Boys, girls basketball teams both advance
BY DANIEL SCHMIDT FOR THE OBSERVER
MONTGOMERY – With their eyes set on bringing a state title home, the Auburn High School boys and girls basketball teams looked to make some noise in the opening round of the 7A state basketball tournament.
Both teams passed their first test as the Tigers defeated Enterprise High School in a down-to-the-wire 50-45 thriller and the Lady Tigers coasted to a 72-31 victory over Dothan High School at the Dunn-Oliver Acadome at Alabama State University in Montgomery on Feb. 14.
With the victory, the Tigers improve to 22-9 while the Wildcats’ season ended at 18-7. The Lady Tigers are now 26-5, and the Lady Wolves end the year with a 17-10 record.
After the game, Auburn head boys’ basketball coach Chris Brandt praised EHS for making the game uncomfortably close down the stretch with their post play and willingness to not quit.
But more importantly, the performance backed up Brandt’s assertion that his team would have no problem shaking off the disappointment of losing to Central High School in the 7A Area 4 title game on Feb. 8.
“We knew everything that Enterprise was going to run and were able to beat them to their spot. I think the preparation of what we did at practice [won the game],” Brandt said after the game. “No matter what happened in the area championship, we knew we were going to be here. It was disappointing that we lost [to Central], but I think my players would take this game any day of the week and twice on Sunday.”
Brandt credited the victory to the free throw shooting abilities of Antwane Daniels and Tabari Allen, whose six-straight successful free throw attempts in the fourth quarter kept a furious EHS comeback attempt at bay.
“We were trying to get the ball in the hands of our best free throw shooters,” Brandt said. “This is one of my better free-throw-shooting teams all around, which is very unusual for me. I’ve only got a couple of players who struggle, and I didn’t put them in that situation.”
The Tigers started with a bang as Cash Reif opened the scoring with a three-point shot and free throw. While the Wildcats responded early by establishing a physical presence in the paint, it ultimately proved not to be enough.
Reif’s success behind the line proved a harbinger of things to come as a flurry of AHS three-pointers ended a brief scoring drought and gave the Tigers a 15-10 lead after the first quarter.
Smelling blood in the water and with momentum on its side, AHS looked to extend the lead. It got just that as Trindon Manior took over the game, scoring all seven of his points in the quarter as the Tigers went on a 16-12 run to go up 31-22 at halftime.
Down by nine, EHS came out of the locker room intent on taking advantage of their size advantage in the paint and slowing the game down. That strategy initially paid off as both defenses forced frantic passes and turnovers around the perimeter. Yet as the third quarter ended, AHS still held onto its advantage as Reif and Allen combined to hold the Wildcats in check.
Despite entering what proved to be a pressure-packed fourth quarter with a 10-point lead, things started unraveling for the Tigers. Facing elimination, the Wildcats turned to forcing the ball to Aidan Williams and Tucker Wadsworth in the paint, and AHS’ lead slowly slipped away.
With the Tigers clinging to a one-point advantage, that’s where Allen came in. Although silent for most of the game, the star senior forward contributed when it mattered most as his free throw shooting with less than 20 seconds left ultimately carried AHS across the finish line.
Allen paced the Tigers with 12 points while Antwane Daniels contributed 11 points. For the Wildcats, Williams led all scorers with 16 points while Tucker Wadsworth pitched in 12 points.
While the boys’ contest perhaps provided someone with cardiovascular issues some reason to worry, the Lady Tigers easily rolled over the Lady Wolves.
Following the victory, AHS head girls’ basketball coach Courtney Pritchett talked about the message going into the game being focused on fundamentals before looking ahead to a fourth showdown with the Lady Red Devils this season.
“We talked all week about just being able to execute on offense and run the things that we wanted to run, and then doing a great job on defense,” Pritchett said. “We all know that it’s hard to beat a team four times. Central’s done a great job all season, all of those games have been really tight, really close games.”
Pritchett then praised his three-headed monster of Daley Alsobrook, Brooke Hallman and Braylee Winfrey — affectionately known as the “Splash Sisters” — for having a special bond.
“They do a great job of sharing the ball, they find each other in space, they know what’s a good shot for each one of them,” Pritchett said. “I’ve never coached a chemistry like that in three kids, so it’s been a blessing and a wild ride.”
It didn’t take long for Pritchett’s star trio to stamp their mark on the game. Winfrey exploded for 13 points and Alsobrook made two quick three-pointers as the Lady Tigers overpowered the Lady Wolves en route to a 24-6 first quarter lead.
Adversity struck AHS early in the second quarter when it appeared Winfrey slightly twisted her ankle. In response, Brooke Hallman — who scored 10 of the Lady Tigers’ 14 points in the quarter — picked up the slack and AHS’ defense forced DHS to take shots from behind the three-point line.
Following the 14-5 AHS run, both teams entered their respective locker rooms with the score at 38-11 and the Lady Tigers in cruise control.
Coming out of halftime, things started sloppily as both head coaches called a timeout within the first 47 seconds. The Lady Tigers quickly settled back in from there, going on a 24-16 run as Alsobrook and Winfrey’s 17 combined points negated Ellisia Rambo’s trio of three-point baskets.
With AHS up 62-27 and in complete control of the game entering the fourth quarter, officials instituted a running clock up. That decision did little to stop the Lady Tigers as they seemingly went up and down the court at will, scoring several easy layups until the final buzzer sounded.
Winfrey led all scorers with 25 points, while Alsobrook and Hallman scored 19 and 16 points for the Lady Tigers, respectively. Rambo, the only scorer with double digits for the Lady Wolves, notched 10 points.
What’s Next
Both the boys and girls teams moved on to face Central High School in the 7A central region finals. The games were scheduled to take place at the Dunn-Oliver Acadome in Montgomery on Wednesday, Feb. 19. Results were unavailable at press time.
The Tigers are 0-3 thus far this season against CHS. The Red Devils won the previous three matchups 75-63, 67-59 and 63-50.
The Lady Tigers are 3-0 this season against CHS, having won the previous three matchups 67-55, 47-38 and 54-43.
