By Daniel Evans

The Selma Times-Journal

 

MONTGOMERY — After missing most of the first half in foul trouble, Dallas County’s Jerrod Moorer scored seven points in the final minute to lead the Hornets to a 66-57 victory over Talladega Monday and a spot in the 5A boys central regional final.

With Dallas County trailing in the final minute, Moorer rebounded a missed shot inside and made the layup while being fouled. Not only did he make the ensuing free throw, but a technical foul called on Talladega gave him two more attempts as well. He also knocked those down during a seven point possession that saved Dallas County’s season and keep the Hornets’ hopes of repeating alive.

“Our best athlete got the ball, Jerrod, and he just wasn’t going to be denied,” Dallas County head coach Willie Moore said. “He’s a really good player and he just happened to power the ball up through contact, and we were fortunate that he was able to make the basket.”

In a game where 90 free throws were shot, Moorer found himself in foul trouble early. The senior guard had three fouls less than four minutes into the game, so Hornets’ head coach Willie Moore had to turn to his bench to keep his team in the game.

The Hornets managed even better than that, leading 27-25 at halftime after a jumper by Kendell Motley in the final seconds of the first half.

“After getting multiple players in foul trouble and for us to go extended minutes without Jerrod, we were ecstatic to even be up at the half,” Moore said. “Our seniors are battle tested. No matter what they threw at us, we were prepared for.”

Moorer returned in the second half and stayed aggressive despite his foul situation. He erupted for 28 of his game high 32 points in the second half, with most of them coming at the charity stripe. Moorer made 20-of-24 free throws on a day where the Hornets shot 79.1 percent (34-of-43) as a team.

According to the AHSAA’s online record book, Moorer’s 24 free throws are the third most attempted in a game. His 20 makes are the sixth most made in a game.

Perhaps most impressive was that he played through a hamstring injury that Moore said kept him out of practice all week. Moorer also failed to make a three for the first time in his career, according to Moore.

He didn’t even attempt a three in the game, opting to stay aggressive instead.

Hornets’ point guard Raheem Phillips played through foul trouble of his own and came a rebound away from a double-double. Despite two first quarter fouls, he played 28 minutes and scored 20 points, with the majority of those coming from the free throw line.

“I uncharacteristically left Jerrod in the game with two [fouls] and he picked up an offensive foul for his third,” Moore said. “That wasn’t smart on my part, but he’s sort of the reason we are here and certainly I’m going to ride him until I can’t ride him. I can’t coach him next year so I wanted to get as much mileage as I could out of [Jerrod] and [Raheem] today.”

The game was tied 46-46 after the third quarter and neither team could break away early in the fourth.

The Tigers took a 57-56 lead on a free throw by Desmond Green with 1:58 to play. After a turnover on the Hornets’ next possession, Dallas County’s Kendell Motley stole the ball and raced down the court for what appeared to be a wide open layup, but Green blocked it.

Talladega called timeout and drew up a play that left a Tigers’ player open under the basket, but his layup missed and the Hornets rushed the other direction. After a couple of missed shots, Moorer came down with a rebound off of a Kareem Ross’ miss, made the layup through contact and gave Dallas County the lead. That’s when things got wild.

A technical foul was called on Talladega and Tigers’ head coach Chucky Miller took off his jacket in frustration at the call.

Moorer knocked in all three free throws to give Dallas County some breathing room.

“We felt pretty comfortable that if we put them in a position where they have not been in this year, we were pretty sure they were going to panic,” Moore said. “They panicked towards the end and our kids didn’t panic.”

Dallas County will face the Sumter Central Thursday at 11 a.m. at Alabama State. The Hornets have already faced Sumter three times this year.

Dallas County won the most recent meeting, which was the class 5A, area 6 championship game on Feb. 8 80-51.

The Hornets scored 51 points in the first half of that game and turned it into a blowout.