Deerfield-Windsor boys, Westwood girls claim tournament titles

ALBANY — Deerfield-Windsor had a battle on their hands for three quarters.

But some hot-shooting by Chandler Matthews and Ryan Toole in the fourth quarter was the difference as the Knights defeated Terrell Academy 72-62 to win the GISA Region 3-AAA boys tournament at Darton State College Saturday night.

“They (Terrell Academy) were able to come back to within two, but Chandler Matthews hit a couple of big threes,” DWS boys coach Gordy Gruhl said. “Ryan Toole hit a couple, and we were able to get the lead back up a little bit. We made our free throws when we had two.

They (Terrell Academy) have an awful good basketball team. Number 45 (Conor Walsh) and number 33 (Raleigh Carlson) are hard to stop. They’re both tremendous players. I don’t know how to stop them. We’ve played them three times and we haven’t stopped them yet.”

With Deerfield-Windsor leading 52-50 in the fourth quarter, the Knights went on a 9-0 run that effectively put away the game. The Knights had four players in double figures. Trey Young led Deerfield-Windsor in scoring with 18 points, while Matthews had 17, 15 coming off of five 3-pointers. Toole and Christian Wallace each scored 11 points.

Both teams played a strong first quarter with the Knights ahead 20-16 by the quarter’s end. However, DWS outscored Terrell Academy 16-6 in the second quarter to earn a 36-26 halftime lead. Young scored 12 of his points in the first half to lead Deerfield Windsor’s attack.

Terrell Academy was able to cut the lead to 41-35 in the middle of the third quarter, but Austin Fallaw scored four straight points to help put the Knights back up by as many as 10. The Eagles made a short run near the end of the third, but the Knights still owned a 51-45 lead by the end of the third quarter.

However, the Eagles would not go quietly.

With 6:18 to go in the game and the Knights up 52-45, Walsh nailed a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to four, prompting Gruhl to call time out to stop the run.

Out of the timeout, Carlson stole the ball, drove to the basket and was fouled while shooting. He made both free throws, cutting the lead to two. However, Matthews responded by hitting back to back 3-point shots, putting the Knights back up by eight with 3:34 to go. The Knights struck again when Toole nailed a 3-pointer, putting the Knights up 61-50. It was a deficit the Eagles could not overcome.

Walsh led Terrell Academy with 23 points, nine of them from beyond the arc. Three other Eagles were in double figures. Gable Freeman scored 12 points, all of them on 3-pointers. Dalton Todd scored 11, while Carlson had 10.

WESTWOOD GIRLS 49, TERRELL ACADEMY 39: Westwood staying unblemished on the season toppoing Terrell Academy for the GISA Region 3-AAA girls tournament title.

“I think that was Morgan Singleton’s best game of her senior year,” Westwood girls coach Jenni Smith said. “She did a tremendous job for us.”

Singleton led the Lady Wildcats with 15 points, while Haley Marshall scored 13. Callie Smith was also in double figures for Westwood, scoring 11 points. Singleton and Marshall led Westwood on a second half run that put the game away as they scored nine and eight points respectively in the half.

Both teams came out strong in the early part of the game with Westwood making several defensive plays. However, the Lady Eagles jumped out to a 6-2 lead early and led 6-4 at the end of the first. The Lady Eagles went on a 10-6 run in the second quarter, capped off by a 3-pointer from Olivia Rogers.

However, the Lady Wildcats responded by going on a 9-0 run to close out the first half leading 19-16. Terrell Academy’s leading scorer, Marilauren Farr, was held to just two points in the first half.

“I called a timeout near the end of the second quarter and I got on the girls and I told them, ‘you’ve got to find a way to get the ball in the hole no matter what it takes,’ ” Smith said.

The Lady Wildcats went on a 10-2 run to start the second half, capped off by a 3-pointer from Marshall late in the third quarter.

At that point, the Lady Wildcats took over the game, going ahead 40-27 with four minutes left in the fourth quarter. Farr woke up late in the game as she scored two straight baskets to cut Terrell Academy’s deficit to nine. That, however, would be as close as the Lady Eagles would get.

Farr led the Lady Eagles with 17 points.

“I think they (Westwood) came out in the third quarter and were a little more aggressive than us, and that was the difference in the ball game,” Terrell Academy coach Keith Jones said.

SOUTHLAND BOYS 54, TIFTAREA 49: Southland Academy fought off a furious fourth-quarter rally by Tiftarea Academy to hold on and win the boys consolation game.

With 33 seconds to go and Southland up 50-49 and with the ball, Jamaal Rice was fouled and hit both free throws of a one-and-one to help the Raiders hold on and win a hard-fought victory. Keyon Stone led the Raiders with 23 points. Eight of his points came in the fourth quarter as the Raiders fought off a furious comeback. Jamarcus Scott scored 11 points and Rice had 10.

Mondo West led the Panthers with 12 points.

SOUTHLAND GIRLS 39, DEERFIELD-WINDSOR 35: Behind a game-high 13 points from Madison McPherson, Southland defeated Deerfield Windsor in the girls consolation game. The win gives the Lady Raiders the third seed in next week’s GISA Class AAA state tournament, while the Lady Knights will go in as the fourth seed. Madison McPherson led the Lady Raiders in scoring with 13 points and Kathleen Kinslow scored 11 for Southland. Joyner Tyson and Teasie Williams each scored nine points to lead the Lady Knights.

With Southland leading 38-35 with 38.5 seconds left and the Lady Knights with the ball, Deerfield-Windsor coach Jeff Eubanks called time out to set up his offense. After the timeout, Williams tried a 3-pointer that was blocked. That would be the last chance the Lady Knights would have to tie or win the game.