CLASS 5A SE SEMIS: Pike Road girls, boys fall to Charles Henderson
Pike Road’s Kelsey Williams goes up against Takeiya Brockton of Charles Henderson in the Class 5A semifinals at Garrett Coliseum on Friday. (Tim Gayle)
COMBINED REPORTS
Throughout the first quarter, the Pike Road girls maintained the upper hand -- and the lead -- over Charles Henderson. But as the Southeast Regional semifinal game unfolded, Pike Road coach Barry Fencher noticed a disturbing trend.
“They wanted that game more than we did,” Fencher said. “Look at the stat sheet. We gave up 20 offensive rebounds and turned it over 20-something (22) times. Any time you do that, that’s a recipe for losing.
“I’m sitting out there watching them going after every ball and we’re standing there looking at it. It came to a point where if (forwards) Gracie (Branham) and Jazz (Johnson) didn’t get the rebound, we don’t get it. The guards are sitting there watching. But I think the game got kind of big for them. I’m still stunned by what happened out there myself.”
A smaller Charles Henderson team beat the Patriots to the rebounds and created the turnovers, outscoring Pike Road by 10 points in the second quarter and holding off the Patriots 66-52 on Friday morning at Garrett Coliseum.
Charles Henderson (16-11) advances to the Southeast Regional finals on Wednesday at 9 a.m., while Pike Road ends the season at 20-9.
Makayla Hobdy led the Trojans with 22 points, 15 rebounds and five steals, followed by Ravin Williams with 13 points and Takeiya Brockton with 12.
“We had a good game plan,” Fencher said. “We knew that No. 15 (Hobdy) was going to be the one that did it, we had everything set up, our defense set up for her. She killed us. She literally killed us.”
Hodby didn’t have a great shooting night from the field, hitting just 4 of 19 shots, but she was easily the leader and the best ball handler for the Trojans and hit 12 of 16 attempts from the free-throw line.
“That’s phenomenal,” Charles Henderson coach Dyneshia Jones said. “They had a great game plan, as far as fouling early. If she had been missing, they would have accomplished their goal. But she was clutch in that situation.”
Meanwhile, the Patriots struggled with handling the ball and on layups and short jumpers, compounded by the fact that forward Jazlyn Johnson was hampered by a sore ankle. The freshman still managed 17 points and 11 rebounds.
“Jazz was probably operating at about 40 percent,” Fencher said. “A lot of times when Jada (Roberts) swung it around to her, she couldn’t go to the basket. She’s probably about 70 percent of what we do on the offensive end. She was just limited. I was proud of her just giving what she had today.”
Her injury, which she suffered in Monday’s sub-regional game against Sylacauga, did not go unnoticed by the Charles Henderson coaching staff.
“Watching film, we noticed she got hurt in the Monday game,” Jones said. “She was still limping a little bit. It slowed her down. Ankle injuries are nagging injuries. It’s hard to get well in four days.”
Despite the early exit from the regionals, Fencher returns four of his five starters and is looking forward to the 2022-23 season.
“I’m looking forward to my young post players, two ninth graders going into the 10th grade, that have a great upside,” Fencher said. “The future’s bright. Nobody expected us to be here anyway. I did expect us to go further, but these are the growing pains.”
Roberts also had 17 points for the Patriots, along with four rebounds and three assists.
Kelby Westry has his shot rejected by Akeives Shorts In the Trojans’ win over Pike Road on Friday. (Tim Gayle)
Poor-shooting third quarter dooms Patriots
A poor-shooting third quarter by Pike Road ended any hopes of a trip to the Class 5A Southeast Regional final.
The Trojans of Charles Henderson advanced to the finals with a convincing 71-55 victory over the Patriots on Friday at Garrett Coliseum.
Pike Road had as much as a five-point lead in the first period but the Trojans slowly chipped away and led at the break by six points, 35-29.
In the third, Pike Road went cold from the field, shooting just 28 percent and saw the deficit balloon to 19 points in the period.
Akeives Shorts spurred the run and finished the game with 18 points to lead the Trojans. Kelby Westry led Pike Road with 16 points and added eight rebounds. Jayden Cooper had nine points and 10 boards while Roman Mothershed had 11 points and three assists.
Pike Road finishes the season with a 20-8 record. Charles Henderson plays in the regional finals on Wednesday against Talladega, a 38-35 winner over Greenville.