By Al Muskewitz
Munford holds off Cleburne County to advance in area tournament; Donoho falls to Coosa Christian
Monday’s Area Tournaments
4A-9: Munford 62, Cleburne County 58
2A-7: Spring Garden 88, Gaston 41
1A-10: Coosa Christian 57, Donoho 47
MUNFORD – All the Munford Lions want is a chance to play in the playoffs.
Thanks to a big game from their two top scorers and their best defense of the game in the final three minutes, they keep that dream alive.
The Lions completed a season sweep of Cleburne County Monday night with a 62-58 victory in the Class 4A Area 9 play-in game between the fourth and fifth seeds.
They will now play top seed host Handley Wednesday. If they make it through that one, they’ll earn their first spot in the football or basketball playoffs in their three years under coach Michael Easley.
Munford’s Connor Morgan hit five 3-pointers and led all scorers with 31 points. Teammate Jaquan Anderson had 13, with eight coming in the fourth quarter after the Lions fell behind by eight in a game they led most of the way. And those hopes would’ve certainly been dashed if the Lions hadn’t held their visitors scoreless over the final 3:15 of the game.
“Basketball has always been my passion,” Morgan said. “I play baseball, I played football growing up; (but) it was always basketball for me.
“I always told myself growing up that I want to lead the team to the playoffs. I want a shot. Munford hasn’t made the playoffs in so long and the way I look at it, if we can make it – you’ve watched March Madness – anything can happen. We can be the Cinderella team.”
The Lions came out hot with seven of their first eight buckets coming from 3-point range and they led 33-26 at halftime. But the Tigers rallied in the third quarter behind Dayleon Brown and Dee Prothro and took a 48-46 lead into the fourth quarter.
Brown scored all 12 of his points in the third quarter and Prothro went 4-for-4 from the free throw line.
The Tigers stretched their lead to eight, 54-46, two minutes into the fourth quarter before Anderson, Morgan and the defense brought the Lions back.
Layton Stephens’ layup with 1:04 to play put Munford up for good, 59-58, and Anderson made it aa three-point game with a pair of free throws with 14 seconds left.
The Tigers were setting up a potential game-tying 3-pointer but they traveled in the front court with 8.9 seconds left. Morgan sealed it with a free throw with 6.9 seconds left.
Morgan was 8-of-12 from the line in the game, 5-for-6 in the fourth quarter. He was only 8-for-27 in his last five games from the line, including a 3-for-8 effort the last time he played Cleburne County.
“In like the last three games I’ve been struggling with my free throws,” Morgan said. “So this past week I’ve been really focusing on them. I’ve been at the house, I’ve been staying in the gym late whenever I can, so I knew I’d be ready. I was hoping I’d get a chance.”
When the final whistle sounded, Demetrius Norwood made his way over to the student section and waved their broom in the air signifying the Lions’ 3-0 sweep of the Tigers.
“This is really big for us,” Easley said. “We’ve got eight seniors. We wanted a shot at the playoffs. Several of these guys have played on the varsity for three years. All these guys played football for us the last two years. They’ve been really close to the playoffs in both sports.
“We were that close against Clay Central my first year and we just couldn’t hit any shots that night. We won this game last year and then went on to play (top seed and eventual state champion) Anniston, which was probably the best team in 4A, 5A or 6A. This is big for our seniors.”
CLASS 4A AREA 9
Munford 62, Cleburne County 58
CLEBURNE COUNTY – Andrew Adams 0 0-0 0, Grant Harcrow 3 0-0 7, Jackson Miller 2 4-4 10, Jaylon Groce 0 0-0 0, Ron Ervin 0 0-0 0, Rico Hugley 0 0-2 0, Dayleon Brown 4 2-2 12, Dee Prothro 1 4-10 6, Kyler McGrinn 0 2-4 2, Grey Freeman 4 0-1 9, Isaac Marshall 4 3-4 13. Totals 18 15-27 58.
MUNFORD – Jaquan Anderson 4 4-5 13, Caderio Holland 1 0-0 2, Jacoby Young 2 0-0 5, Connor Morgan 9 8-12 31, Demetrius Norwood 0 0-0 0, Lathan Stephens 2 3-6 8, B.J. Anderson 1 1-2 3, Alex Petty 0 0-0 0, Kelby Tucker 0 0-0 0, Kyler Gibson 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 16-25 62.
Cleburne County 17 9 22 10 – 58
Munford 19 14 13 16 – 62
3-point goals: Cleburne County 7 (Harcrow, Miller 2, Brown 2, Marshall 2); Munford 8 (J. Anderson, Young, Morgan 5, Stephens). Rebounds: Cleburne County 24 (Prothro 7, Groce 7); Munford 30 (Gibson 6, Anderson 5, Holland 5, Morgan 5). Fouled out: Brown. Total fouls: Cleburne County 25, Munford 20. Officials: Williams, Davis, Kelly. [*** read more]
