Sunday, December 28, 2008
Hagins leads William Fleming into final
The Colonels center scores 12 of his 16 points in the first quarter.
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William Fleming's basketball team prepared for its final pregame instructions before Saturday night's semifinal in the Member One Holiday Hoopla tournament against Cave Spring.
Center Jamelle Hagins sprinted off the Salem Civic Center floor ... straight to the wrong locker room.
Fortunately for the unbeaten Colonels, Hagins found his way as the 6-foot-7 senior center scored 12 of his 16 points in the first quarter to spark Fleming to a 59-54 victory over Cave Spring.
"I don't know what I was thinking," Hagins laughed about his pregame gaffe.
The matchup with 6-foot-11 Cave Spring center Josh Henderson might have been occupying Hagins' thoughts. Whatever the case, he was ready for the challenge. Hagins scored eight quick points as Fleming raced to a 15-4 lead.
"I knew he was a big shot blocker," Hagins said. "I knew he was going to go after everything. Coach just told me to pump fake and go past him to get to the hole. I'm used to playing against bigger guys on our AAU team. It's just second nature."
William Fleming will play Gar-Field, a 35-30 winner over Patrick Henry, in Monday night's championship game.
Fleming's lead against Cave Spring eventually reached 17 points at 30-13 before the Knights (6-3) got busy. The Group AA team cut the deficit to six points in the third quarter but scored just two points over a 7 12-minute stretch and never got within one possession.
"Of all things, shot selection was our undoing," Cave Spring coach Billy Hicks said. "At the end of the first, second and third quarters we took a shot with under 30 seconds to go and they capitalized on all of them."
Several of the Knights' misses were redirected by the long-armed Hagins.
"We work on that in practice," Hardy said. "We ask him to contest every shot. Tonight he did. He was pumped up. He was ready to play." Fleming played without starting point guard Shaquan Manning, who was out of town on a scheduled family trip. The Colonels didn't miss a beat early, making 11 of 14 shots in the first quarter. Senior guard Troy Daniels finished with a game-high 19 points, while forward Eric Thomas added 14.
Henderson and junior forward Clay Lacy scored 13 points apiece for Cave Spring. Adam Hager added 10 before fouling out.
"We held them to 21 points in the second half," Hicks said. "We outscored 28-21. I do believe in moral victories. I think it was a great learning experience for our kids. I don't think we're going to face anybody the rest of the year that's better than Fleming."
The Colonels looked sharp early in more ways than one. Fleming broke out brand new glossy uniforms complete with individual players' names stitched on the back.
"They came in and we decided to wear them tonight," Fleming coach Mickey Hardy said. "They asked to wear them last night. I said they didn't deserve to wear them last night. They had to earn that."
CAVE SPRING (6-3)
Overstreet 3 0-0 9, Lacy 5 2-2 13, J.Henderson 5 2-3 13, Dill 2 2-2 7, Hager 4 2-2 10, Jacobsen 1 0-0 2, Moore 0 0-0 0.
WILLIAM FLEMING (7-0)
Thomas 6 2-9, Jones 0 0-0 0, Hagins 7 1-2 16, Anderson 1 2-2 4, Daniels 7 3-4 19, Johnson 1 0-1 2, M.Henderson 2 0-0 5, Preston 0 0-0 0.
Cave Spring 11 15 12 16--54
William Fleming 24 14 10 11--59
3-point-goals -- Cave Spring 6 (Overstreet 3, J.Henderson, Lacy, Dill), William Fleming 3 (Daniels 2, M.Henderson). Total fouls -- Cave Spring 13, William Fleming 10. Fouled out -- Hager.
Gar-Field 35, Patrick Henry 30
Gar-Field recovered from a double-figure deficit for the second straight night in its semifinal win over Patrick Henry. The Indians trailed 16-6 in the second quarter but held PH to just six points in the entire second half to advance to the championship game against Fleming.
Gar-Field (5-4) trailed 24-15 at halftime and did not take the lead until Kwasi Amponsah scored inside to put the Indians up 28-27 with 4:44 to play. Gar-Field opened the fourth quarter with a 9-0 run that also featured a pair of buckets by center Jeremiah Johnson, who had a game-high 12 points.
"This is my mama's birthday today, and I think that was good luck," said Gar-Field coach and William Byrd graduate Andy Gray. "I'm really proud that we didn't quit because we were playing extremely poorly. It was 24-15 forever. I'm really struggling to figure this bunch out."
Say the same for PH coach Jack Esworthy. After building the big lead, the Patriots made only two buckets in the second half, a deuce in the third quarter by Ronnie Thomas and a 3-pointer by Terrell Wilson with 1:12 to play that cut Gar-Field's lead to 31-30.
PH, which lost starting point guard Melvin Henderson on a charging call with less than two minutes left, committed five turnovers on its final seven possessions, sending the Patriots into Monday's third-place game against Cave Spring.
How can PH recover from this loss?
"We'll see," Esworthy said.
"Gar-Field did the same thing all game, run and jump. First half, we were strong with the ball. We executed it. Second half, we weren't strong with the ball. We weren't moving. We weren't executing.
"Happy birthday, Mrs. Gray."
PATRICK HENRY (3-7)
Henderson 2 0-2 5, R.Thomas 3 0-0 7, D.Thomas 1 0-0 3, Wilson 2 1-2 6, Sayers 0 0-0 0, Porter 2 3-4 7, Brown 1 0-0 2. Totals 11 4-8 30.
GAR-FIELD (5-4)
Amponsah 2 0-0 4, Pittman 1 2-4 5, Pearson 1 0-0 3, J.Johnson 4 4-4 12, Blakeney 3 0-3 6, Patterson 1 0-0 2, L.Johnson 0 0-0 0, Einsmann 1 1-2 3, Bonds 0 0-0 0. Totals 13 7-13 35.
Gar-Field 4 11 7 13--35
Patrick Henry 9 15 3 3--30
3-point-goals -- Gar-Field 2 (Pittman, Pearson), Patrick Henry 4 (Henderson, R.Thomas, D.Thomas, Wilson). Total fouls -- Gar-Field 10, Patrick Henry 15. Fouled out -- Henderson.
Salem 61, Hidden Valley 55
Stephen Barnette scored seven points during a one-minute stretch late in the fourth quarter as the Spartans reached Monday's fifth-place game against Brooke Point.
Donte Harvey led Salem (5-2) with 20 points while Barnette finished with 12. Andrew Morris led Hidden Valley (1-6) with 18 points. Zach Barrett added 11 and Matt Aiken scored 10. The Titans play Osbourn for seventh place Monday at 3 p.m.
SALEM (5-2)
Carroll 2 1-2 5, Hughes 2 3-4 7, Simpson 2 1-2 5, Harvey 8 2-5 20, Hairston 2 2-3 6, Tolliver 2 0-0 4, R.Barnette 1 0-0 2, S.Barnette 5 2-2 12.
HIDDEN VALLEY (1-6)
Barrett 5 1-4 11, Aiken 5 0-1 10, Morris 6 5-6 18, Yim 3 0-0 7, Earhart 1 2-2 4, Trampe 0 0-0 0, Worrell 2 0-0 5, Rowe 0 0-0 0. Totals 22 8-13 55.
Salem 0 0 0 0--61
Hidden Valley 10 16 12 17--55
3-point-goals -- Salem 2 (Harvey 2), Hidden Valley 3 (Worrell, Yim, Morris). Total fouls Salem 13, Hidden Valley 15. Fouled out -- none.
Brooke Point 79, Osbourn 75
De'Andre Robinson scored 21 points, while Lanford Collins and Adrian Clark added 16 apiece as the Blackhawks advanced to the fifth-place game.
Robert Carter scored 17 points for Osbourn, giving him 41 for the tournament.
BROOKE POINT (4-5)
Greenhow 3 5-7 11, Robinson 9 0-0 21, Collins 6 4-7 16, Clark 6 4-7 16, Smiling 1 0-0 2, Martin 0 0-0 0, Lowe 2 0-1 4, Goodman 1 3-4 5, Speed 2 0-1 4. Totals 30 16-27 79.
OSBOURN (2-3)
Nickens 5 1-3 11, Bates 1 2-2 5, Elder 4 5-8 13, Carter 7 1-1 17, McFadden 3 0-1 8, Whitehead 2 3-9 7, Turner 2 0-0 5, Turner 2 0-0 5, Delaney 4 0-0 8, Lane 1 0-3 2. Totals 29 12-27 75.
Brooke Point 12 26 23 18 -- 79
Osbourn 24 14 18 22 -- 75
3-point goals -- Brooke Point 3 (Robinson 3), Osbourn 5 (Carter 2, McFadden 2, Bates). Total fouls -- Brooke Point 24, Osbourn 23. Fouled out -- Elder, Collins.
