Tigers down Trinity, move to finals of Cornerstone tourney

BIRMINGHAM — Demopolis pulled to 2-1 on the season and punched its ticket to the Cornerstone Thanksgiving Classic finals Tuesday with a 52-43 win over Trinity Presbyterian.

“Trinity packed that 2-3 zone and kind of got us to force it a little bit in the third quarter, but then we got back to what we know to do and that’s working it to Charles Tripp and Josh Moore,” Demopolis assistant coach Stephen Campbell said of the win. “We got 32 points and 15 rebounds out of those two guys.”

The Tigers sealed the win at the free throw line, hitting eight of 10 shots from the stripe in the fourth quarter and 12 of 16 in the game.

Demopolis opened the game on a 15-12 run and stretched the advantage to 30-25 by halftime. Trinity narrowed the gap to 40-37 by the end of the third quarter but the Tigers held the Wildcats to just six points in the game’s final period.

Tripp led the way with 18 points, nine rebounds and four blocks. Moore finished with 14 points and six rebounds. Demetrius Smith added seven points while Datrion Fultz had six points and seven rebounds.

Demopolis is set to face Benjamin Russell in the championship game at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday.