Hooper Academy’s Nolan Cole is defended by Edgewood’s Brock Whitt (12) and Eric Sumrall (32) in the Class AA semifinals at the Multiplex on Thursday. (Tim Gayle)

By TIM GAYLE

For two quarters, Hooper Academy had the upper hand in the Colts’ fourth meeting with Edgewood this season. 

It all unraveled in the third period when a rash of fouls called against the Colts left a gap in the Hooper defense that the Wildcats exploited in a 49-46 victory in the AISA Class AA semifinals at the Multiplex at Cramton Bowl on Thursday.

Edgewood (13-16) will play Abbeville Christian (19-7) for the AA state title on Friday at 3 p.m. Hooper ends the season at 16-8 after making its first trip to the Final Four since 2001. 

“They hit some big shots when they needed to,” Hooper Academy coach Darryl Free said. “That’s what they’ve done each time we’ve played them. We made some costly turnovers in bad spots. Just give them credit for making the big shot when they needed to.”

More specifically, credit goes to senior Brody Whitt, whose 3-pointer with 36 seconds left gave the Wildcats the lead for good. It bore a striking resemblance to the 3-pointer he hit against the Colts on Jan. 23 at Edgewood that sent the game into overtime and eventually led to an Edgewood victory. 

“Brody does what Brody does, but he’s a senior, he’s older, he’s been here and the guys trust him,” Edgewood coach Scott Phillips said. “I saw him coming around the screen and I said, ‘Oh, this one’s going up,’ and it’s just like the one he hit against Hooper at our place to tie the game. It just gave us that energy and that momentum.” 

For much of the first half, Hooper played energized basketball and were in command of the game. In the third quarter, however, Hooper forward Luke Moseley went to the bench with four personal fouls and the Wildcats started concentrating on getting the ball in the paint, eventually rallying to a 36-34 lead heading into the fourth quarter. 

“He didn’t press us in the first half,” Phillips observed, “which in the first three games he’s pressed us a lot and it’s been chaos. So he backed off and made us score in the half court. We struggle with that a little bit. We just had to regroup. I had to get us in some sets; otherwise, we were just sort of standing around. But the big key to the game was rebounding. We didn’t rebound in the first half.”

The Colts fell behind by five points in the fourth quarter and couldn’t come up with the defensive stop they needed.  

“When our big guy gets in foul trouble, we’re at a disadvantage inside so we had to change what we did a little bit and try to pressure them into misses and see if we can get some rebounds and get down the floor quick and we didn’t get many of them,” Free said. 

The smallest player on the court, Christ McCoy, came up with a 3-pointer, then had a steal and a layup to give the Colts a 46-45 lead, only to have Whitt respond with the game-winning shot.

Johnny Groves had 13 points to lead Edgewood, followed by Brock Whitt with 11 and Brody Whitt with 10.

McCoy led the Colts with 16 points, followed by Slade Russell with 11 and Nolan Cole and Moseley with eight points each.

And while it wasn’t the finish Free or the Colts wanted, the first-year coach was proud of his team’s performance this season.   

“These boys are a good basketball team,” Free said. “They’re talented. I’m really proud of them for the season they’ve had. They’ve come a long way in their intellect of the game. Obviously, we didn’t get the result we wanted tonight, but that doesn’t take away from what they’ve accomplished all year.”

Abbeville Christian 72, Patrician Academy 65

Shi Crawford scored 21 points to lead the Generals to a huge lead in the first half before the Saints cut into the lead in the final period of the AISA Class AA state semifinals at the Multiplex at Cramton Bowl on Thursday.

Abbeville Christian (19-7) will advance to the finals against Edgewood Academy on Friday at 3 p.m. Patrician Academy ends the season at 18-2.

Crawford and the Generals owned a commanding 50-25 lead early in the third period before the Saints cut into the lead. John Sowell added 19 points for Abbeville Christian, followed by Jayden Buckhannon and Ja’Varse Turner with 13 points each.

Carson Coody led Patrician with 23 points, followed by Matthew Mize with 20 and Cannon Martin with 11.

The Generals jumped out to a huge lead with help at the free-throw line, where they converted 20 of 36 free-throw attempts. Patrician made 12 of 21 free-throw attempts.