JACKSONVILLE — Alexandria boys fight back from early hole to take lead, but Plainview, now 4A, advances to NE Regional final for fifth year in a row.
East Alabama Sports Today
Alexandria’s boys made their run at Plainview during Thursday’s Class 4A Northeast Regional semifinals.
As Plainview is wont to do, the Bears answered with their run.
A 16-2 Plainview run after Alexandria took a third-quarter lead regained the upper hand, and the Bears held off the Valley Cubs 64-56 in Pete Mathews Coliseum.
Plainview (27-6), new to 4A after years of dominating the Northeast Regional’s 3A bracket, advanced to the regional final for the fifth year in a row and ninth time overall, all since 2016. The Bears will play the Hokes Bluff-Madison Academy winner on Feb. 19 at 2:30 p.m.
Alexandria finished 27-4.
“We got ourselves in a little hole in the first half, lost focus a little bit there and got down 12 or 14 points,” Alexandria coach Will Ginn said. “We kind of got together at halftime and changed our way of thinking a little bit and corrected some things and came out with a lot more intensity.
“I thought the game really flipped in the second half.”
Down 32-24 at halftime, Alexandria outscored Plainview 19-9 and took a 43-41 lead on Cole Wheeler’s 3-pointer at 3:07 of the third quarter.
Plainview answered with a 16-4 run to lead 57-47 at 5:42 of the fourth and held off Alexandria.
“We just had to respond,” first-year Plainview coach and former Plainview player Cade Willingham said. “We wanted to come out and set the tone, and we didn’t. That run we went on, we just executed very well. We were getting to the basket, took some really good shots, just moved it and kept playing.
“These guys have been in high-level basketball games. I trust them to make the right plays, especially when they did take the lead.”
Alexandria’s Jaylen Henderson scored 22 points in his final high school game, hitting two 3-pointers. McDowell, also a senior, finished with 11 points and six rebounds, and Wheeler added nine points with eight boards.
“We worked hard to get here,” McDowell said. “We played good basketball to get here. I’m proud of the team and the way we fought every single game.
“The work we put in, day in and day out, coming in on some Sundays after church and stuff, two-and-a-half-hour practices, sometimes three-hour practices, overall, I’m just proud of each and every one of us.”
Photo gallery by Greg Warren
