Enterprise pulls away from Abbeville

OZARK — Enterprise’s game plan against Abbeville centered on stopping the Yellow Jackets’ fast break.

The Wildcats made that happen by grabbing nearly every missed shot. It’s hard for opponents to run when they don’t have the ball.

Enterprise dominated the boards in the first half and gradually pulled away from Abbeville for a 77-57 first-round victory in the Dothan Progress/Dothan Eagle/Southern Star Holiday Prep Classic, presented by The Cochran Firm.

“We played well,” Enterprise coach Albert Weeden said. “I thought we played tough defense. We both like to run with the ball. We needed to stop their run and we had to push it ourselves. Everything we talked about, the kids executed.”

With the victory, Enterprise will play Robert E. Lee in the second round Monday at 9:30 p.m. The Wildcats improved to 9-4.

Abbeville fell to 12-3. Jackets coach Moses Knight said the Wildcats played better on this Friday night.

“They went right at us,” Knight said. “We play such similar styles, but they executed better than we did.”

The coach said the big difference came on the boards.

“We had four rebounds the entire first half — offense and defense,” Knight said. “That makes it tough.”

Consequently, the Wildcats had many more second- and third-chance baskets. And the Yellow Jackets couldn’t run the fast break.
It was very close in the opening quarter. There were five lead changes and two ties in the first six and a half minutes.

A three-point play by Brandon Tisdale put Enterprise ahead 12-10. Tisdale added two more free throws to help the Wildcats take a 19-15 lead into the second quarter.

An eight-point run by Enterprise put the Cats up 27-17 with 5:09 left in the first half.

Tony Gray, who led Enterprise with 25 points, made two foul shots with 10.4 seconds left, then sent the Wildcats into the locker room with a 39-26 lead by sinking a 23-foot runner at the buzzer.

The lead was never less than 10 points in the second half. Enterprise freshman guard Rhett Harrelson scored 10 of his 13 points in the fourth quarter. Brandon Hart scored 16 for Enterprise.

“Tony Gray and Brandon Hart did a great job on the boards, too,” Weeden said. “Our bench did a nice job. They didn’t score a lot of points but they played good defense and followed the game plan.”

DeJour Knight led Abbeville with 11 points. Jeffrey Grubbs scored 10 and Quentin Newman was next with five points.

The Jackets didn’t help themselves at the foul line. Abbeville shot 8-for-18 on free throws.