee would do,” Ward said. “We needed to crash the boards and get second-chance shots and I think that threw them off a little bit, got them off their game.”
Lee kept the game close early which was tied at 12-12 after the first period. But the plan started to unravel in the second period when the Generals got away from their style of play and launching 3-point shots.
They had 14 shot attempts in the period, making five but none of the four attempts behind the arc. The cold shooting continued in the second half as Lee continued to shoot 3s, something coach Bryant Johnson wanted to avoid.
“That’s not our way,” he said. “We want to run the floor and get transition baskets but when you are setting up to take shots and missing them, you really can’t establish what we try to do.
“We probably panicked a little bit once we got behind and they kept going to the foul line. It wasn’t a case of bad calls but we never had much of a chance to build momentum. Some of our starters picked up two quick fouls in the first quarter and (pointguard) Jakel (Williams) picked up his third in the second quarter and that set us back.”
Lee shot 12 treys in the second half and made six but the majority of the makes were after Park Crossing had built a double-digit lead.
“We felt like if we kept the pressure on they would not be able to make shots consistently,” Ward said. “We were horrible at the line which we have to improve if we have any chance of advancing. I stress that all the time.”
PCHS still scored 29 points at the stripe, which complemented a decent shooting night from the field - 45 percent. The T’Birds did have 15 more shots than Lee attempted.
“We will get back in the gym and work on our shooting,” Smith said. “We have to get ready for the next one and be on our best game from this point on.”
Aaron Brown had 20 points and shot 13 free throws in the game, making nine. Smith added 11 points while Cam Williams added 14 points for Park Crossing (24-4).
Lee (16-10) got 14 points from Damon Ross and 12 points from Christopher Dillihay.
Park Crossing will be at home Tuesday to face Valley while Lee travels to defending region champ Eufaula in the Southeast Sub-Regional round.
Park Crossing girls top Carver for tourney title
The Park Crossing girls joined the boys’ team in the winner’s circle on Friday, knocking off G.W. Carver, 45-37, for the 6A, Area 5 title.
Alexis Andrews led the way with 23 points with 16 coming from the free throw line. Kelsie Thomas added 11 points for the Thunderbirds.
Takiya Norman led the Lady Wolverines with 17 points while Jasmine Williams added 13 points.
The Thunderbirds will be home for the Southeast Sub-Regional round to face Opelika on Monday. Carver will travel to Eufaula.