Hunger games
- Updated: February 10, 2021
Weaver 3-1 since returning from quarantine, wins third straight to head into area title game, sub-regional tournament
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
WEAVER – Beau Winn was absolutely sick (no pun intended) when the COVID-19 quarantine took his Weaver basketball team off the floor for two weeks just as it was heading into the stretch run.
But it’s turning out the shutdown may just have been the reset the Bearcats needed.
Since coming out of COVID quarantine having nary touched a basketball in two weeks, the Bearcats have gone 3-1, won three in a row and after Tuesday night’s 77-71 area tournament victory over Pleasant Valley are headed to the Class 3A sub-regionals.
“When you’re off two weeks you never know what group you’re going to get back,” Winn said. “I think I got the group back that were hungry to come back and play some more basketball, and I think they appreciated it more.
“We had to work out some bugs, get our legs back under us that first game, change some things up on defense, but that was the reset button that just got us going for the grind … You try to find a silver lining in a bad situation, that’s what we did. Didn’t give some magnificent speech, we just came back and got to work.”
The Weaver team that went into the quarantine the Monday of the county tournament “was not the team you see right here,” Winn said.
It was the third time Weaver and PV have played since the Bearcats came out of quarantine and all three have been intense. The first was on their first day back without any practice. The second time, last Tuesday night, was an overtime shootout that determined the home seed for Tuesday night’s game.
This latest meeting, the Bearcats put six scorers in a tight cluster. The team’s two seniors, Brendyn Knight, who hit the floater at the buzzer to beat PV the last time the teams played, and Kyle Knight were their leading scorers with 22 and 19, respectively. Jeffrey Miles and Tristan Brown 10 each, and Kohl Perry and Jackson Williams each had eight.
At least one of the players had some extra motivation to succeed.
“Their coach said the last game was a fluke game; I just wanted to prove that it wasn’t,” Brendyn Knight said. “A fluke of that game-winner I hit. It started a fire in me.”
Weaver was down nine two minutes into the second quarter. Winn called time to get the Bearcats together and when they returned to the floor they seemed a completely different team. They outscored the Raiders 14-5 to the end of the half with Kyle Knight sinking two free throws with 2.5 seconds left to earn a 37-37 tie.
The Bearcats scored the first five points of the third quarter – all at the free throw line – to take the lead for good. Seven times after that PV got within one or tied and every time the Bearcats answered to turn them away. Twice Jackson Williams hit 3-pointers and twice Brendyn Knight did.
The last one touched off an 8-2 run that gave them a seven-point lead with a minute to play.
“Sometimes we drop our heads and look like we’re about to give up, but for some reason we just fight back,” Kyle Knight said. “We’ve got a dog in us. There’s just no giving up in us at all. After coming off the COVID break, we’ve just been out there doing it.
“I think it showed us anything can happen at any point and at any time we can not play again. I think we got together and started playing as a team. I haven’t heard an argument yet. We’re just pushing each other as hard as we can and it ain’t stopping.”
There was some doubt whether PV’s leading scorer Josh Ballew would play. He hurt his right knee last Friday and was his game-time decision as to whether he’d play. He rubbed some of coach Brad Hood’s ointment into the knee before the game, strapped on his brace and went out and scored 34 points. He had 46 in the overtime game against the Bearcats after being held to two in their post-quarantine encounter.
Garrett Cranmer came out strong for the Raiders, scored nine points in the first quarter and finished with 15. Justin Winningham dominated low with 10 points and 18 rebounds.
“I thought that was (Cranmer’s) best overall game all year,” PV coach Brad Hood said. “The big three played as well or better than they have all year at the same time. The problem is nobody else stepped up tonight.”
Weaver 77, Pleasant Valley 71
PLEASANT VALLEY – Garrett Cranmer 6 3-4 15, Josh Ballew 11 10-12 34, Oliver Young 0 0-0 0, Kolby Battles 1 2-2 4, Zeke Johnson 3 0-0 8, Justin Winningham 5 0-0 10, Pelham Parris 0 0-0 0. Totals 26 15-18 71.
WEAVER – Brendyn Knight 7 5-11 22, Kyle Knight 4 9-12 19, Jackson Williams 3 0-0 8, Kohl Perry 3 2-3 8, Jeffrey Miles 4 2-3 10, Tristan Brown 2 6-9 10. Totals 23 24-38 77.
Pleasant Valley 24 13 16 18 – 71
Weaver 20 17 22 18 – 77
3-point goals: Pleasant Valley 4 (Ballew 2, Johnson 2); Weaver 7 (B. Knight 3, K. Knight 2, Williams 2). Technical fouls: Perry. Fouled out: Young, Winningham. Total fouls: Pleasant Valley 22, Weaver 14. Officials: Weston, Harrell, Washington.
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