By Al Muskewitz
Class 3A Area 11: McGregor delivers in Weaver’s win over Pleasant Valley; Piedmont routs Ohatchee
CLASS 3A AREA 11 BOYS
Wednesday’s Games
Piedmont 65, Ohatchee 19
Weaver 49, Pleasant Valley 45
PIEDMONT – Beau Winn has been waiting all season for Buck McGregor to step up in a critical situation for the Weaver basketball team. The junior guard delivered at a most crucial time Wednesday night.
McGregor stepped up in the fourth quarter with leading scorer Tristan Brown on the bench with four fouls and scored six points in the middle of the key 16-4 run that brought the Bearcats back from a six-point deficit to beat Pleasant Valley 49-45 in the Class 3A Area 9 tournament.
“We’ve been waiting on Buck all season to do what he can do and tonight he stepped up,” Winn said. “He’s started every game for us this year but just hasn’t been able to get it going for a full four quarters. Tonight, he did.
“He’s the first sub out of the game the entire year, too, so I guess you could call him the five and a half man (as opposed to the fifth starter or sixth man). He came up clutch for us tonight when we needed him the most and that’s big – for him and this team.”
The Bearcats will now play top-seeded host Piedmont Friday for the area championship. They’ll cross with Childersburg and Saks in the sub-regional next week.
Weaver led the entire first half, but fell behind when the Raiders scored nine straight points early in the third quarter to take a 32-26 lead. It was 36-30 when Brown hit back-to-back 3-pointers to touch off the Bearcats’ rally.
But in the middle of the comeback, near the end of the third quarter, Brown picked up his fourth foul and took a seat next to Winn. That meant somebody had to step up if the Bearcats were going to survive to the next round.
Enter McGregor. He rolled off a couple screens to hit a quick 3 and a 2 to give the Bearcats the lead for good, then added a free throw when Brown re-entered the game to make it 44-40 with three minutes to play.
He finished with 10 points. Brown had a game-high 15 and Armane Burton had 14. Burton also had 10 rebounds and five blocked shots.
“It was win or go home, I had to step up,” McGregor said. “Somebody had to do it or we were going to be going home tonight. I had the opportunity and I took it.”
The Raiders were looking to earn a spot in the sub-regional for the first time since 2004 and could have gotten it had they not missed so many free throws or shots around the basket. They were 3-of-13 from the free throw line.
They were down three with 1:00 to play. Weaver gave them chances by missing three straight front ends, but they couldn’t capitalize. In one instance, they missed three straight shots around the goal. Another time they lost a chance at some free throws to a lane violation.
“We got everything we wanted,” PV coach Brad Hood said. “We were the more physical team, the more aggressive team, we got better looks, it just didn’t fall. They shot lights out when they needed to shoot lights out. And as bad as they shot at the free throw line (10-of-19), we shot worse.”
The Raiders were led by Garrett Cranmer’s 12 points. Brayden Maye and Kolby Battles had 10 each.
PIEDMONT 65, OHATCHEE 19: Alex Odam hit five 3-pointers and scored a game-high 17 points as the Bulldogs easily secured their spot in the area finals and subregion tournament. Cassius Fairs and Ish Bethel chipped in 11 points apiece.
The Bulldogs will be seeking their eighth straight area title and 13th in the last 14 years when they take on Weaver Friday night. The Bulldogs beat the Bearcats 88-53 in the title game last year.
Weaver 49, Pleasant Valley 45
PLEASANT VALLEY – Brayden Maye 5 0-3 10, Garrett Cranmer 5 2-6 12, Jacob Teal 0 0-0 0, Dalton Haynes 0 0-0 0, Brandon Robinson 2 1-2 5, Kolby Battles 5 0-2 10, Zeke Johnson 3 0-0 8, Kyle Smith 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 3-13 45.
WEAVER – Tristan Brown 5 3-4 15, Jeffrery Miles 2 0-0 4, Kohl Perry 1 0-0 2, Eli Smith 0 0-0 0, Dawson Brooks 1 2-4 4, Buck McGregor 4 1-5 10, Armane Burton 4 4-6 14. Totals 17 10-19 49.
Pleasant Valley 12 11 13 9 – 45
Weaver 14 10 12 13 – 49
3-point goals: Pleasant Valley 2 (Johnson); Weaver 5 (Brown 2, McGregor, Burton 2). Fouled out: Smith. Total fouls: Pleasant Valley 17, Weaver 12. Officials: Wood, Poss.
Piedmont 65, Ohatchee 19
OHATCHEE – Eli Teem 1 0-0 3, Jake Roberts 0 0-0 0, Jesse Baswell 0 0-0 0, Carson Tittle 1 2-2 5, Alston Carroll 0 0-0 0, Colby Hester 1 0-3 3, Jake Roberson 0 1-2 1, Nate Dover 1 0-0 2, Brent Jennings 0 0-0 0, Luke Vinson 1 0-1 2, Kelbe Crook 1 1-2 3. Totals 6 4-10 19.
PIEDMONT – Alex Odam 6 0-0 17, Omarion Foster 0 0-0 0, Gavin Lawler 2 0-0 6, Cassius Fairs 5 0-0 11, Cole Wilson 1 0-0 3, Ridge Fagan 2 0-0 4, Ish Bethel 4 2-5 11, Jake Rhinehart 0 0-0 0, Chance Murphy 2 0-1 4, Coleman Reid 0 0-0 0, Rhett Alford 4 0-0 9. Totals 26 2-6 65.
Ohatchee 3 9 6 1 – 19
Piedmont 14 19 12 20 – 65
3-point goals: Ohatchee 3 (Teem, Tittle, Hester); Piedmont 11 (Odam 5, Lawler 2, Fairs, Wilson, Bethel, Alford). Total fouls: Ohatchee 8, Piedmont 14. Officials: Dupree, Montgomery, Ware. [*** Read More]
