AISA CLASS A BOYS: Evangel rolls to easy Quarters win; Southern, Abbeville win
Jakolvian Johnson scores two of his 12 points in Evangel Christian’s win over North River on Monday in the AISA Class A Boys quarterfinals at the Multiplex at Cramton Bowl. (By Tim Gayle)
By TIM GAYLE
It didn’t take long for Kerwin Washington to figure out whether his Evangel Christian team was focused on the task at hand.
“We will play to a standard,” said the Evangel Christian coach. “I told the guys we want to go inside first because they’re limited in height. One of the first sets we ran, we got a layup against the zone, so that was good to start out.”
In a game where the reserves played as much as the starters, the Lions rolled to an easy 59-22 win over North River Christian Academy in the Class A quarterfinals of the Alabama Independent School Association state tournament at the Multiplex at Cramton Bowl on Monday night.
Evangel (26-1) won its 20th consecutive game since losing at Success Unlimited on Nov. 21, 2019. The defending state champions will advance to Thursday’s semifinals against Southern Academy on Thursday at 10:30 a.m.
One of AISA’s most recent additions was no match for one of AISA’s best as Evangel cruised out to a 12-0 lead before Devin Mitchell finally put the Chargers on the scoreboard with a 3-pointer late in the first quarter. Washington used the opportunity to play the reserves early and often, but the big objective was making sure his players were ready to play after a 10-day layoff since beating Eastwood and a three-week rest since battling a quality opponent in beating Pike Liberal Arts.
“It’s been over a week without playing, knock off some of the rust,” Washington said. “We wanted our wings to run the floor, see if we could get some transition points, let’s see if we can get some offense without having to run sets. Being on the big floor, getting the feel of that floor, is going to help us because Thursday is going to be a tough game for us.”
Jakolvian Johnson and Jordan Grice combined for 21 points in the paint, with Johnson and point guard Tyree Curry sharing the lead with 12 points each in approximately 17 minutes of playing time. Kennedy Holland came off the bench to score 11 points.
Walker Fagin and LaKweili Rice led the Chargers with six points each.
Southern Academy 73, Heritage Christian 56
Kurt Tucker scored 27 points and Brian Osburn added 14 as Southern advanced to the semifinals with a strong fourth-quarter finish.
The Cougars used a 21-point fourth quarter to pull away and will face defending state champion Evangel on Thursday at 10:30 a.m.
Heritage, which was making its first-ever AISA postseason appearance as a first-year program, was led by Elijah Heath with 19 points, followed by Josh Bucknor with 13.
Abbeville Christian 55, Sparta Academy 25
Abbeville Christian continued their hot streak, using a 21-1 run in the third quarter to dispose of the Warriors and advance to the A semifinals on Thursday.
The Generals (10-15), which started the season 1-11, will now face defending runner-up Chambers on Thursday at 1:30 p.m., for the right to advance to the state finals.
Jackson Blalock scored 18 points, followed by Christian Davis with 13, to lead the Generals.
Bryson Pate scored nine points, including a free throw in the third period for the Warriors’ only points of the quarter. Jesse Anderson added eight.
Chambers Academy 71, Wilcox Academy 70 (2OT)
Raphe Daniel scored 11 of his 24 points in overtime, including the game-winning basket with 16 seconds left, to lift Chambers past Wilcox in the quarterfinals of the Alabama Independent School Association’s Class A boys basketball tournament at the Multiplex at Cramton Bowl on Monday morning.
The Rebels return to action on Thursday against the Sparta-Abbeville Christian winner.
Chambers jumped out to a quick lead and looked superior to the Wildcats in the first few minutes of the game, but Wilcox fought back into the contest and took a 22-20 lead at the half.
The Wildcats continued to build on their lead but Payton Allen, who led the early surge, scored 12 of his 29 points in the fourth quarter to bring the Rebels back, including a pair of free throws with 0.2 seconds left to tie the game at 56-56 and force overtime.
Chambers pulled ahead in the overtime period but Jonathan Biggs hit a jumper from the right side just ahead of the buzzer to tie the game and force the second overtime period.
Cooper Dixon led Wilcox with 19 points, followed by Braxton Vick and Lockwood Sessions with 13 points each, Jack Sessions with 11 and John William Dailey with 10.