Main Street Maury
COLUMBIA WEATHER

Late-game heroics highlight Richland tourney finals





Summertown’s Karlie Campbell (left) and Katie Burdette celebrate after Campbell’s buzzer-beating putback gave the Lady Eagles a 47-45 win over Gleason in Thursday’s finals of the Richland Christmas Classic.ROB FLEMING / MAIN STREET MAURY

Summertown’s Karlie Campbell (left) and Katie Burdette celebrate after Campbell’s buzzer-beating putback gave the Lady Eagles a 47-45 win over Gleason in Thursday’s finals of the Richland Christmas Classic.ROB FLEMING / MAIN STREET MAURY

LYNNVILLE – Rarely is the sequel as good as the original.

After watching his Richland team take its foot off the gas in Wednesday’s semifinal of its holiday tournament, Jason Loveless saw a similar situation play out in Thursday’s championship.

“There wasn’t a whole lot of difference except we had a 25-point lead (Wednesday) and a 15-point lead (Thursday),” Loveless said.

That margin was the difference in a Raider semifinal victory and a 53-50 overtime loss to Loretto in the finals, as the Mustangs connected on three fourth-quarter 3-pointers to help force the extra period and went seven-for-eight from the free throw line to close out the contest.

“When you’re struggling that hard, against a team that’s as well coached as they are, that plays as hard as they do – it says a lot for our character,” Loretto coach Greg Tipps said after his team downed Santa Fe, Lawrence County and the hosts over three days.

“There’s a lot of admiration between us and them. I’m proud of our guys.

Tabias Sirmones put the exclamation point on Loretto’s 53-50 overtime win in Thursday’s finals of the Richland Christmas Classic over the host Raiders with a two-handed dunk.ROB FLEMING / MAIN STREET MAURY

Tabias Sirmones put the exclamation point on Loretto’s 53-50 overtime win in Thursday’s finals of the Richland Christmas Classic over the host Raiders with a two-handed dunk.ROB FLEMING / MAIN STREET MAURY

Richland (8-5), which led Summertown by as many as 21 points in the second half before settling for an 82-70 decision Wednesday, found itself up 18-6 late just minutes before intermission Thursday and took a 34-19 lead with just under three minutes to play in the third period on a Trey Luna 3-pointer – the Raiders’ sixth of the game.

Mustang freshmen Jaxon Roberson and Jakiyah Englett answered with consecutive baskets, Roberson’s a trey, and Loretto halved the deficit by the start of the fourth quarter.

“We played three freshmen (Roberson, Englett and Kasen Buie) that made some plays, and then you look up and they’ve made some mistakes,” Tipps said. “But I think they gave us some energy, some life.”

Loretto (7-6) never led in regulation, as Tabias Sirmones’ two free throws with 36.7 seconds remaining in the fourth forced a 44-all deadlock and Richland was unable to convert on the final possession.

Richland's Trey Luna puts up a layup as Loretto's Jaxon Roberson (left) and Tabias Sirmones defend during Thursday's tourney finals.ROB FLEMING / MAIN STREET MAURY

Richland’s Trey Luna puts up a layup as Loretto’s Jaxon Roberson (left) and Tabias Sirmones defend during Thursday’s tourney finals.ROB FLEMING / MAIN STREET MAURY

In overtime, Sirmones gave the Mustangs their first lead on another two foul shots. Sirmones then extended the lead to 49-44 on his two-handed dunk after Caleb Davis hit one of two free throws following an intentional foul.

“We played with a lot of heart at the end of the game,” Loretto senior guard Brendon Tipps said after scoring a team-high 13 points with three 3-pointers, all in the second half. “We didn’t play a good first half at all, but we figured out a way. It felt good that we figured it out as we went.”

Tyrell Randolph scored 18 points for Richland, including a pair of deep 3s in the final seven seconds of overtime, but couldn’t rescue the Raiders from their second loss in three weeks to the Mustangs. Richland dropped a 51-45 road decision on Dec. 7.

“We tried to get him some looks late in regulation, and we got them, but they didn’t fall,” Loveless said. “Their guys made some shots. We tried to take away Davis (10 points) and Tipps, but they made shots after we turned it over – after we self-imploded. Credit them for making the shots, but we’ve got to handle that situation better.

Summertown’s Karlie Campbell rebounds a missed free throw and prepares to put up the gamewinning shot as the Lady Eagles edged Gleason 47-45 in Thursday’s finals of the Richland Christmas Classic.ROB FLEMING / MAIN STREET MAURY

Summertown’s Karlie Campbell rebounds a missed free throw and prepares to put up the gamewinning shot as the Lady Eagles edged Gleason 47-45 in Thursday’s finals of the Richland Christmas Classic.ROB FLEMING / MAIN STREET MAURY

“We’ve lost four games by 10 or 12 points total. We’ve got to find a way to win in those games. And it’s not one or two plays. It’s a series of plays, a series of possessions. I take full credit for this loss. I didn’t do a very good job coaching. I’ve got to do a better job.”

Both Tipps and Loveless pointed to the tourney as a learning experience.

“I wasn’t sure how we’d respond,” Tipps said. “We played our best game of the year Wednesday (a 64-50 semifinal win over Lawrence County, following Tuesday’s tourney-opening victory against Santa Fe). I didn’t know that we were the type team that could string three good wins together in a row, but we did.”

“I think I learned more about my team in the last three days than in the first 10 games,” Loveless said. “We’ve got to work on time and score, but we’ve got to be accountable to each other. That’s leadership.

Summertown’s Alivia Riggs gets ahead of Gleason defender Ava Sawyers for a layup during Thursday’s finals of the Richland Christmas Classic.ROB FLEMING / MAIN STREET MAURY

Summertown’s Alivia Riggs gets ahead of Gleason defender Ava Sawyers for a layup during Thursday’s finals of the Richland Christmas Classic.ROB FLEMING / MAIN STREET MAURY

“We’ll grow and get better from it.”

Still soaring

Karlie Campbell’s buzzer-beating putback gave Summertown a 47-45 win over Gleason in the girls finals, as the Lady Eagles improved to 16-0.

“I try not to think about it,” first-year coach Jeremy Jean said regarding his team’s undefeated status. “We try to take it one day at a time.”

Gleason provided a challenge with its deliberate attack, compounded by the absence of Summertown guard Emily Brazier, who missed the tournament because of illness.

“We’ve got three posts guarding four guards,” Jean said. “Them being as patient as they were, I thought we did a good job of being in the right places. The few times we weren’t, they made us pay.

“(Brazier) has been sick this last three days. I thought we developed some depth this week, but getting her back is big for us to get rolling again. We missed her.”

Loretto coach Greg Tipps directs his team during a timeout in Thursday's championship matchup of the Richland Christmas Classic. The Mustangs defeated the host team 53-50 in overtime.ROB FLEMING / MAIN STREET MAURY

Loretto coach Greg Tipps directs his team during a timeout in Thursday’s championship matchup of the Richland Christmas Classic. The Mustangs defeated the host team 53-50 in overtime.ROB FLEMING / MAIN STREET MAURY

Summertown scored the game’s first points, on an Ansley Burleson 3-pointer, and didn’t trail until Alayna Anderson’s free throw gave Gleason a 43-42 lead with 1:07 to play. With the game tied at 45 and four-tenths of a second remaining in regulation, Burleson misfired on a pair of foul shots. Campbell rebounded the second miss and was able to get a shot up and in before the final horn.

“We could have finished it a couple of possessions earlier with some free throws,” Jean said. “We had three possessions in a row and didn’t do it, but we made plays that kept us in position to win the game. (Campbell) got a rebound and finished it for us.”

Katie Burdette scored 12 points and Campbell 10 to lead Summertown offensively. Anderson finished with a game-high 19 points for Gleason.

In other results from the Classic:

• Despite a 40-point effort from Summertown’s Gavin Burleson, Lawrence County claimed third place with an 88-82 win over the Eagles. Luke Boswell’s 16 points led the Wildcats.

Loretto’s Tabias Sirmones puts up a shot over Richland’s Jace Derryberry during Thursday’s finals of the Richland Christmas Classic.ROB FLEMING / MAIN STREET MAURY

Loretto’s Tabias Sirmones puts up a shot over Richland’s Jace Derryberry during Thursday’s finals of the Richland Christmas Classic.ROB FLEMING / MAIN STREET MAURY

• Andy Slaughter scored 30 points, including three 3-pointers, as Santa Fe defeated Forrest 70-53 for fifth place.

•Huntland won the boys seventh-place game, defeating Ardmore (Ala.) 94-88. On the girls side, Clay County placed third with a 58-54 win over the host Lady Raiders, with Huntland defeating Forrest 48-32 for fifth place and Spring Hill defeating Santa Fe 43-37 for seventh place.

Loretto boys 53, Richland 50 (OT)

L 6 5 16 17 9 – 53

R 11 7 17 9 6 – 50

Loretto (53) – Clint Seymore 10, Jaxon Roberson 3, Caleb Davis 10, Brendon Tipps 13, Kasen Buie 5, Tabias Sirmones 8, Jakiyah Englett 4

Richland (50) – Tyrell Randolph 18, Jace Derryberry 3, Carter Edwards 6, Gage Kirk 10, Trey Luna 7, Luke Jones 6

3-pointers – Loretto 8 (Seymore 2, Roberson, Davis, Tipps 3, Buie), Richland 9 (Randolph 4, Derryberry, Edwards, Kirk, Luna, Jones)

 

 

Summertown girls 47, Gleason 45

S 13 14 5 15 – 47

G 11 16 2 16 – 45

Summertown (47) – Karlie Campbell 10, Ansley Burleson 9, Mia Dinwiddie 6, Alivia Riggs 3, Katie Burdette 12, Reese Wilson 7

Gleason (45) – Alayna Anderson 19, Carrington LIfsey 7, Daisy Blevins 7, Sophie Wilson 12

3-pointers – Summertown 6 (Campbell 2, Burleson, Dinwiddie, Riggs, Wilson), Gleason 7 (Anderson, LIfsey, Blevins, Wilson 4)

Lawrence Co. boys 88, Summertown 82

L 25 18 23 22 – 88

S 21 15 22 24 – 82

Lawrence Co. (88) – Alex Carr 13, Jakabri Stevenson 10, Blake Long 6, Kade Shultz 12, Logan Boswell 5, Elijah Reynolds 7, T.J. Gobble 7, Luke Mattox 12, Luke Boswell 16

Summertown (82) – Harrison Gobble 2, Jake Smith 10, Cole Campbell 4, Grayson Burleson 17, Gavin Burleson 40, Kaden Trotter 9

3-pointers – Lawrence Co. 8 (Carr, Stevenson 2, Lo. Boswell, Gobble, Mattox 3), Summertown 5 (Gr. Burleson, Gv. Burleson 3, Trotter)

Santa Fe boys 70, Forrest 53

F 6 14 20 13 – 53

S 15 24 14 17 – 70

Forrest (53) – Preston Gentry 2, Ben Villazon 10, Josh Rumley 9, Brennan Mealer 1, Hunter Bennett 4, Davin Porter 19, Andrew Timmons 8

Santa Fe (70) – Macon Adkison 6, Auden Slaughter 15, Tanner Bryan 2, Colton Steward 13, Andy Slaughter 30, Landon Evans 4

3-pointers – Forrest 1 (Rumley), Santa Fe 6 (Adkison, Au. Slaughter, Steward, An. Slaughter 3)

Leave a Reply