AHSAA BOYS SUB-REGIONALS: Catholic slams Ashford; Tallassee earns first regional berth; LAMP advances

Ashford’s Marquez McKnights attempts to pass around Catholic defenders T.J. Dudley and Justin Bufford in the Knights’ win Tuesday. (By Tim Gayle)

COMBINED REPORTS

Montgomery Catholic 72, Ashford 47

There wasn’t much drama in Catholic’s 72-47 romp over Ashford in Tuesday’s sub-regional game in the Catholic gym.

The Knights (28-4) were a little sluggish in the first quarter, found their rhythm in a 21-point second half and cruised in what was expected to be an easy matchup for the Area 4 champions.

“I just wanted us to compete,” Catholic coach Mike Curry said. “The word again in ‘respect.’ Respect yourself, respect the game, respect your opponent. Regardless of who we’re playing, we need to come out and play to a standard. We played (well) in spots. I’m happy with the outcome.”

With the win, Catholic advanced to the regionals for the first time since 2017 and for only the fifth time since its 2000 championship season. The Knights will face Booker T. Washington in the Southeast Regional at Garrett Coliseum on Monday. 

“It’s been a goal of ours to move on to the regionals, so we’ve got our opportunity now,” Curry said. “The guys are excited but I don’t think they’re satisfied by any stretch.”

The game went as expected on Tuesday. The Yellow Jackets (13-15) put up some token resistance in the early moments, but it was more about Catholic finding its rhythm. DJ Carter, who finished with 16 points, six steals and three assists, scored 10 points in the second quarter as the Knights were off and running to a 35-18 halftime lead.

Justin Bufford helped Catholic extend the lead to 24 points with eight points in the third quarter, finishing with 19 points, 14 rebounds, five steals and five blocked shots. 

From there, the reserves saw much of the action as seven Knights finished with six or more points.

De’Christian Newton led Ashford with 11 points, all in the second half, followed by T.J. Holston and John Luke Lasseter with nine points each.

Tallassee 55, Charles Henderson 53

Tavarious “Truck” Griffin tipped in a Jalyn Daniels miss with two seconds remaining as Tallassee defeated Charles Henderson, 55-53, to advance to the Class 5A Southeast Sub-Regonals for the first time in school history.

Griffin’s tip-in came after the Trojans had tied the game with 10 seconds remaining in the game.

“Truck’s a player. He makes plays,” Tallassee coach Keiven Mixon said. “He carried us through the area tournament. Tonight, he comes up big. He’s probably been the MVP for our team this year.”

Tallassee erased a four-point deficit at the half with a 14-4 run to start the second half and led 47-38 midway through the fourth period. But Devin Parker tied the game for the Trojans in the final seconds.

Daneils led all scorers with 17 points. Tae Collins added 12 points while Griffin had 10. Akeives Shorts led Charles Henderson (17-14) with 13 points.

Tallassee (27-4) extended its home winning streak to 26 games, a school record. The Tigers will play Sylacauga at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday at Garrett Coliseum.

LAMP 82, Headland 61

HEADLAND – Quinn Sloane had 26 points and four steals to lead LAMP to its first sub-regional victory since reaching the state tournament in 2009.

The Golden Tigers (16-16) will play in the Southeast Regional at Garrett Coliseum on Monday in a semifinal matchup against Montevallo at 10:30 a.m.

Micah Boone added 18 points and nine rebounds, followed by Mitchell Sloane with 13 points.

LAMP has reached the sub-regional round three times in four years, falling to Bullock County in 2017 and Dale County in 2019 before finally breaking through on Tuesday.

Pike Road 78, Randolph County 38

PIKE ROAD – Harrison Wallace scored 22 points to help the Patriots earn a trip to the Southeast Regionals with an easy 40-point win in the Pike Road gym on Tuesday night.

Shaun Holmes added 12 points for Pike Road, followed by Jaylen Washington with 10.

Pike Road (21-5) will face Pike County in the regional semis at Garrett Coliseum on Saturday afternoon in a semifinal matchup at 7:30 p.m. 

It will be Wallace’s first trip to the regional – he transferred from Autauga Academy over the summer – but the Patriots’ second in their second year as a basketball program. Last year, the Patriots were stunned 52-50 by Slocomb in the regional semifinal.

Sidney Lanier 71, Dothan 59

The Poets pulled away late to earn a fourth-straight trip to the regionals.

Antwan Burnett had 15 points to lead Lanier (14-11), which will face Pelham next Tuesday at 1:30 p.m.. in the

Southeast Regionals at Garrett Coliseum.

Juan Brown had the key 3-pointer midway through the final quarter to extend Lanier’s lead to 11 points.

Eufaula 60, G.W. Carver 58

Eiszeric Thomas scored 19 and Rodarious Thomas scored 16 as the Tigers pulled off the upset, eliminating the Wolverines from playoff contention.

Eufaula (25-5) is the first team to eliminate Carver in the sub-regionals since 2009.