By Griffin Pritchard

The Wetumpka Herald

 

WETUMPKA — With their female counterparts waiting in the wings and a berth in the Bazemore/Johnson Tournament championship on the line, Dallas County rivals Southside and Keith needed a few extra minutes to settle things Wednesday night.

Keith — with a strong push in the final two minutes — scored the 73-70 victory over Southside in double overtime, advancing to the first championship finale of the inaugural tournament hosted by Wetumpka High.

“Our guys are conditioned to play a game and a half,“ said Tommy Tisdale, coach of the Bears. “Tonight we needed that. We knew what we were getting into and I wouldn’t expect anything less than the type of game we just played.”

Led by the shooting of Anthony Simmons (17 points) and Rodney Ellis (23 points) the Bears overcame a 14-point second-half deficit to knot the game 58-58 all and force overtime.

Ellis ¬ after being fouled with 10.4 left to play and the Bears trailing 58-57, had a chance to salt away the game. He sank the first free throw to level the score at 58-58 and sank the second to give Keith a 59-58 lead.

However, a lane violation on the Bears negated the basket.

Mario Oliver (23 points) scored the first points of the first extra frame for the Panthers, sinking a runner seconds after Southside won the tip.

The Bears ¬ with five bench players on the floor ¬ went into a stall and held the ball for nearly two minutes before Southside’s defense applied the pressure.

Ellis finds a crease in the Southside zone and scores on a lay-in.

With time ticking down and the score knotted at 60-60, Sammarkus Jones’ (15 points) shot was blocked by Eric Tolbert as the horn sounded.

“One of the advantages we have as a 1A school is that we can play nine or 10 guys and be comfortable with who we have on the floor,” said Tisdale. “I told the guys before the second overtime to dig down.”

Oliver gave Southside a 62-61 (after a Keith free throw) lead.

That was short lived as Isaac Boglin scored on a drive to the hoop. Leading 63-62, the Bears pushed to 65-62 after an Ellis basket. Keith continued to paint their rivals into a corner, pushing ahead 67-62 and then 69-64.

Jones, however, drained a three-pointer cutting into the 1A Bears lead. The Panthers continued their comeback effort, but proved fruitless after missing a jumper and two three-pointers from opposite sides of the lane with less than 20 seconds to play.

Ellis sank the second of two free throws to give the Bears a 72-67 lead. Oliver’s three-point shot with 9.7 rang true, prompting a timeout by the Southside bench.

The Panthers, however, were unable to convert as John Pettway sank a free throw to ice the game at 73-70.

The victory avenges an earlier loss to Southside and propels the Bears into Thursday’s tournament final ¬ tipping at 7:30 p.m. ¬ where they will meet the winner of Wednesday’s nightcap affair between the host Indians and

Bullock County. Devonte Richardson added 14 points and fouled out late in the game. Southside led 27-24 going into the intermission and 48-37 at the end of the third period.