Red Tops topple Raiders

After watching Houston Academy hit a couple of 3-pointers late in the third quarter, Slocomb head coach J.J. Price had seen enough of the Raider outside shooting Tuesday night.

Price ordered his troops to utilize an aggressive 1-2-2 halfcourt trap and the defensive strategy rattled the Raiders in the fourth quarter.

It also sparked a key run that helped Slocomb overtake Houston Academy and the Red Tops, behind a key steal from Chase Merritt, held on despite poor free-throw shooting, taking a 64-55 win at the Houston Academy Thanksgiving Tournament.

In Tuesday’s other tournament game, Cottonwood rallied late in the fourth quarter against G.W. Long to force overtime then pulled out the win in the extra period, 56-54.

Houston Academy led almost the entire first three quarters, but could never pull away.

The Raiders led 10-6 at the quarter break, 28-24 at halftime and were up 44-42 after three periods.

They hit three 3-pointers in both the second and third quarters, the last two coming in the final 2:28 of the third quarter, one each from David Gannon and Jo-El Bennett.

Overall, HA was 6-of-14 on threes at that point.

Price then went to the 1-2-2 trap with emphasis on guard Josh Adams applying pressure at the top and on the wings.
It created two turnovers in the first two minutes of the fourth quarter, but more importantly it disrupted HA’s offense and made 3-point attempts tough.

“With us playing a zone, we were hoping they wouldn’t shoot the ball as well as they did, but in the first half and most of the third quarter they were shooting well from outside,” Price said.

“Then we went to that trap. We might have only gotten two turnovers, but the big thing is those guys couldn’t sit on the wings and play catch and shoot in rhythm.

“Our point man, Josh Adams, did a good job of running side-to-side and keeping them from getting those open shots, but I have to credit all the guys for playing that defense that way in the fourth quarter.”

The Slocomb offense cashed in, scoring seven points in the first minute and half to take a 49-44 lead.

Jermaine Williams had a layup and Adams drilled a 3-pointer and added a short jumper after a pass was deflected to him.
The Red Tops had chances to pull away, but made only 4-of-11 free throws in four plus minutes, keeping HA in it.

However, the Raiders were struggling finding any shots. Hunter Barkley hit a turnaround jumper in the lane with 1:16 left for HA’s first basket of the quarter. It made it 57-52.

Damion Harris cut it to three for HA, splitting two defenders on a fastbreak for a layup with 56.5 seconds left, but he missed an ensuing free throw.

After a missed free throw by Slocomb with 53.4 left, Harris made 1-of-2, cutting it to 57-55 with 41.1 left.

Slocomb’s Merritt was fouled with 36.6 seconds left. He made the first, but missed the second and HA’s Bennett got the rebound.

However, Merritt alertly stole Bennett’s outlet pass to the sideline. Merritt then passed off to Lee Merritt, who passed it back to Chase Merritt for a layup, making it 60-55 with 23 seconds left.

“That was a smart play on his part,” Price said of Chase Merritt’s steal. “He picked up that those guys hit their outlet guys with the pass (off the rebound). Once he missed it, he cheated over there and made the play. There is no doubt that was a big play.”

HA’s Bennett then misfired on a 3-pointer and Chase Merritt hit two free throws with 12.9 left to make it 62-55.

Williams then stole the ball and converted a fastbreak layup with 4.0 seconds left for the final score.

“It was one or two plays here or there that were the difference,” Houston Academy head coach Ron Watson said. “The four points at the end weren’t that big a difference.

“We had a nine-game home winning streak snapped and they also snapped our 18-game home winning streak two years ago.
“We have never beaten Slocomb at home since I have been here and we have never lost to them on the road.”

All nine players scored for Slocomb, led by Clay Holmes with 14 points. Williams had 11, Adams 11 and Andre Robinson nine.
Holmes led Slocomb’s rebounding with 11 boards.

HA had only six players score with Gannon leading the way with 21, most of it on 8-on-8 free-throwing shooting and three 3-pointers. Bennett added 10 points and had five rebounds.

Cottonwood 56, G.W. Long 54 (OT): G.W. Long led by nine late in the fourth quarter, but the Bears rallied behind Jon Williams and Ardarius Dawsey to force overtime.

In the extra period, Cottonwood outscored Long 9-7 with William scoring five of the points, including a 3-pointer.

Williams finished with 18 points to lead Cottonwood. Dawsey added 17 and Desmond Dubose had 10.

Carlos McLeod led G.W. Long with 20 points and Mason Stevens had eight.