VARSITY
BOYS ST. JAMES (19-6) 77, Beauregard 75 (2
OT)
Score by quarters:
BEA
12 18
13 10 | 11 11
75
STJ 10
22 8
13 | 11
13 77
STJ Scorers:
Nelson 25, Roberts 17, Kirkland 12, Mills 11, Ward 10, Welch 2
BEA Scorers: Webb 45, G. Todd
12, Wilson 9, W. Todd 4, Dewight Carruth 3, Barnett 2
STJ 3 Pointers: Mills (2),
Ward (1), Nelson (1) FT (team): 20 of 28 (71.4%)
Taylor Nelson hit a desperation three point shot with time almost
expired in regulation to send the game to overtime,
Beauregard missed an 8 foot shot at the buzzer at the end of the first
overtime, and St. James held on with bullseye
freethrow shooting in the second overtime as they overcame a career
high performance by Hornet star Ladarius Webb
by winning the 4A Area 5 Championship, 77-75 in an unbelievably
thrilling double overtime game. The entire game
was back and forth, with neither team having more than a 5 point lead
at any time. The Trojans led early, but Webb
hit three late baskets in the first quarter to give the Hornets a 2
point lead. The teams battled back and forth in the
second quarter as the intensity and tempo both picked up. Jordan
Kirkland's basket gave the Trojans a 21-19 lead
midway through the second quarter, which would hold until a Webb basket
early in the third quarter put the Hornets
back on top at 35-34. Defenses tightened, but few fouls were
called in the final two regulation quarters. Nelson's
bucket gave the Trojans a 44-43 lead early in the final quarter.
Chris Roberts for St. James and Webb for Beauregard
would trade baskets and freethrows until the final minute of the game,
when two Webb freethrows gave the Hornets
a 53-50 lead with 6 seconds remaining. The Trojans called their
"Homerun" play, where the ball was tossed all the way
downcourt. Nelson came up with the ball, dribbled twice, and let
go a shot from about 23 feet just in front of the
Hornet fans, but it was the Trojans fans screaming like crazy when the
ball streamed through the net with a second
remaining and the game tied, headed to overtime. Adam Mills hit
both of his three pointers in overtime, the second
giving St. James a 64-62 lead with 51 seconds left. Webb
connected on a basket on the next trip to tie the score, and
then had a chance to win the game but his 7 foot running jumper bounced
off the rim and it was to a second overtime
period. After a Webb basket, Kirkland hit a three and Roberts hit
two freethrows to give the Trojans a 69-66 lead.
The teams traded freethrows, but Wydele Todd hit a 3 point shot to tie
the game at 71 with about a minute remaining.
Nelson promptly hit a basket, and the Trojans made a key defensive stop
at the other end of the court. Trace Welch,
who was playing due to two Trojans having fouled out, was fouled and
connected on two key free throws, giving St.
James a 75-71 lead. However, Webb drove through the Trojan
defense again and cut the lead to 75-73 with 15.3
seconds remaining. After a timeout, Adam Mills was fouled and he
converted both of his freethrows to re-extend the
Trojan lead to 4. Webb once again, with some pressure, managed to
hit a basket with 3.5 seconds remaining, but with
the Hornets timeouts exhausted, there was no need to throw the ball
back into play and the St. James players and fans
erupted as the buzzer sounded and the Area 5 Championship Trophy was
theirs after an exhilirating effort by both teams.
The 19th win of the season also tied the boys' varsity basketball
record of most wins in a season with the 1983-84 team.
Webb, along with Gary Todd made the All-Tournament Team from
Beauregard. Matt Ward and Chris Roberts joined
Tournament MVP Taylor Nelson on the team from St. James. Other
All-Tournament team members were Michael
Burnette and Jerome Jones from Tallassee, Justin Lyons and Marquinton
Phillips from Handley, and Keith Edwards and
Joseph Hamilton from Brewbaker Tech. The Trojans won the right to
host a sub-regional game against Southside-Selma,
the Area 6 Tournament runner-up, while Beauregard travels to
Central-Coosa for their sub-regional matchup.