Autaugaville looking to stay perfect with win in Schweers CCC Tourney
Dewaun Stubbs has helped the Autaugaville Eagles to a perfect record heading into Monday’s final of the Jack Schweers CCC Tourney at Trinity. (Tim Gayle)
By TIM GAYLE
St. James coach Nigel Card knew what he was facing before the 26th Jack Schweers Capital City Conference Tournament ever tipped off.
There were seven other teams in the tournament and Card believed he had been matched up with the best one.
Autaugaville may be the smallest program in the tournament, but Card had seen the Class 1A Eagles in the past and watched their 6-foot-8 forward, Dewaun Stubbs.
“That (perimeter shooting) has been his strength from the beginning,” Card said, “but he’s developed more of a post presence now. He can do both. They post him up at the mid-post and if you play ‘off’ him, he can shoot the mid-post shot. He’s got a really nice game for high school basketball, particularly for 1A. He’s going to be hard to deal with in 1A basketball.”
So far, Stubbs and the Eagles (12-0) have been pretty tough for anyone to deal with. On Monday at 6 p.m., the Eagles will play Trinity for the tournament championship.
Card isn’t alone in his praise for Autaugaville’s team. Pike Road, a talented Class 5A squad, has already lost to Autaugaville twice this season.
“They play hard, but ‘15’ (Stubbs), that’s who their team goes through,” Pike Road coach Robb McGaughey said. “He hurt us. We tried to limit him the second time and then the team stepped up.”
Stubbs has been starting for four years, but the difference in this year’s squad is there is more to Autaugaville than just Stubbs.
“They’re older and more mature and all of them played football, so they were in decent shape,” Autaugaville coach Darren Golson said. “We just had to get them in basketball shape and get them to understand what we’ve been asking of them for three years. It’s delightful to finally see it click. All of a sudden, the light bulb went on. It makes my job a whole lot easier.”
The CCC tournament opener is a good example of the way Autaugaville works. The Eagles had extended the lead out to nine points at the half, then outscored St. James 16-0 in the third quarter by clamping down on the defensive end as Stubbs got a little more active with a pair of steals, three blocked shots, five rebounds and a pair of assists in the quarter.
“We use him differently and he’s added a little to his game,” Golson said. “Plus, we picked up a player to help us inside so we don’t have to use him as much inside.”
Makenzie Bristow-Matthews, a 250-pound junior in the paint, allows Stubbs to drift away from the post where he can disrupt the opposing team’s offense.
“They took us out of our rhythm by extending their defense and trapping my point (guard) and forcing us to try and make decisions through the post,” Card said. “We didn’t make good decisions. And their athleticism, you’ve got to give them some credit. Even when we had shots, they ended up blocking some big opportunities for us.”
Stubbs finished with 12 points, 10 blocked shots, four steals, seven rebounds and three assists. He came into the tournament averaging 24 points per game, Golson said. The Trojans had some success keeping him away from the basket with freshman KJ Jackson.
“It’s not a bad matchup,” Card said. “He’s got the strength to play with him. But the experience outweighed that. (Stubbs) was able to post him up once or twice and get second shots.”
Matthews and Jermaine Sanders added 10 points each in the win over St. James, while holding the Trojans’ top scorers, Kevin Taylor and Bradley Thomas, to eight points each.