Persistence pays off for Slocomb

DALEVILLE — Slocomb coach J.J. Price was about to call a timeout.

He’s now glad he didn’t.

With the clock ticking down under 20 seconds to play in the game with Slocomb and Daleville tied at 55-55, Red Tops’ point guard Lee Merritt saw an opening and took off down the lane towards the basket.

“I knew I could beat him off the dribble,” Merritt said.

Merritt indeed made it to the basket in good shape, but his layup try fell off. Teammate Clay Holmes came up with the rebound, but missed his putback try as well.

Sticking around under the goal was Merritt, who came up with the rebound off Holmes’ miss and scored while being fouled to give Slocomb the lead with 10.3 seconds left. He then hit the free throw for the 56-53 lead and victory.

“I just wanted it more than them,” said Merritt, one of the smallest players on the court.

Price called it a “hustle play.” The coach said Merritt drove the lane about two seconds before he was going to signal for a timeout.

“We run a certain set trying to screen and cut and take time off the clock,” Price said. “I was actually going to call a timeout ‘unless you beat your man and get a layup.’”

Daleville still had a chance following Merritt’s free throw, but a pass was intercepted by Andre Robinson shortly after the inbounds. Robinson got the ball over to Merritt, who then dribbled until the buzzer went off.

Slocomb improves to 11-5 overall, 2-1 in the area, while Daleville is 4-8, 2-1 in the area.

Jermaine Williams led Slocomb with 14 points, while Holmes added 10. Josh Adams and Merritt each scored nine.

Daleville was led by Tevin Flowers with 13, Chris Stone with 11 and Ricky Yeager with 10.

Slocomb led most of the game, but Daleville stayed within striking range — down 28-23 at halftime and 42-37 at the end of the third quarter.

The Warhawks took their first lead of the second half when Robert Owens drained a 3-pointer with 3:20 left to make it 49-48.

A Brandon Thorne free throw tied it back up, then Flowers drove in for a basket to put Daleville back on top.

Merritt answered that with a made shot from the top of the key with 2:18 left before Owens drove inside to make it a 53-51 Warhawk lead.

Merritt scored driving to the basket with 1:03 left to tie it at 53-53. Daleville had a good chance to take the lead when Yeager drove the lane and put up a layup.
But the ball rimmed out and Slocomb came down with the rebound.

Once the Red Tops moved down court, Price called a timeout with 41 seconds left to set up the winning possession.

Slocomb girls 50, Daleville 37: Chasity Craig scored 12 and had 14 rebounds to lead Slocomb, while Mercedes Jett had 13 points and five steals and Kenzlie Reese scored 12 points for the Red Tops (6-9).

Camille Christian scored 20 for Daleville.

The Warhawks, down 32-25 with 3:45 left in the third quarter, rallied to pull within 34-31 at the end of the third quarter. But Slocomb dominated the final quarter for the victory.