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Feb. 20—HANCEVILLE — East Limestone came into Thursday's game with a chip on its shoulder.
After falling in the Sweet 16 of last year's Northwest Regional tournament, the Indians had a chance to redeem themselves. This time they got it done, taking down Lawrence County 52-39 to advance to the Elite Eight.
"It hurt to lose last year. We knew we were still going to be good this year, so we were going to get another chance," East Limestone's Coleby Davis said. "I came in wanting to get my get back."
East Limestone, the No. 3 team in Class 5A and the highest ranked 5A team still playing, never trailed in Thursday's game. The Indians led by as many as 17 points.
"We played our brand of basketball for four quarters," East Limestone head coach Jake Moran said. "They played hard and did some things well in the first half to hang around, but we turned it up a notch in the second half. We did miss a few shots to ice it late, but overall I was really pleased with how we did the things we needed to do to win."
East Limestone led 28-20 at halftime, and a 10-0 run to start the second half put the game out of reach. The Indians out-rebounded Lawrence County 43-30 and held the Red Devils' leading scorer, Jackson Smith, to just five points.
"Rebounding is so important for us because we usually out-rebound the other team, but in our losses the other team always had more rebounds," Lawrence County head coach Jeff Hodge said. "Jackson usually gets 16 or 17 points a game, and we didn't have that, which was tough for us. We ended up losing by 13."
Chriss Fitts led East Limestone with 17 points, while Kayne Meyers had 14 and Davis had 10. Jordyn Ray led Lawrence County with 10 points.
East Limestone advances to the Elite Eight for the first time since 2019. The Indians will play No. 4 Guntersville on Monday at 5:45 p.m. for a chance to reach their first Final Four since 1996.
"They (Guntersville) love to play fast. They have great guard play and love to shoot it early in the shot clock," Moran said. "We're going to have to do a great job defensively, and on offense we're going to have to take advantage of our size mismatches. It's going to take a lot to beat them, but we're up for the challenge."
Guntersville knocked the Indians out of the Sweet 16 last year, and the returning Indians are relishing the opportunity for revenge.
"Getting the chance to play them again, that's exactly the way we want it," Davis said.
— [email protected] or 256-340-2395. Twitter @CalebSuggs2
Continue reading...
After falling in the Sweet 16 of last year's Northwest Regional tournament, the Indians had a chance to redeem themselves. This time they got it done, taking down Lawrence County 52-39 to advance to the Elite Eight.
"It hurt to lose last year. We knew we were still going to be good this year, so we were going to get another chance," East Limestone's Coleby Davis said. "I came in wanting to get my get back."
East Limestone, the No. 3 team in Class 5A and the highest ranked 5A team still playing, never trailed in Thursday's game. The Indians led by as many as 17 points.
"We played our brand of basketball for four quarters," East Limestone head coach Jake Moran said. "They played hard and did some things well in the first half to hang around, but we turned it up a notch in the second half. We did miss a few shots to ice it late, but overall I was really pleased with how we did the things we needed to do to win."
East Limestone led 28-20 at halftime, and a 10-0 run to start the second half put the game out of reach. The Indians out-rebounded Lawrence County 43-30 and held the Red Devils' leading scorer, Jackson Smith, to just five points.
"Rebounding is so important for us because we usually out-rebound the other team, but in our losses the other team always had more rebounds," Lawrence County head coach Jeff Hodge said. "Jackson usually gets 16 or 17 points a game, and we didn't have that, which was tough for us. We ended up losing by 13."
Chriss Fitts led East Limestone with 17 points, while Kayne Meyers had 14 and Davis had 10. Jordyn Ray led Lawrence County with 10 points.
East Limestone advances to the Elite Eight for the first time since 2019. The Indians will play No. 4 Guntersville on Monday at 5:45 p.m. for a chance to reach their first Final Four since 1996.
"They (Guntersville) love to play fast. They have great guard play and love to shoot it early in the shot clock," Moran said. "We're going to have to do a great job defensively, and on offense we're going to have to take advantage of our size mismatches. It's going to take a lot to beat them, but we're up for the challenge."
Guntersville knocked the Indians out of the Sweet 16 last year, and the returning Indians are relishing the opportunity for revenge.
"Getting the chance to play them again, that's exactly the way we want it," Davis said.
— [email protected] or 256-340-2395. Twitter @CalebSuggs2
Continue reading...
