Bear-ing Down on Piedmont

Piedmont put out by familiar foe, Plainview knocks Bulldogs out of Northeast Regional

By Al Muskewitz


JACKSONVILLE – If you play Class 3A basketball in this part of the state for any length of time sooner or later you’re going to run into the juggernaut that’s the Plainview Bears. And that can be equal parts blessing and curse.

Catch them late in the season and chances are it’s going to be in the Northeast Regional. That means you’ve had a pretty good season, but it also means you know you have to get past them for it to continue.

The Bulldogs ran into the Bears in the regionals for the sixth time in the last eight years Thursday night and they’re still trying to find the answers to solve them. Plainview beat the Bulldogs for the fifth straight time in the playoffs and snapped Piedmont’s 10-game winning streak 83-55 in the regional semifinals at Jacksonville State.

“You always have to beat a good team to get somewhere,” Piedmont coach JoJo Odam said. “Everybody talks about ‘you should’ve got them second,’ well, you’ve got to beat them at some point in the season, so getting them first it doesn’t matter. You’ve got to go through Plainview to win a state championship. It’s just a quality team.

“They’re so solid and they’re always going to be here. You always know you’ve got to go through them because they’re going to be here every year. Our guys do a great job getting us here, we’ve just got to find a way to get over that hump.”

The Bulldogs played the Bears every year in the regionals from 2015 through 2019 with Thursday night’s game being the first one since. After the Bulldogs won the first meeting, the Bears have won every one since including that five-overtime thriller in 2016.

In this latest edition, the Bears rained down a hailstorm of 3s in the first half, pulled away with a quick run early in the third quarter and turned over the Bulldogs throughout the night.

Plainview hit 10 of 18 3-pointers and hit eight of them in the first half. They forced the Bulldogs (21-8) into 20 turnovers, off which they scored 31 points. It was the Bulldogs’ only loss this season to a 3A opponent.

“It’s pretty tiring,” Alex Odam said of trying to keep pace when the Bears get on a roll.

Every time the Bulldogs would get close early, the Bears would hit a 3 or put something together to pull away. It was a four-point game after the first quarter, then Plainview opened the second with a 10-0 run. It was an 11-point game at halftime, then Plainview opened the third with a four-point play to start a 10-2 run that pushed the lead close to 20. Later in the quarter they used a 13-0 run to push it close to 30.

“Give those guys credit; that’s a good basketball team,” JoJo Odam said. “The first half we were right there and got a bad run to start the second half and that kind of set the tone. We talk about it all the time that basketball is a game of runs and they got on an 8- or 9-0 ruin to start the third quarter and we didn’t answer that run and at that point it just kind of snowballed from there.”

Alex Odam led Piedmont with 23 points. He has led the Bulldogs in scoring in each of their last 12 games.

Luke Smith got the Bears going early. He scored 11 of their first 16 points and led four Plainview scorers in double figures with 21. Ty Griggs went 3-for-3 from behind the arc in the second quarter and scored 13 points, as did Jonah Williams. Dylan Haymon had 12.

CLASS 3A NORTHEAST REGIONAL
Boys Semifinals
Plainview 83, Piedmont 55
PLAINVIEW (28-6) – Cole Millican 2-6 2-2 6, Dylan Haymon 2-6 6-7 12, Bryce Luther 2-3 0-0 6, Luke Smith 10-14 0-1 21, Jonah Williams 3-6 5-7 13, Owen Wilborn 0-1 0-0 0, Levi Brown 0-0 0-0 0, Landon White 4-4 0-1 8, Beau Taylor 0-1 2-2 2, Jacob Yates 1-1 0-0 2, Sawyer Fraley 0-0 0-0 0, Ty Griggs 3-3 4-4 13. Totals 27-45 19-24 83.
PIEDMONT (21-8) – Alex Odam 7-13 6-10 23, Omarion Foster 3-4 2-2 8, Cassius Fairs 1-2 0-0 2, Ish Bethel 3-8 1-2 7, Coleman Reid 2-3 0-0 4, Gavin Lawler 0-3 0-0 4, Cole Wilson 3-5 0-0 8, Ridge Fagan 0-0 0-0 0, Jake Rhinehart 0-2 0-0 0, Chance Murphy 1-2 0-0 2, Rhett Alford 0-1 1-2 1. Totals 21-43 10-16 55.
Plainview             24   18   26  15   –   83
Piedmont             20   11   11   13  –   55
3-point goals: Plainview 10-18 (Millican 0-3, Haymon 2-2, Luther 2-2, Smith 1-3, Williams 2-4, Wilborn 0-1, Griggs 3-3); Piedmont 5-20 (Odam 3-6, Foster 0-1, Bethel 0-4, Lawler 0-3, Wilson 2-4, Rhinehart 0-2). Rebounds: Plainview 20 (White 4); Piedmont 26 (Foster 9, Reid 5). Technical fouls: Odam, Piedmont coach Odam. Total fouls: Plainview 16, Piedmont 19. Officials: Wesley, Johnson, Fuqua.

Piedmont-Plainview regional rivalry