By Blake Deshazo

The Selma Times-Journal

Big shots from Jerrod Moorer and Raheem Phillips in the final minutes helped Dallas County break a late tie with Southside in a 54-45 Hornets win.

The Hornets found themselves in a 42-42 tie with four minutes to play in a game played at Concordia College Alabama, but scored twelve of the fifteen  points to pull away.

“It was a sloppy game, but when you’re playing a rival team like that you don’t complain about how the game was played,” said Willie Moore, head coach of Dallas County. “You just have to focus on the win because it was rugged and ragged on both ends.”

The first quarter was a back and fourth battle with both teams trading the lead back and forth. A shot from Jorgundra Dower gave the Hornets a 15-14 lead to the end the first.

Dallas County looked like it was poised to pull away in the second, but free throws kept Southside in the game and took them to the locker room down by just three points, 26-23.

Southside seemed to come alive in the third, with multiple buckets from Scott Cole and Jhlandius Sullivan. The Hornets buckled down on defense and limited Southside’s shot opportunities to end the third quarter on top 36-34.

Isaiah Coleman owned the first part of the fourth quarter with three made free throws and a two-pointer. That would cut the lead down to just one point, but the Hornets held on.

“Our kids felt confident because four of them have played in big, tight games before,” Moore said. “I wasn’t worried when the game got tight because our guys have been there before.”

 

Southside 31, Dallas County 29 (Girls)

Jason Bothwell, head coach of Southside’s Lady Panthers, closed his eyes as Dallas County threw up a last second shot to send the game into overtime. The shot bounced off the rim as time expired to seal a 31-29 victory for Southside.

“At that particular moment, whoever had the ball last and could play the best defense was going to come out of there with the win,” Bothwell said. “I get aggravated and frustrated with my girls, but I never give up on them or lose faith in them.”

Both teams fought hard, but Southside made the plays in the end to come out on top.

“Hats off to Southside,” said Charles Thompson, head coach of Dallas County. “They made some good adjustments. They did what they had to do to win the ballgame. We made a good effort, but at the end of the day they were two points better than us.”

The Hornets offense seemed to come alive in the second quarter, as Alexis Goodwin and Ke’onna Pope built a 17-11 lead for their team.

“We had control of the game early on,” Thompson said. “We just came back out in the second half and we just kind of went in a drought.”

Kionna Page opened up the second half with four straight points to pull Southside within one. Calvondrea Blackmon’s basket kept the spurt going, putting the Panthers on top for the first time in the game.

“She’s being asked to come in and run a varsity program and kind of put the team on her back,” Bothwell said. “She does a great job of it. As long as we can keep her focused and out of foul trouble, she does really well for us.”

Southside reclaimed the lead with six straight points from Blackmon, putting the Panthers up 25-20 after three quarters.

The Hornets would get back into the game with help from Goodwin, who ended an offensive drought for Dallas County. With less than 20 seconds left on the clock, she cut the Panthers’ lead to two.