Piedmont’s ride ends

Bulldogs go from rebuilt to region finals, loses to ‘very, very good’ Plainview team that flexes its defensive, shooting muscles

By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today

JACKSONVILLE – Everyone knows about Plainview’s ability to shoot the deep ball, but what tends to get overlooked sometimes is the way the Bears play defense.

It took the Bears a while to get their 3s to drop, but their defense was spot-on especially early.

It was the key to an 18-3 run through most of the first quarter and into the second that gave the Bears control of an eventual 64-36 victory over Piedmont in the Class 3A Northeast Regional final.

“It’s that old saying, offense sells tickets, defense wins championships,” Plainview coach Robi Coker said. “We wanted to shoot a lot of 3s and wanted to break the state record again for 3s attempted; obviously, you want to break the record for 3s made, but the only one you can control is 3s attempted.

“After about eight or 10 games and everybody was talking – really after the Sacred Heart game – about how well we shot the ball I said guys, don’t forget we’re a hard-nosed, tough defensive-pressure basketball team that shoots a lot of 3s, not a finesse, 3-point shooting team that happens to press.

“The ball wasn’t falling, but because of our defense we were able to get easy layups … and it was our defensive pressure and our ability to get open, easy looks that finally knocked the top off that 3-ball for us.”

The game was tied 7-7 midway through the first quarter when the Bears (32-2) started their run. Between the fast pace and the rapid-fire substitutions – Plainview used 13 players for three minutes or more – the Bulldogs (21-12) admitted to confusion finding their man and fatigue and the gap steadily grew.

It was a 12-point game after the first quarter and then the Bears started hitting their 3s. Plainview was 11-of-30 from 3-point range in the game and scored 24 points off Piedmont turnovers. The Bears were 9-of-21 from behind the arc in the final three quarters.

“I told them you’ve played a very, very good team,” Piedmont coach Tommy Lewis said. “We didn’t play them as well as we should have or could have, but it wasn’t like you lost to somebody you should be hanging your head about or someone you’re going the rest of your life saying ‘well, if we had done what we should have …’

“We’ve done that. And we’ve lost to Plainview a couple years when we probably shouldn’t have, but this wasn’t one of those years. That’s a very good team.”

That Piedmont was in this position at all was a testament to the team’s resilience this season.

The Bulldogs lost all their stars from the year before and the one who was coming back decided not to play basketball. Another was hurt coming off football and another moved away. Lee Stanley was the only senior and said it was “fun” trying to be a leader for this young team.

All they did was win their area regular-season championship, their area tournament (for Lewis’ 600th career victory) and make it to the regional finals.

“To win 20-something games and do that with nobody who started, I was just proud of them,” Lewis said.

Stanley and T.J. Fairs repped the Bulldogs on the all-tournament team. Stanley had 11 points and five rebounds in the final. Delo Foster did not make the all-tournament team, but had six points, nine rebounds and five blocked shots.

Plainview’s Caden Millican was the tournament MVP, but he credited teammate Jeffery Armstrong for making things happen by doing things that don’t show up on the box score.

CLASS 3A BOYS
Plainview 64, Piedmont 36
PIEDMONT (21-12) – Kaedon Jenkins 1-3 0-0 3, Delo Foster 2-4 2-2 6, Ryley Kirk 2-7 1-2 6, Lee Stanley 5-11 0-2 11, T.J. Fairs 1-4 0-0 2, Carl Myers 0-2 0-0 0, Logan Pruitt 0-0 0-0 0, Alex Odam 2-7 0-0 5, Malachi Jackson 1-1 0-0 2, Jakari Foster 0-1 1-4 1, Sean Smith 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 14-40 4-10 36.

PLAINVIEW (32-2) – Caden Millican 5-11 2-2 15, Bailey Dukes 2-4 0-0 5, Jeffery Armstrong 5-9 3-5 14, Cade Willingham 4-6 0-0 9, Koby Tinker 3-10 0-0 6, Tristan Willingham 0-0 0-0 0, Sebastian Long 0-0 0-0 0, Dane Haymon 1-4 0-0 3, Andrew McLaughlin 0-1 0-0 0, Haden White 1-4 0-0 3, Clay Cooper 1-3 0-0 3, Devin Foshee 0-2 0-0 0, Jackson Hosch 2-2 0-0 6. Totals 24-56 5-7 64.

Piedmont 10 10 8 8 — 36
Plainview 22 20 11 11 — 64

3-point goals: Piedmont 4-20 (D. Jenkins 1-3, Foster 0-1, Kirk 1-4, Stanley 1-3, Fairs 0-2, Myers 0-2, Odam 1-4, J. Foster 0-1); Plainview 11-30 (Millican 3-6, Dukes 1-2, Armstrong 1-3, C. Willingham 1-2, Tinker 0-4, Haymon 1-2, McLaughlin 0-1, White 1-4, Cooper 1-2, Foshee 0-2, Hosch 2-2). Rebounds: Piedmont 26 (Foster 9, Stanley 5); Plainview 38 (C. Willingham 8, Haymon 6). Total fouls: Piedmont 9, Plainview 14. Officials: Byron Evans, Courtney Walker, Alan Cosby.

CLASS 3A GIRLS
Pisgah 80, Glencoe 58
GLENCOE (23-9) – Anna Beth Giles 4-6 1-2 9, Ashley Morgan 1-4 1-7 3, Kenleigh Harper 3-5 2-2 8, Lauren Cole 2-3 0-0 4, Breia Little 0-6 1-2 1, Anna Grace Goodwin 1-5 7-8 10, Abby Vice 3-4 6-11 12, Alyssa Goodwin 0-0 0-0 0, Asia Dennis 0-0 1-2 1, Lexi Gray 0-0 0-0 0, Kaylie Davis 1-2 1-2 3, Crimson Silvey 0-1 0-0 0, Aubrey Gray 2-4 0-2 4, Makhaiya Cherry 0-0 0-0 0, Cami Zahorscak 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 18-42 20-38 58.

PISGAH (29-1) – Kaylee Vaught 5-7 0-0 13, Abbey Grace Womack 0-4 1-2 1, Savannah Mason 5-7 7-10 17, Annie Hughes 8-17 5-9 21, Bailey Law 1-6 2-3 5, Bella Bobo 0-0 0-0 0, Kennedy Barron 0-0 0-0 0, Layla Hatfield 0-3 2-2 2, Rhyli Arnold 2-2 0-0 4, Hannah Duncan 0-1 0-0 0, Shalyn Smith 1-3 2-2 4, Madison Myers 2-8 3-4 7, Molly Heard 2-8 3-4 7, Alanna Paschal 0-1 0-0 0, Kristen York 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 27-64 22-32 80.

Glencoe 11 16 9 22 — 58
Pisgah 19 20 27 14 — 80

3-point goals: Glencoe 2-10 (Harper 0-1, Cole 0-1, Little 0-4, AG Goodwin 1-2, Gray 0-1, Zahorczak 1-1); Pisgah 4-16 (Vaught 3-4, Womack 0-2, Hughes 0-3, Law 1-2, Hatfield 0-2, Smith 0-1, Myers 0-1, Paschal 0-1). Rebounds: Glencoe 33 (Giles 6); Pisgah 44 (Mason 6, Hughes 6). Technical fouls: Davis. Total fouls: Glencoe 26, Pisgah 26. Officials: Anthony Dupree, Will Rasely, Darius Binion.

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