By Dean Harrell
Second-quarter shutout against No. 1 team in state propels Jacksonville into Northeast Regional finals
JACKSONVILLE – Everybody knows the Jacksonville Golden Eagles have been an offensive powerhouse all season, scoring at least 70 points in 18 of their games this year. But in their biggest game of the year, they put their defense on display when their offense wasn’t as unstoppable.
Their Northeast Regional matchup with Westminster Christian Saturday was one of the most impactful games in Class 4A basketball this year and it certainly lived up to the hype.
Both teams knew the importance of this game and knew how much it would shake up the rest of the playoff bracket and both aimed to make some noise.
The Golden Eagles proved their defense was a force to be reckoned with, holding the top-ranked team in the state scoreless in the second quarter and defeating the Wildcats 50-41.
“We’ve known that there will be games that we have to grind it out defensively when the offense isn’t working as well,” said Eagles head coach Shane Morrow. “You have to give Westminster a lot of credit for that. They do that to just about everyone they play; they slow teams down and make it a grind it out game.”
“We knew coming into this that it wasn’t going to be one of our 90 to 100 point games where it’s a shootout and we’re trying to out basketball them,” said Cade Phillips. “We’ve been saying all week that if we get up early, we can slowly shut them down and our defense definitely did that tonight.”
After a tight first quarter, it appeared that both teams were going to be neck and neck the entire matchup. Then the Eagles amped it up defensively, completely shutting out the Wildcats in the second quarter.
They held the Wildcats to only six shots in the second quarter. They turned them over six times and scored 13 points. The 17-0 quarter allowed them to open a 26-13 halftime lead.
Jacksonville junior John Broom suggested Cam Johnson’s play was a big key to the quarter.
“We weren’t big on scoring tonight, we just wanted to play our game,” he said. “Cam got us in a rhythm in the second quarter which let our defense lock in and shut them down.”
The halftime lead implied Jacksonville was about to run away with this game. However, Westminster refused to go down easily.
The Wildcats clawed back into the game, outscoring the Eagles in the second half 28-24 and even cut the Jacksonville lead to give in the fourth quarter. The Wildcats’ second-half offensive surge was led by Chase McCarty, scoring all of his 21 points in the half.
“Our defense was able to keep us in this game,” Wildcats coach Ronnie Stapler said. “We did a good job on Cade and Broom tonight and it kept us alive. “Our idea was to go back out in the second half and be more physical and not let them beat us to spots and we did a good job of that.”
“That’s a team that’s known for putting up 80 or 90 points every game they play and only allowing them to score 50 is a huge showing from our defense,” Wildcats point guard Eric Robinson said.
Jacksonville had to find its offense once again in the second half in order to stay ahead in the game and it came from Broom’s 10 points in the half. Broom led the Golden Eagles with 14 points; he went 8-for-8 from the free throw line.
“Cam (Johnson) had a really big first half that kept us in the game and during the second half where he wasn’t hitting as much, John was able to step his offense up,” said Phillips. “We understand that getting your own points isn’t the big deal, points will come, it’s just a matter of who’s up next.”
Things got a little chippy in the second half as the game got more and more competitive. Jacksonville’s Ethan Duke picked up a technical foul after giving a push to Westminster’s Jackson Hammond after words were exchanged following a foul call. The Eagles were quickly able to regain their composure and focus on the job at hand.
“We just needed to stay humble and keep playing it simple,” Cam Johnson said. “We just needed to stay at the pace we were going and finish the game out.”
Jacksonville will face Handley in the region championship Wednesday at 10:45 a.m. The winner play the Southeast champion in the Final Four.
“It’s going to be a good game, for sure,” Morrow said. “Every game will get tougher and tougher, but we got some time to rest and prepare for Handley.”
Dean Harrell is a senior at The Donoho School and a regular contributor to East Alabama Sports Today.
CLASS 4A NORTHEAST REGIONAL
Boys semifinals
Jacksonville 50, Westminster Christian 41
WESTMINSTER – Jason Bledsoe 0-3 0-0 0, Landon Taylor 0-0 0-0 0, Chase McCarty 5-16 10-11 21, Jackson Hammond 1-2 1-3 3, Eric Robinson 6-11 0-0 14, Lawson Collier 0-2 3-4 3, DJ Massey 0-1 0-0 0, Grant Kaufmann 0-0 0-0 0, Tyler Engle 0-1 0-0 0, Tim Clark 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 12-37 14-18 41.
JACKSONVILLE – Camren Johnson 5-8 0-0 13, Caden Johnson 3-8 0-1 6, John Broom 3-6 8-8 14, Cade Phillips 3-7 2-2 8, Julian Hill 1-4 0-0 2, JaeTaj Morris 0-0 0-0 0, Devin Barksdale 0-1 0-0 0, Quin Long 2-3 0-0 4, Kydric Fisher 0-0 0-0 0, JaLiek Long 0-1 2-4 2, Ethan Duke 0-0 1-2 1. Totals 17-38 13-17 50.
Westminster 13 0 13 15 – 41
Jacksonville 9 17 10 14 – 50
3-point goals: Westminster 3-12 (Bledsoe 0-1, McCarty 1-6, Robinson 2-3, Massey 0-1, Engle 0-1); Jacksonville 3-12 (Cm. Johnson 3-6, Cd. Johnson 0-1, Phillips 0-1, Hill 0-1, Barksdale 0-1, Q. Long 0-1, J. Long 0-1). Rebounds: Westminster 24 (Hammond 6); Jacksonville 24 (Broom 6). Technical fouls: Duke. Total fouls: Westminster 15, Jacksonville 16. Officials: Tidwell, Mayes, Epperson. [*** read more]
