eliminate Geneva County

By STEVEN G. WATSON and KEVIN PEARCEY

Montgomery County senior Thurston Ruffin came off the bench and into the Southeast Regional record books Tuesday at Troy State’s Trojan Arena.

Ruffin hit 20-of-26 free throw attempts to break the old Class 2A record of 13 made by Jason Roberson of Trinity in 1995 and led the Golden Eagles (22-9) to a 69-66 upset of the Bulldogs of Geneva County.

While playing only 16 total minutes in the game, Ruffin scored a game-high 30 points and finished off with a double-double grabbing 10 boards (eight offensive).

Ruffins’ performance dampened the coming out party expected for Alabama High School Player of the Year finalist Lushers Lane who also had a double-double with 26 points and 10 rebounds.

The 6-foot-4 forward is a senior on the Geneva County squad (21-4) and helped his team power back into the game after being down by as many as 10 in the third quarter.

The Bulldogs took the lead over Montgomery County with 6:49 left as Lushers finished on a layup drawing the foul. The 3-point play put them up by two, but in the end it was a free-throw exhibition by the Eagles that won out.

With the game tied and only 41 seconds left, Ruffin hit six straight from the charity stripe to advance his team to the Regional finals.

Tavaris Sheperd and Reggie Henry were the only other Eagle players scoring in double figures with 11 and 10 respectively, while Jeffrey Anderson finished with 19 for the Bulldogs.

Highland Home 74, Louisville 41 (2A Girls)

Highland Home’s Teresa Herring missed breaking a Class 2A Regional scoring record by only two points Tuesday night as the Squadron followed her to a 74-41 victory over the Lady Cardinals of Louisville.

Herring hit for 40 points on 16-of-24 shooting and gobbled up 13 rebounds to notch a double-double before fouling out of the game.

The Squadron flew out to a 15-6 lead after the first quarter and never looked back at the floundering Lady Cardinals.

The only bright spot for Louisville was Merri Burks who hit for 18 points to lead the Lady Cardinals.

Robin Winn and Dawanna Brantley also scored in double figures for the Squadron with 11 and 10 respectively.

Highland Home will now face Geneva County in the Regional Finals Friday for the right to move on to the State’s final four in Birmingham.

Houston Academy 43, Loachapoka 36 (1A Girls)

In 1A girls’ action Houston Academy advanced in the tournament by beating the Loachapoka Indians, 43-36.

The Lady Raiders held the Indians scoreless for the entire first quarter and the first three minutes of the second, while building an 18-0 lead. Houston Academy took a 25-8 lead into halftime, but in the second half Loachapoka stormed back, at times pulling within three or four points the lead.

With 6:13 left in the fourth, the Indians JaQuansa Williams put in a layup to pull her team close, with the score 33-30. But the Lady Raiders put together a 7-1 run to effectively seal the victory for Houston Academy.

The Lady Raiders were led by Lee Bryson who scored 16 points, going 7/9 from the field. Ashley Steensland had a double-double for Houston Academy, pulling down 13 boards and 11 points.

Carrilyn Williams paced Loachapoka with 10 points on the afternoon.

Houston Academy will face Autaugaville in the Regional Finals Friday.

Loachapoka 55, Houston Academy 43 (1A Boys)

In 1A boys’ action Loachapoka extracted a measure of revenge for their girls’ team, by beating the Houston Academy boys, 55-43.

The Indians took the lead for good early in the second quarter, as Montavis Pitts broke a 12-12 tie with a layup. Loachapoka led 26-19 at the end of the first.

In the second half, Houston Academy got as close as five points to the Indians lead before Loachapoka went on a 16-4 tear in the last five minutes of the third period.

The Indians placed three players in double figures, with Pitts leading the way with 17 points. He also grabbed 9 boards. Demetrice Hill also had 9 boards and was second in scoring with 14 points. Demarco Philpot had 12 points.

Chris Fain had a team-high 15 for Houston Academy in the loss and Bayne Heersink had 10 points and 11 rebounds.

Loachapoka has won the right to face Saint Jude in the Regional Finals Friday.

Autaugaville 40, Notasulga 28 (1A Girls)

In the first round matchup that was a PA announcer’s worst nightmare, the Autaugaville girls got past the Notasulga girls 40-28 to move on to Friday’s matchup with Houston Academy.

Notasulga’s Renina Fields hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key to put the Lady Devils on top 28-27, but the Lady Eagles held NHS scoreless throughout the final four minutes of the game.

Rutondel Motley was the star for Autaugaville missing a triple double by only three assists as she hit for 10 points, gathered a game-high 12 boards and dished out seven assists. Kedra Motley also finished with a double-double notching a game-high 16 points and 10 rebounds.

For Notasulga, only four players put points on the board. Lasheena Fields and Shaquita Fields had 12 and 11 respectively to pace the Lady Devils.

The Lady Eagles will now face Houston Academy in Friday at 12:00 noon to decide the Class 1A representative from the Southeast Regional.

Saint Jude 91, Edward Bell 53 (1A Boys)

The Edward Bell Bears got off to a quick start against the Saint Jude Pirates in Class 1A action, but things turned sour quick.

The Bears started the game with a 5-0 run, but a larger St. Jude team shut the door on defense and used their size inside to pound Edward Bell into submission. The Pirates jumped out to a 35-20 lead at the break and ble things open in the second half scoring 27 points in the third quarter and 29 in the fourth.

Senior and 6-foot-8 center Daouda Cisse came off the bench to lead the Pirates with 17 points and a game-high eight rebounds. Cissie was one of four St. Jude players scoring in double figues with Moses Butcher hitting for 14, Michael Carter 16 and Timothy Robinson 12.

Edward Bell was led by Jonathan Anderson with 14 points while Kendrick Ware notched 13.

Geneva County 67, Horseshoe Bend 50 (2A Girls)

With a lot of vocal fan support in attendance, the Geneva County Lady Bulldogs beat Horseshoe Bend 67-50.

The Generals hung with the Lady Bulldogs for about the first three minutes of the game before Geneva County took control and ran off 11 straight points before the end of the first quarter to take a 21-9 lead.

For the night the Lady Bulldogs shot 43% from the field and were 5/10 from beyond the 3-point arc.

Mary Neal had an outstanding effort for Geneva County, scoring 27 points, dishing off three assists, and grabbing five steals. Elise Williams followed with 16 points and Gwen Anderson scored 13 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.

For the night the Lady Bulldogs shot 43% from the field and were 5/10 from beyond the 3-point arc.

Latoyna Knight led the Generals with 21 points in a losing effort.