Fairview (Cullman) took a big early lead, watched it slip away, then rallied late to overcome a 12-point deficit to beat Holly Pond 68-62 in overtime to claim the 62nd Cullman County Boys Basketball Tournament Saturday night.
The Aggies (15-6) of Coach Greg Boatwright dominated the first quarter of Saturday night's finals of the tournament played at Wallace-Hanceville Community College's spacious Tom Drake Coliseum for the 19th time in the last 20 years. The tournament has been a mainstay of this basketball-crazy county since the 1940s.
The Aggies led early by as many as 11 points when things began to unravel late in the second period.
Class 3A fourth-ranked Holly Pond (21-5), which won a two-overtime victory over Cold Springs in the semifinals on Friday night, showed no signs of weariness as the Broncos caught fire. By the time the fourth quarter rolled around, Holly Pond had reversed its fortunes to build a 51-39 lead. With 4:04 left,
Andrew Adams drained a 3-pointer to give the Broncos a 54-42 lead.
That's when sophomore
Nathan Ring brought the Aggies back. He sank three consecutive 3-point goals, added a two-pointer in the lane and Fairview clawed back to tie the game at 56 to send the contest into overtime. Ring continued his hot hand with six free throws in the final minute of the overtime period as the Aggies got the win.
Ring finished with 32 points. Teammate
Ryan Parker added 16 points and
Blake Parker added 13 plus 11 rebounds for Fairview.
Thomas Hays led Holly Pond with 15 points.
GIRLS FINALS: GOOD HOPE 45, HOLLY POND 32The state's second-ranked Class 4A
Good Hope (Cullman) Lady Raiders overcame a shaky first quarter to win the Cullman County Girls Tournament championship.
The Lady Raiders (24-2) trailed 7-2 after the first period but found their range outside with five 3-point goals in the second quarter to close out strong against eighth-ranked Class 3A Holly Pond (17-9). It was Good Hope's first Cullman County tournament title since 2004.
Kayla Tillman's 15 points led the Raiders, who sank 8 of 8 free throws late to seal the championship. Coach Michael Oldacre also got a big game from
Nina Mills,
Elizabeth Hardin and
Kayla Elrod. Each scored eight points.
Haley Terry and
Kelsey Hawkins had nine points each for Holly Pond.
AUBURN RECRUITING TURNING TIDE RED
Coach Nick Saban's coaching staff has had its way with Alabama's most noticeable in-state recruits in recent years. This year's trend is much different.
Coach Gene Chizik's staff has already garnered commitments from five of the top nine prospects in the state – according to The Birmingham News' list of Super Seniors published in Sunday's edition. And the 2010 national champions are in the running for one of the remaining undeclared Super Seniors.
Based on the list of Top 12 prospects as rated by The News, Alabama's largest daily newspaper, Auburn has commitments from No. 1
Reese Dismukes of Spanish Fort High School, No. 2
Jonathan Rose of Leeds High School, No. 4
Brent Calloway of Russellville, No. 7
Sammie Coates of Leroy and No. 9
Jaylon Denson of Hoover. In addition, Dismukes, a center projected to battle for a starting position next fall, and Rose, a defensive back with the same possibility, graduated high school early and are already enrolled at Auburn.
Auburn and Alabama are still in on Valley High School defensive back and multi-purpose athlete
Erique Florence, considered by some as the state's top prospect but still undecided and rated No. 3 by The News. And Chizik's Tigers wrestled Calloway, a linebacker/running back who committed earlier to Alabama.
Alabama, which won the BCS National Championship in 2009, has commitments from defensive back
Christion Jones of Minor (No. 5 on the News list), No. 6 wide receiver
Marvin Shinn of Prichard-Vigor and No. 9 linebacker
Vinnie Sunseri of Tuscaloosa-Northridge. Sunseri's dad is a member of the Alabama coaching staff. Vinnie also graduated early and is currently enrolled at Alabama.
Others in The Birmingham News Super Seniors list include No. 8
Ameer Abdullah of Homewood, No. 11
Jamal Golden of Wetumpka and No. 12
Demarcus James of Demopolis. James, a husky and durable running back, committed originally to Washington State but later changed his mind and was still undecided as of Sunday. Abdullah, a speedster who could play running back, wide receiver or defensive back, is committed to Nebraska but has considered Auburn recently. And Golden, Alabama's Mr. Football, plans to take his quarterbacking tools to Georgia Tech.
Auburn also has commitments from Sweet Water linebacker
Christopher Landrum, Gadsden City linebacker
Anthony Swain and Mobile-Davidson defensive end
JaBrian NIles. The trio are rated No. 13, 14 and 15, respectively, on The Birmingham News list. The Tigers also have commitments from in-state recruits defensive lineman
Keymiya Harrell of Dallas County and defensive end
Devaunte Sigler of Mobile-B.C. Rain.
Alabama's other current in-state commitments include wide receiver
Danny Woodson of Mobile-LeFlore, son of former Tide quarterback Danny Woodson, and Gadsden City wide receiver
Daryl Collins.
This class of recruits is indeed a special one. Ole Miss, LSU, Arkansas, Tennessee and Vanderbilt are other SEC schools that have come into the state to land commitments. Florida State, Texas Tech, Georgia Tech and Nebraska also plan to sign at least one Alabama prep senior this recruiting year.
In fact, the state's top three quarterback prospects, Wetumpka's Golden, Athens'
Stephen Rivers and Mobile-St. Paul's
Jacob Coker, are all going out of state if they remain true to their commitments. Golden is heading to Georgia Tech, Coker to FSU and Rivers, the 6-foot-7 younger brother of NFL Pro Bowler Philip Rivers of the San Diego Chargers, is heading to LSU.
Look for recruiters from all across the nation to continue visiting the state of Alabama in droves. The nation's top quarterback prospect next year could be Hueytown High School's
Jameis Winston – a talented runner and passer who will have to decide between major college football and professional baseball when his senior year in 2012 finally comes to a close.
