Tigers come from behind in fourth to beat Greene County
Demopolis used a fourth quarter run to overcome Greene County 49-46 Friday night in its regular season finale. In a contest that saw the Tigers start all five of their seniors, Greene County led from the outset with a pair of free throws stemming from a pregame technical foul.
The Tigers saw their seniors battle to a 10-5 deficit over the game’s first few minutes before the regular starters entered the contest to knot the game at 14 all by the end of the first frame.
“They did well. I was proud of them,” Demopolis coach Ashley Allen said of his 12th grade group. “I felt like they would give us a little momentum. If they did come out and do well, it would spark the crowd and spark the team. Our bench was really rooting for it and I made the decision with like two minutes left. I think it really sparked us.”
The Tigers took a brief 15-14 lead on a Nelson Haskin free throw in the second quarter before Greene County took over the remainder of the period. Demopolis connected on only two shots from the floor in the frame as the Greene County defense suffocated the Tiger attack.
That defense, which saw Greene County double-teaming ball handlers and working to trap on the wings, limited Demopolis to 10 points in the third quarter and snuffed out the brief 29-28 lead the Tigers snagged when Taylor Herelle fed Melvin Childers for a 29-28 advantage.
“I spread it out. I went four out, one in where we got more movement. We’re not holding the ball, being stagnant, waiting on down low to get open or trying to set picks and screens. We just throw it in and we run the wheel offense,” Allen said of the adjustment he made during the game’s fourth quarter. “It’s called the read and react offense. You just run the wheel. You pass and you cut off (the center) and you just continuously do it. You can’t trap that if we’re steadily moving. I also tried to put some guards in at the end of the game. They were trying to press us hard. If we did get trapped, if we did get stagnant, we had some guys who could handle the ball.”
The change in the offense created looks for the Tigers as Herelle dished off to Shakari Williams who drained a three with 5:45 to play that gave Demopolis the 34-32 lead. The Tigers then embarked on an 11-0 run that moved the advantage to 40-32 before Jamari Reeves scored on a put-back with 3:08 left to cut the deficit to six. Greene County continued to inch its way back into the game. Reeves later scored on another put-back with two seconds remaining to cut it to 48-46. Freshman Shamar Wallace connected on the back end of a double-bonus opportunity with less than a second left to set the final tally.
“It makes me feel good,” Allen said of his team’s recent penchant for winning close games, a run that includes late victories over Keith and Linden. “I feel like we’re getting over that mentality of losing those games in the fourth quarter. We get a lead, we’re starting to hold it. That makes me happy.”
The Tigers found an offensive boost from their defensive standout Friday as Haskin led the team with 13 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks.
“I’ve been stressing to Nelson he has to score. If he scores more, it helps our sharpshooters,” Allen said. “They’ll get open shots. If we get more open looks, we’ll shoot a better percentage.”
Williams added 13 points and five rebounds for the Tigers. Childers had six points and seven rebounds. Reeves paced Greene County with 20 points and 13 rebounds.
Demopolis (10-11) is set to face Central-Tuscaloosa in the first round of the Class 5A, Area 7 tournament at Sumter Central Tuesday.