Bulldogs win area behind Blanchard
- Updated: February 13, 2016
Senior point guard named MVP after filling the box score with a big second half
Tournament MVP Bayley Blanchard grabs his piece of the net after leading Piedmont to its second straight area championship. On the cover, Blanchard (21) is joined by teammates (from left) Easton Kirk, Darnell Jackson and Austin Brazier on the all-tournament team.
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
PIEDMONT — By his own admission Bayley Blanchard did not have one of his best first halves of the season. He was determined to do all he could to make up for it after halftime.
The Piedmont senior was true to his word. He scored 15 of his game-high 23 points in the second half, including four key points in the final minute, to help Piedmont hold off Weaver 72-68 for the Class 3A Area 12 tournament title.
Blanchard was the tournament MVP. He filled the box score. He was 7-of-12 from the field, grabbed five rebounds, had four assists, three steals and two blocked shots.
It was the Bulldogs’ seventh area title in coach Tommy Lewis’ 10-year tenure. They will host Glencoe in Tuesday’s 7 p.m. subregional round, while Weaver will travel to top-ranked Westbrook Christian. The winners advance to the Northeast Regional
“I knew I let my team down in the first half; I just knew I needed a big half,” Blanchard said. “You play a lot of games in the season and you can kind of tell when you’re doing good and when you’re not and that definitely was not one of my best first halves.
“I was making too many turnovers, too many mistakes; just wasn’t playing at my best. I’ve got to give 100 percent for them because they’re giving 100 percent for me. At Piedmont we’re taught to be competitive; we don’t want anyone to beat us, no matter who it is. We talked in the locker room about the mistakes we made and what we can correct and we came out and dealt with it.”
The Bulldogs (19-11) jumped out to 17-3 lead, then Darnell Jackson took a shot in the face that left a cut under his right eye that kept opening. The game was delayed briefly at he received attention and it seemed to sap a lot of their momentum.
Weaver battled back behind Malik Arnold, Ducky Morris, Maurice Goodman and Craig Copeland to take a 35-34 lead with 1:35 left in the half before Piedmont went into the break ahead 36-35.
Blanchard started the second half with a three-point play and a basket and it looked like the Bulldogs were back on their way to winning going away. But Arnold wouldn’t be denied in the fourth quarter, scoring 14 of his 20 points and sweeping the boards, and the Bearcats eventually tied it at 66 on a free throw by Copeland with 1:17 to play.
“We had opportunities to get him the ball earlier and didn’t take advantage of it,” Weaver coach Daryl Hamby said. “We’ve got to do a better job recognizing Malik in the post because he’s playing better and better every game. He’s hard to deal with. We’ve got guys who can penetrate and dish and we don’t do that. We want the ball going through his hands.”
By the same token, Piedmont wants the ball going through Blanchard’s hands – and the Bearcats didn’t play him smart.
“This is what we did wrong with Bayley: We fouled him too many times,” Hamby said. “He got a lot of points from the free throw line 90 feet away. We’ve got to learn how to play better defense. All of them were fouls. We can’t do that. Ninety-foot fouls when they’re in the bonus, that’s giving points away. We don’t need to do that. That’s not very smart basketball.”
Blanchard broke the 66-all tie with a driving layup just as the clock turned to the fast numbers, then hit free throws to keep the Bulldogs ahead with 25 seconds left and 7.2 seconds to play.
The senior point guard was 4-for-8 from the foul line in the fourth quarter, 9-for-13 in the second half.
“He became a man the second half; I don’t know how to explain it,” teammate Easton Kirk said. “He just took the game over. Nobody could guard him in the second half at all.”
Austin Brazier added 18 points for the Bulldogs. Taylor Hayes had 11 points and seven rebounds. Goodman added 14 points to Weaver.
Piedmont 72, Weaver 68
WEAVER – Maurice Goodman 4 4-6 14, Craig Copeland 3 1-3 8, Paul Hubbard 3 0-0 6, London Knight 1 0-0 2, Dalton Hamby 0 0-0 0, R.J. Wooden 3 0-1 8, Robert Gaines 0 0-0 0, Dane Akers 0 0-0 0, Giovanni Mosley 2 1-3 6, Malik Arnold 8 4-7 20, Ducky Morris 2 0-0 4. Totals 26 10-20 68.
PIEDMONT (19-11) – Darnell Jackson 1 5-6 7, Taylor Hayes 3 5-5 11, Easton Kirk 3 0-0 9, Cardavian Myers 1 1-2 3, Malik Gamble 0 0-0 0, Bayley Blanchard 7 9-14 23, Austin Brazier 5 7-10 18, Derrick Baer 0 1-2 1. Totals 20 28-39 72.
Weaver 13 22 10 23 — 68
Piedmont 23 13 21 15 — 72
3-point goals: Weaver 6 (Goodman 2, Copeland, Wooden 2, Mosley); Piedmont 4 (Kirk 3, Brazier). Technical foul: Piedmont coach Lewis. Fouled out: Hubbard, Copeland, Hayes. Total fouls: Weaver 30, Piedmont 21. Officials: Allen, Killingsworth, Burroughs.
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