BOYS 3A SEMIS: Second-half surge lifts Montgomery Academy into finals
MA’s Mason Ellis shoots over Lauderdale County defenders in the Eagles’ win in the Class 3A semifinals on Tuesday. (Tim Gayle)
By TIM GAYLE
BIRMINGHAM -- At halftime of Montgomery Academy’s game with Lauderdale County, the Eagles were clinging to a 23-22 lead, struggling to find a consistent offense.
“There was a lot of frustration coming into the locker room,” Montgomery Academy senior Will Renfroe said. “We didn’t play our best offensively and our coaches told us that even though we didn’t play our best, we were still up and that was a tribute to our defense.”
To open the third quarter, Renfroe hit a 3-pointer, Jarrett Friendly scored on a putback, Mason Ellis added a free throw and Braden Gordon nailed a 3-pointer and suddenly the Eagles were cruising to a 60-50 win over the Tigers in the 3A semifinals at Legacy Arena on Tuesday.
The defending state champions will aim for a repeat on Friday against Southside-Selma at 2:15 p.m
“It would mean the world to me,” Ellis said. “I felt like, from the beginning, we’ve had a lot of adversity we went through, a lot of doubters. For us to come back and be back in this situation again, it means the world.”
Lauderdale County ends the season at 25-6.
“The third quarter kind of got us,” Lauderdale County coach Whitney Owens said. “At halftime, I thought we were in a good spot but they made the first run in the third quarter and that was the difference in the game.
“Traditionally we don’t play a lot of zone but we went to the zone in the first half because we were struggling to stay in front of them. Rebounding was obviously an issue, but our problem, early in the third quarter, was we had a couple of bad offensive possessions and they got those points in transition. But you’ve got to give them credit. They hit shots today. If we would’ve been a little better in those first four minutes -- and that’s on me -- but they were tough. They were hard to get around.”
The Tigers went scoreless over the first four minutes of the second half, while MA went on a 13-0 run.
“Offensively, we got out in transition a little bit,” Montgomery Academy coach Jeremy Arant explained. “When we get out in transition, we’re really hard to guard. These guys are really good in the open floor. Offensively, we played with a little more freedom than maybe we did in the second quarter.”
And while the offense was key, the defense on Lauderdale County helped the Eagles transition to offense on the other end of the floor.
“It was just focusing and locking in on the defensive end because we knew the offense was going to come,” Montgomery Academy’s Braden Gordon said. “Take No. 5 (Calvin Watkins) out of the game, take No. 2 (Jayden Sears) out of the game and make the other guys do things. And just play hard. They were playing harder than us.”
The 13-0 run boosted the Eagles’ lead to 14 points -- it would moments later extend to a 15-point cushion -- and while the Tigers would trim the deficit to nine points early in the fourth quarter, it was too large a deficit to overcome.
Watkins had 15 points and six rebounds, Asa Butler had nine points and five rebounds and Connor May had eight points and three rebounds.
Gordon had 21 points and four rebounds, Ellis had 12 points, Friendly had 11 points, 14 rebounds and four assists and Renfroe had eight points and three rebounds to help the Eagles return to the championship game.
“These guys have been in this situation before,” Arant said. “They’ve felt it before and everything that comes along with it. One thing about these guys is that when the lights get bigger, they get ready to go.”