Tough area
- Updated: February 3, 2025
Piedmont’s hot 3-point shooting continues while eliminating Ohatchee, and Glencoe survives Westbrook Christian on game-ending putback.
By Joe Medley
East Alabama Sports Today
PIEDMONT — It’s typically hard to judge Piedmont’s boys’ basketball team until near the end of the regular season and area-tournament time.
Judging by recent games, the Bulldogs have hit their groove from the 3-point line.
Cole Wilson hit a team-high five of Piedmont’s 10 3-pointers, and the Bulldogs eliminated Ohatchee 68-56 in Monday’s Class 3A, Area 12 semifinals at Piedmont.
Piedmont (17-7) advanced to Wednesday’s area championship game to face Glencoe. The Bulldogs also clinched a berth in the subregional round.
Wilson finished with 15 points. Colton Proctor (16 points) and Rollie Pinto (10 points) hit two 3-pointers apiece, and Ish Bethel hit one three on the way to a game-high 25 points.
They overcame Ohatchee’s 11 3-pointers. Alston Carroll hit six threes on the way to tying Jake Roberson’s team-high 19 points, and Brayden Collins hit four threes on the way to 16 points.
Piedmont’s hot shooting from the 3-point arc continues a recent trend. The Bulldogs hit 19 threes in a victory over Cherokee County.
It’s no accident that Piedmont has found its groove late in the season, It’s tradition for a school whose football program traditionally makes deep playoff runs, and the Bulldogs played their way to the semifinals in November.
That means a late start to basketball season for several of Piedmont’s players.
“I’m not sure if we’ve played more than we’ve practiced, still,” Piedmont coach Matt Glover said. “We’re just not getting into drills every day where we’re shooting it during practice.
“The more you can shoot, the more they’re going to fall in a game. I think we finally got in basketball rhythm.”
How much of a key is 3-point shooting for Piedmont’s long-term postseason viability.
“We’re going to shoot it, if we’re open,” Glover said. “Everybody’s got the green light, if they’re open, for a three.
“However, we’ve got to realize when we’re not making our threes, which has been some games, we still have to find a way to win.”
Not a problem Monday. Piedmont hit eight threes in the first half and led 40-18 at halftime.
Ohatchee, trying to shoot its way back into the game, hit eight of its threes in the second half.\
“This was a big game, and we executed good,” Bethel said. “I’m proud of all of us.”
Ohatchee finished its first season under head coach Quintarius Hutchison 16-10.
“It was a good first season,” he said. “It was up and down. We had a good start to the season. We didn’t finish well. We ended up[ getting injuries.”
GLENCOE 60, WESTBROOK CHRISTIAN 58: Bryce Borntrager’s putback as regulation time expired touched off a wild celebration as Glencoe (21-5) saved its season and eliminated Westbrook Christian (10-13).
Glencoe inbounded on Westbrook’s end with 4.5 seconds left, and Wade Seagrest hurried the ball upcourt, driving to the basket. His shot attempt missed, but Borntrager awaited on the other side of the basket.
Borntrager caught the ball off of the glass and put it back in without coming back down.
“We ran a play where we just crossed each other,” Borntrager said. “He was going to drive the ball and shoot a layup as fast as he can, and I was there on the backside. Nobody was there.”
The play came after Westbrook’s Titus Jones took an inbounds pass after coming off of screens, dribbled to the basket unchallenged and scored to tie the game 58-58.
“We had a play called the first go around, and it didn’t work,” Westbrook Christian coach Wester said. “We called timeout again and ran a sideline play where the kid made a really good read on it and rolled around it, and the passer made a great pass.
“You can’t ask for a better shot than that.”
Jones scored a game-high 25 points, including three 3-pointers, and Brady Carden added 16 points, hitting two 3-pointers along the way.
Seagrest led Glencoe with 19 points (two 3-pointers). The Yellow Jackets also got 13 from Jayden Patton and 11 from Garrett Morgan while surviving and advancing to Wednesday’s final against Piedmont.
The Yellow Jackets survived an elimination game in a strong area.
“I knew it was going to be tough last summer, when I saw what we were getting,” Glencoe coach Ryan Chambless said. “Last year, we had Hokes Bluff. Hokes Bluff goes 4A, and Piedmont comes in, and I thought, ‘Man, it probably just got worse.’
“Westbrook is really well coached by Coach Wester, and they’ve always got guys that play really, really hard. This is really kind of a rivalry game for us. Our guys and theirs really get after each other.”
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