Demopolis tinkers with rotation in win over Thomasville

Demopolis built an early lead and held on for a 47-37 victory over Thomasville while using 15 different players Thursday night.

“I was looking to get those youngsters in. We’ve had a guy that has been hurt, Deshawn Patterson. We had the new ninth grader I brought up, Shamar Wallace, and the 10th grader I brought up, Bubba (Michael Spencer),” Demopolis coach Ashley Allen said. “I’m trying to get them into it, get the speed. I felt like Thomasville was a good game to get them some playing time to try to get that speed up.”

The Tigers led 14-2 after one quarter of play. Thomasville narrowed the deficit to nine by halftime and cut it to six going into the fourth quarter.

“It shows they still have a little tenacity within them,” Allen said of his team’s ability to maintain control of the game despite the changing lineup combinations and the surge from Thomasville in the middle quarters.

Melvin Childers led the way for Demopolis with 12 points and six rebounds. Shakari Williams added 10 points and six rebounds. Nelson Haskin had 10 blocked shots and seven rebounds. Wallace finished with four points in his varsity debut. Spencer had three points and three rebounds. Kerry Sims had 12 points to lead Thomasville.

Demopolis (9-11) hosts Greene County Friday for its final regular season game on Senior Night.

“I need to see more defense and I need to see free throws hit,” Allen said of what he hopes his team will display in its last tune-up before Tuesday’s area tournament. “I feel like if we’d have hit free throws consistently throughout this year, we probably would’ve lost four games and we’d be hosting the area tournament.”