Wicksburg boys lose in 3 OTs; Barbour County rolls

MOBILE – Last Friday, Wicksburg finished off its sub-region game against Houston County in dramatic style, winning on a shot in the final five seconds.

On Wednesday, the Panthers had not one, not two, but three chances at a similar finish, but couldn't come up with the big basket.

The Red Level Tigers made sure they didn’t get a fourth try.

In a three-overtime thriller, Wicksburg fell to Red Level 65-63 in a Class 2A South Regional Tournament game at the University of South Alabama’s Mitchell Center.

The loss ended Wicksburg’s season at 25-7.

Top-ranked Barbour County won the other 2A semifinal game, hitting a season-high 14 3-pointers and creating 34 Elba turnovers in a 76-53 win over the Tigers.

Red Level (23-10) and Barbour County (31-0) play for the South Regional championship Friday at 6:45 p.m. The winner advances to next week’s state semifinals in Birmingham.

Red Level 65, Wicksburg 63 (3 OTs): Missed opportunities haunted Wicksburg, which had a chance to win near the end of regulation, the first overtime and second overtime, but had two turnovers and couldn’t get a shot off in time.

“We didn’t finish the game,” Wicksburg head coach Scott Whitaker said. “We didn’t finish shots.”

Red Level led throughout the third and final overtime, cashing in on a struggling Wicksburg offense to build a 61-55 lead three minutes into the four-minute overtime.

The Panthers went 0-for-3 from the floor with a turnover, while Red Level scored on three of five possessions via a K.J. Lawrence bank shot, a James Feagin layup and free throw and 1-of-2 Lawrence free throws.

Wicksburg, which had starters Trey McNeal (game high 19 points and 16 rebounds) foul out in the second overtime and Cam Wiehe early in the third OT, couldn’t recover, though it closed to two on Davian Johnson’s 3-pointer with 2.9 seconds left.

The Panthers called time out after the basket, but were already out of timeouts and assessed a technical. However, Lawrence missed both technical shots and Wicksburg still had faint hope. That ended, though, when the Tigers safely inbounded to Feagin, who ran out the clock before a Panther foul.

While the loss was in the third overtime, Whitaker felt the game was lost in the second overtime.

“We had the opportunity to close the game out prior to that,” Whitaker said. “We had the lead and had the ball. We have always been strong in short clock situations, but we didn’t come through.”

The Panthers led 55-54 with 2:17 left in the second OT following a Gabe Richards layup then had two possessions before another Red Level scoring opportunity, but wasted little clock and the Tigers eventually tied it at 55 on a free throw.

After Richards’ basket, Diquan Fenn deflected a pass to Austin Sellers and Wicksburg had the ball back with 1:50 left. Fenn missed on a 3-point attempt then the Panthers got it back on a Tiger traveling violation with 1:30 to go. But just six seconds later, Richards missed a pass from McNeal as the ball went out of bounds for a turnover.

Red Level’s Julius Bullock hit 1-of-2 free throws with 44 seconds left to tie it at 55 after McNeal fouled out, plowing through a Red Level screen.

Both teams had a chance to go ahead in the final seconds, but Wiehe lost control of the basketball, resulting in a jump ball with the possession to Red Level with 31.7 seconds left and Red Level’s Troy Nolen passed it out of bounds with 1.9 seconds left.

Wicksburg’s Truman Whitaker made a valiant three-quarter court shot effort at the buzzer, but it was just short.

The Panthers overcome a nine-point deficit in the final 2:32 of regulation to force overtime. McNeal scored on a putback, Wiehe on two free throws, Fenn on a 3-pointer and McNeal scored on a spinning layup that tied the game at 47 with 47 seconds left.

Red Level held the ball before Lawrence put up wild shot in the lane that was short and went out of bounds with 7.7 seconds left, giving Wicksburg its first chance for the win.

Sellers, who had the game-winning basket Friday, dribbled down the right sideline, but under pressure he had the ball go off his leg out of bounds for a turnover with 1.3 seconds left. A desperation 3-point shot past halfcourt by Feagin was well off the mark, sending the game into the first OT.

After a missed 3-pointer by Wicksburg’s Fenn opened the overtime, Red Level elected to hold the ball at halfcourt in a stall, working the clock down before Lawrence was fouled driving to the basket with 1:09 left. He made 1-of-2, but a McNeal 3-pointer from the right corner with 47 seconds left pushed the Panthers up 50-48.

Lawrence answered with a driving layup off the baseline to tie it at 50 with 18.8 seconds left.

The Panthers then had their second chance to end it, but they passed and dribbled around too much and Wiehe couldn’t get a shot off at the buzzer, sending the game to the second overtime.

Lawrence had 18 points, Feagin 17 and Tolbert 14 for Red Level, which shot 55.6 percent (25-of-45). Troy Nolen dished out seven assists to the cause.

In addition to McNeal’s 19-point, 16-rebound performance, Sellers contributed 14 points and seven steals for Wicksburg and Richards had 10 points and 11 rebounds.

Wicksburg hurt itself with 34.8 percent shooting (24-of-69), including 8-of-33 on 3-pointers, and was 7-of-15 on free throws.

“We left so many points right there at the rim – so many layups, so many free throws,” Whitaker said.

Barbour County 76, Elba 53: Missing 24 3-points attempts would be a problem for most teams, but it wasn’t for the Jaguars.

Hitting 14 threes and forcing 34 turnovers helped Barbour County overcome its woes.

“I felt we had ugly play on several occasions, but a win is always a good win,” Barbour County head coach Raymond White said.

The Jaguar defense, as has been the case during its unbeaten season, was the catalyst against Elba’s offense, forcing almost as many turnovers and Tiger shots (34 to 39).

“One of our mottos is defense,” White said. “The other two are togetherness and discipline. I thought we demonstrated those. We have been holding people to less than 50 points. Of the 31 games, only one team has gotten above 50 and that was Northview. Our defense carries us.”

With Elba packing it inside, Barbour County was contend to live on threes. Though they missed 24, they also made 14, accounting for 42 points.

“That is probably the most people have allowed us (to shot threes),” White said.

“We have shot better. We had a lot of open 3-point shots. A lot of times it didn’t go in. Normally that wide open, it goes in. I am little disappointed in that.”

Barbour County hit four treys in the first quarter, opening up a 21-9 lead. The margin never dipped below double figures the rest of the game, though Elba stayed close until late in the third quarter.

Takwain Whigham had 17 points to lead the Jaguars, highlighted by 5-of-11 shooting on 3-pointers. Nicholas Johnson had 13 points, most off 4-of-11 3-point shooting. Travon Patterson, who hit three 3-pointers, and Marcus Johnson, who had one 3-pointer, added 11 points each.

Jake Carnley had 18 points to lead Elba, which finished 17-8. Harry Griffin had 15 points. Cobe Goosby earned nine assists and a team-high 12 rebounds.

“What I really want to talk about how proud I am of the team,” Elba head coach Karl Bledsoe. “We knew Barbour County was going to be tough and we would have to play our best to have a chance.

“We have a young team – at times, we had three freshmen, a sophomore and a senior on the court – and for us to make it to regionals was one of our goals. I am extremely proud of the young players and Jake (Carnley) for everything we have accomplished.”