Pickens County Wins Again, Tanner Teams Sweep
BIRMINGHAM—Pickens County grabbed the Class 1A boys state championship after the Tanner girls and boys teams made a sweep of the Class 2A state championships here Thursday to highlight the third day of the 2011 Final 48 State Basketball Championships at the Birmingham Jefferson Convention Complex.
The Class 6A semifinals took the court for the first session Thursday.
Game summaries:
Class 1A Boys Championship
Pickens County 70, Cedar Bluff 62 (OT)
Pickens County won its second straight state basketball championship Thursday night, outscoring Cedar Bluff 15-7 in overtime to claim the Class 1A boys title 70-62. Last year the Tornadoes beat Houston County in a three-overtime thriller to claim the Class 2A crown.
Guard Warren Betts sank four key free throws in overtime to seal the victory for Coach Russ Wallace’s Tornadoes (30-1). Pickens County led 31-20 at the half and by as many as 15 in the first 16 minutes.
Cedar Bluff (29-4) cut the lead to single digits quickly in the third quarter, then battled the Tornadoes toe-to-toe the rest of the way.
Tyric Scales, who finished with a team-high 19 points, sent the game into overtime when he drilled a 25-foot 3-pointer with 14 seconds remaining in regulation with to tie the game at 55-55.
The Tornadoes jumped ahead in the overtime and put the Tigers in a must-foul situation. Scales and Marcus Reese fouled out in the extra period and Pickens County held on for the win.
Tournament MVP Deion Curry came off the bench as the Tornadoes' sixth man and led his team in scoring for the second straight game. He had 22 points, including 12-of-21 free throws, three assists and five rebounds.
Demarko Hall added 15 points and Betts 12 whileLajuan Doss hit 10 points, had three assists and five steals.
Reese also had 14 points for Cedar Bluff, Hardy and Rihied Harris had nine each. Scales finished with a game-high 11 rebounds. Coach Joe Carpenter’s Tigers out-rebounded Pickens County 39-28 but lost the turnover battle 28-14.
Class 1A Boys All-Tournament Team: Deion Curry, Pickens County (MVP); Demarko Hall, Pickens County; Lejuan Doss, Pickens County; Marcus Reese, Cedar Bluff; Tyric Scales, Cedar Bluff; DeAngelo Hardy, Cedar Bluff; Forrest Pasley, Keith.
Class 2A Boys Championship
Tanner 54, Barbour County 51
Matt Hines sank 10-of-12 free throws Thursday night for the Tanner Rattlers, but none were bigger than his pair with 12 seconds remaining in the contest that put his team ahead 52-51. Ten seconds later, he canned two more to seal the exciting come-from-behind victory and the 2011 Class 2A state boys championship.
The win by the Rattlers (28-6) also completed a sweep – the Tanner girls won the 2A championship earlier in the night. The sweep also repeated the Rattlers’ last state title feat – the boys and girls swept both state championships 25 years ago in 1986.
Hines had 20 points to earn Class 2A state tournament MVP honors. Monterice Cosby added nine points and Fredrick pulled down nine rebounds.
Barbour County (29-5) used its superior height and the shot-blocking, shot-altering antics of 6-foot-9 senior Joseph Screws to build a 13-point lead in the first half. The Jaguars led 41-30 to start the fourth quarter, but turnovers and missed free throws gave the Rattlers a chance to battle back.
Screws finished with just six points but had eight rebounds, seven blocked shots and dished out a game-high four assists. Willie Eutsey added 11 rebounds. Takwain Whigham led all Barbour County scorers with 13 points. Terrance Brooks added 11 and eight rebounds and Larry Rumph had nine points. The Jags had a 49-32 rebounding edge on the night but suffered 27 turnovers. Tanner had 14.
Class 2A Boys All-Tournament Team: Matt Hines, Tanner (MVP); Greg Maclin, Tanner; Takwain Whigham, Barbour County; Joseph Screws, Barbour County; Brannon Burt, Sand Rock; Deontrelle Silmon, Lanett.
Class 2A Girls State Championship
Tanner 71, Woodland 53
Tanner’s inside tandem of Shaquinta Sales, Sentoyah Harper and Lauren Fletcher was just too much for the shorter and younger Woodland Bobcats Thursday night as the Lady Rattles rolled to the 2011 Class 2A girls state championship.
Class 2A State Tournament MVP Sales had 21 points and 14 rebounds, Harper had 17 points and 10 boards and Harris poured in 14 points and cleared 11 rebounds. Tanner (32-3) won the rebound war 49-24.
Woodland (30-7) used its hustle and speed to claw back from 21-point deficit with 3:34 to go. The Lady Bobcats pulled to within 10 at 63-53 with 1:31 to play, but Coach Larry Greene’s Rattlers settled down, got the ball back down to their inside strength and pulled away at the end.
Freshman point guard Leah Strain scored 30 points to lead Woodland. Shanna Strain added 10 points and Katlin Edmondson had seven point and a team-high seven rebounds.
Tanner’s championship was the third in school history and the first in 25 years. The Rattlers won 3A crown in 1986 and the 2A championship in 1983.
Class 2A All-Tournament Team: Shaquinta Sales, Tanner (MVP); Lauren Harris, Tanner; Sentoyah Harper, Tanner; Leah Strain, Woodland; Tiffany Brooks, Barbour County; Tierra Henry, Lanett.
Class 6A Girls Semifinals
Hoover 67, Blount 38
Defending Class 6A state champion Hoover rolled into its third straight Class 6A state championship game Thursday morning with a 67-38 win over Blount.
The Lady Bucs (33-3) methodically advanced to the finals as four players reached double figures with Breion Allen’s 16 points leading the way. Reggotta Craig added 12, Breigha Cochran scored 11 and Nicole Tanner had 10. Tanner also had seven rebounds and two blocked shots before fouling out. Chardonae Fuqua also had eight points, eight rebounds and three assists and Cochran had five steals.
Tamara Hill had 13 points for Blount (26-9).
Hoover meets Bob Jones in the 6A girls championship game at 1 p.m. Saturday.
Bob Jones 62, Jeff Davis 25
Bob Jones limited Jeff Davis to just 10 field goals and an 18.5 percent shooting percentage for the game as the Patriots (30-7) advanced to the Class 6A girls state finals with a 62-25 semifinals win.
Coach Tim Miller’s Patriots will play Hoover in the championship game Saturday at 1 p.m. the BJCC.
Jasmine Jones scored 21 points for Bob Jones. She also led her team with 12 rebounds, was 7-of-10 at the foul line and had a game-high four steals. Tierra Jones added nine points and Andrew Matthews had eight.
Jeff Davis (27-4) was led by Monterika Warren’s eight points. Jatoria Carter had six and also had three steals.
Hoover and Bob Jones will meet for the 6A title for the third straight year. Bob Jones won in 2009 and Hoover in 2010. The two schools met three times this season already with the Bucs winning twice.
Class 6A Boys Semifinals
Murphy 65, Vestavia Hills 59
Murphy overcame a 13-point, first-half deficit with a strong-second half shooting performance to beat Vestavia Hills 65-59 in the Final 48 Class 6A boys semifinals.
The Panthers were 16-of-22 from the field in the final two quarters. Troyce Manassa was the big gun, finishing with 11-of-16 from the field and 10 free throws for 28 points. Michael Flanning also has 12 for Murphy (25-5).
Vestavia Hills (15-18) was led by William Dillard’s 18 points. William Truss, who got in foul trouble early, added 12 points and Anton Cook had 10.
Murphy will play in the 6A championship game Saturday at 3 p.m.
Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa 54, Carver-Montgomery 50
Perrin Buford’s break-away lay-up with 40 seconds remaining gave Hillcrest the lead, then the Patriots defense did the rest in a 54-50 semifinal win over Carver-Montgomery in the Class 6A boys state tournament.
Timothy Anderson, who made the steal and the pass for an assist for Buford’s big bucket, sank two free throws with 28 seconds remaining. After Carver took a 3-point shot and missed eight seconds later, Jalen Anderson got the ball, was fouled and converted one of two free throws at 0:06 to seal the win.
Houston had 22 points, Anderson added 14 and LaByron Wells 10 for Coach Scott Suttles’ Patriots (31-3).
Craig Sword scored 15, Roquez Johnson 13 and Cornelius Ferguson 11 for Carver (30-2).
Hillcrest will play Murphy (25-5) in the 6A finals Saturday at 3 p.m.