Daleville holds off Pike County

By: Drew Champlin | Dothan Eagle
Published: February 17, 2012

DALEVILLE – A special season just keeps getting better for Daleville.

It didn’t come without a fight from Pike County, though.

The Warhawks tied a school record with 24 wins, beating the Bulldogs 53-47 in a Class 3A sub-regional game. Daleville (24-5) will play Trinity on Thursday at 10:30 a.m. at the South Regional in Mobile.

Jacques Coleman led the way with 19 points. T.J. Lorick scored six, but was a disruptive force at the top of a 1-3-1 zone defense. Warhawks coach Troy Turman singled those two out after the game for their strong play.

“We had a couple of guys that stepped up and put us on their shoulders,” Turman said. “I’m really proud of the team. All season long, they’ve done a good job as a group.”

Pike County finished 6-23 in coach Doug Branson’s first season, but certainly didn’t play like the record indicated. The Bulldogs jumped out to a 10-4 start, but had problems with the zone in the second quarter and trailed 29-16 at halftime after it was 16-12 at the end of the first quarter.

“The second quarter, we played the best defense we’ve played, and we were protecting the paint,” Turman said. “They couldn’t score and we started getting some steals, some lay-ups and some confidence.”

The Bulldogs got a bit closer in the third, closing the gap to 41-31, but started to make things interesting in the fourth quarter. Marlon Meadows and Ryshawn Hall each hit a pair of 3-pointers in the quarter, and Hall’s trey with 1:57 left cut the lead to 51-47.

But the Bulldogs didn’t score again. Hall missed a pair of free throws with 35 seconds left, and later fouled out with 18 seconds left. Daleville’s Aaron Cope got a key steal in the backcourt, and hit 1-of-2 free throws with 12 seconds left, and Robert McGirt hit a free throw in the final seconds for the 53-47 win.

“We haven’t won a lot of games this year and our guys have faced a lot of adversity,” Branson said. “The game went as our season has. The guys hung in there and fought all year long.”

Turman said the 24 wins tied a school record, which was set back in the 1996-97 season when Daleville reached the state Final Four. Daleville hasn’t been to a regional since 2003.

Defense has been the key for the Warhawks, as the 1-3-1 got the job done tonight until late, when they switched to a man defense. Also, most of Turman’s key players were with him when Turman coached the middle school team in the 2008-09 year. It’s Turman’s third year as varsity head coach.

“I’m proud of the win,” Turman said. “If you make it to sub-regionals, you’re either playing well or you’ve got a good team.”