Lions lose early lead, fall to Decatur Heritage in 1A regional final; Spring Garden girls fall to Pisgah in 2A final
TUESDAY’S NORTHEAST REGIONAL SCORES
5A Girls Championship: Guntersville 42, Sardis 12
5A Boys Championship: Ramsay 65, Guntersville 56
2A Girls Championship: Pisgah 64, Spring Garden 52
2A Boys Championship: Section 55, Midfield 52
1A Girls Championship: Skyline 52, Decatur Heritage 34
1A Boys Championship: Decatur Heritage 43, Faith Christian 41
WEDNESDAY’S GAMES
4A Girls Championship: New Hope vs. Handley, 9 a.m.
4A Boys Championship: Handley vs. Jacksonville, 10:45 a.m.
By Al Muskewitz
JACKSONVILLE — Cory Hughes watched Demonde Bell hit one of those long oh-no/oh-yes 3-pointers early in the game and two other 3 find the bottom right out of the gate and started to think this might be Faith Christian’s day.
And then the coin flipped.
The Lions opened a double-digit lead on Decatur Heritage in the first quarter and looked to be on their way to their first Class 1A Final Four appearance in 14 years. But as easily as the shots were falling early, they stopped just as suddenly.
Unfazed by the early deficit, the Eagles stepped up their defense, started getting their shots to fall, got back in the game and ended up breaking the Lions’ hearts 43-41 in the Northeast Regional final at Jacksonville State.
“Our guys played a heck of a game, man,” Hughes said. “They came out grinding against a well-versed Decatur Heritage team. That team knows basketball, they have a basketball culture and have for a while, and our guys came out and played their tails off.
“I told them that’s sports. You play really good teams and two teams go head-to-head and it just comes down to a flip of a coin sometimes, and tonight the thing didn’t go our way.”
Decatur Heritage opened the game in a man defense and the Lions got behind it several times to go 7-for-11 from the field, 4-of-7 from 3-point range, score 21 points and open a 12-point first-quarter lead. They were only 5-of-27 the rest of the game, made only one more 3-pointer and none in the second half.
They went 1-for-9 in the second quarter but still held a seven-point lead at halftime. The shooting woes continued in the second half. They didn’t score for more than five minutes in the third quarter and the Eagles climbed back into the game.
“We hit shots that we normally don’t hit first quarter,” Hughes said. “We had 21 points in the quarter, I was like, wow, this might be our day. And then it wasn’t. It was like a lid got put on the basket.”
The Lions’ chances also were impacted by some serious foul trouble. Four of their starters had at least three fouls late in the third quarter. Thomas Curlee picked up his third midway through the second quarter and Ethan Richerzhagen fouled out with 4:57 to play in a one-point game on a call Hughes, a former basketball official, didn’t particularly like or understand.
“Having Ethan out at any time is not good for us,” Hughes said. “He’s our senior leader and he just does an unbelievable job on the offensive end for us every game, so when he comes out it’s like having an arm tied behind your back offensively. We knew it was going to be a struggle to score the ball with him out of the game.”
Despite their shooting woes, the Lions (24-11) had a chance to tie it in the closing seconds. Yashua Arevalo had two free throws with seven-tenths of a second to play and needed to make both to force overtime, but missed the first shot off the right side of the rim.
“Honestly, I looked at the scoreboard when I wasn’t supposed to and that’s what made me nervous and it messed my shot up and it caused me to mess up,” Arevalo said. “Game on the line, everybody on your back, it was kind of nerve-wracking and throws you off a little bit. I shouldn’t have looked at the clock. I should’ve just shot my free throw. That was my fault.”
The miss meant he had to miss the second and hope the Lions could get a quick put-back to beat the buzzer. He tried to give it just the right touch, but the ball came off the iron too hard and the Eagles’ Paxton Tarver grabbed the deep rebound as time expired.
CLASS 1A NORTHEAST REGIONAL
Boys championship game
Decatur Heritage 43, Faith Christian 41
DECATUR HERITAGE (20-7) – Bo Solley 1-5 0-0 2, Bryant Pitts 1-5 0-1 3, Alex Malone 2-3 1-2 6, Brady Wilson 2-4 0-0 6, Brayden Kyle 5-10 9-13 19, Jordan Davis 0-0 0-0 0, Bryant Sparkman 0-2 0-0 0, Mason Braxley 1-1 0-0 2, Hayden Page 1-2 2-2 5, Braxton Traver 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 13-33 12-18 43.
FAITH CHRISTIAN (24-11) – Yashua Arevalo 4-9 1-6 10, Jacques Prater 0-8 3-3 3, Thomas Curlee 3-7 3-5 9, Ethan Richerzhagen 3-10 5-6 13, Demonde Bell 1-2 0-0 3, Conner Richerzhagen 0-0 0-0 0, Brodie Dodson 0-0 0-0 0, Colton Pahman 1-2 0-0 3. Totals 12-38 12-20 41.
Decatur Heritage 9 13 13 8 – 43
Faith Christian 21 8 4 8 – 41
3-point goals: Decatur Heritage 5-12 (Pitts 1-5, Malone 1-1, Wilson 2-4, Page 1-2); Faith Christian 5-12 (Arevalo 1-2, Prater 0-5, E. Richerzhagen 2-5, Bell 1-1, Pahman 1-2). Rebounds: Decatur Heritage 27 (Kyle 12); Faith Christian 29 (Bell 6, Curlee 6). Technical fouls: Decatur Heritage bench. Fouled out: Pitts, E. Richerzhagen. Total fouls: Decatur Heritage 19, Faith Christian 17. Officials: Tidwell, Burks, Rutherford.
ALL-TOURNAMENT
Mekhi Fitts, Cornerstone
Yashua Arevalo, Faith Christian
Ethan Richerzhagen, Faith Christian
Alex Malone, Decatur Heritage
Brayden Kyle, Decatur Heritage (MVP)
Class 2A girls
JACKSONVILLE – In 26 years of coaching high school basketball, Spring Garden’s Ricky Austin is a mastermind at finding and exploiting weaknesses in his opponents. It’s helped his girls teams win six state championships.
When it came time for the second-ranked Lady Panthers to take on top-ranked Pisgah in the Class 2A Northeast Regional final on Tuesday, however, Austin said he told Lady Eagle head coach Carey Ellison he saw no weaknesses in them.
The Lady Panthers did manage to build a nine-point halftime advantage, but that only seemed seemed to awaken the four-time defending state champions.
Pisgah sank six 3-pointers in the third quarter, part of a 24-7 run to take a lead it wouldn’t relinquish in a 64-52 victory. The Lady Eagles (31-3) advance to the state semifinals in Birmingham on Monday at 3 p.m. Spring Garden’s season ends at 31-2.
“We just played a good team,” Austin said. “I’ve watched six films on them. I can always find a weakness on somebody to take advantage of. I told him before the game I see no weakness in you guys. With that being said, to lose to them by 12, we had a chance. To lose to them by 12, that speaks volumes of my team also.”
It’s the second year in a row the Lady Panthers fell to Pisgah in the regional final. They dropped last year’s contest in overtime 72-65.
Spring Garden got off to the start it wanted on Tuesday. The Lady Panthers went on a 14-4 run to begin the game and led 16-12 at the end of the first quarter. They led 29-20 at the break.
Then came Pisgah’s third-quarter buzz saw.
MVP Molly Heard took control in the fourth, sinking 10-of-12 free throws to help the Lady Eagles earn another trip to Birmingham. She finished with a game-high 28 points, nine rebounds, eight assists and five blocks.
Ace Austin led Spring Garden with 17 points, nine assists and six rebounds. Seniors Boles and Neely Welsh both added 10 points. Boles connected on three treys. Welsh added six boards and a pair of assists.
“I wish we would’ve had more fire about us in the third, but we never did get any fire back about us the second half,” Coach Austin said. “They just took it from us. You’ve just got to give them credit. They’re a very good team.” — Shannon Fagan, WEIS Radio sports director
CLASS 2A NORTHEAST REGIONAL
Girls championship
Pisgah 64, Spring Garden 52
PISGAH (31-3) – Kallie Tinker 1-6 0-0 3, Lila Kate Wheeler 4-8 0-2 12, Madeline Flammia 2-3 0-0 4, Molly Heard 7-12 12-14 28, Molly Holcomb 4-5 0-0 11, Piper Anderson 0-0 0-0 0, Campbell Barron 2-4 0-0 6, Paisley Patalas 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 20-41 12-16 64.
SPRING GARDEN (31-2) – Ace Austin 7-19 3-3 17, Kayley Kirk 3-7 0-0 7, Sarah Kate McKay 4-8 0-0 8, Neely Welsh 4-10 0-0 10, Abbey Steward 0-0 0-0 0, Bri Boles 3-5 1-2 10, Libby Brown 0-0 0-0 0, Maggie Jarrett 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-49 4-5 52.
Pisgah 12 8 24 20 – 64
Spring Garden 16 13 7 16 – 52
3-point goals: Pisgah 12-24 (Tinker 1-3, Wheeler 4-8, Heard 2-3, Holcomb 3-4, Barron 2-4, Patalas 0-2); Spring Garden 6-19 (Austin 0-5, Kirk 1-5, Welsh 2-4, Boles 3-5). Rebounds: Pisgah 28 (Heard 9, Holcomb 7); Spring Garden 25 (Austin 6, Welsh 6, McKay 5). Total fouls: Pisgah 12, Spring Garden 17. Officials: Satterfield, Carney, Marbury.
ALL-TOURNAMENT
Neely Welsh, Spring Garden
Ace Austin, Spring Garden
Lila Kate Wheeler, Pisgah
Karlee Holcomb, Pisgah
Molly Heard, Pisgah (MVP)
