Published: 12:00 AM, Wed Feb 15, 2012
Pine Forest, Seventy-First reach Mid-South 4-A boys' final
Pine Forest and Seventy-First will square off in the finals of the Mid-South 4-A Conference tournament.
The final, scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday at Pine Forest, will mark the fourth contest between the two teams this season.
The top-seeded Trojans (24-1) defeated fifth seed Jack Britt 65-44 in the first of Tuesday's semifinals. The No. 2 Falcons (18-7) followed suit, knocking out No. 3 South View 72-53.
Pine Forest rolls
When the Trojans faced Britt in the final regular-season game Feb. 10, the Buccaneers (9-17) gave the Trojans all they could handle through the first half.
Not so Tuesday, as Pine Forest jumped all over the the Bucs from the start, scoring 21 points in the first quarter and keeping Britt out of the lane.
The Trojans made the most of a slew of bad choices by the Bucs, including poor passes and low-percentage shots that resulted in transition baskets for Pine Forest.
Forward Naquan Smith led the Trojans with 12 points and nine rebounds.
Bucs' coach Ike Walker Jr. opted to sit Tavious Federick, who, along with Daniel Camps, scored 20 points in Monday's upset of No. 4 E.E. Smith.
"He just wasn't ready to play," Walker said. "After talking with him before the game, the things he was seeing on the court were not matching up with reality. We need to be more coachable."
With Federick out and Camps held to just six points, the Bucs' offense atrophied.
K.J. McGrew was the lone Buc in double digits, scoring 10.
"I thought our guys' defensive effort was good," Trojans' coach David May said. "We got a lot of easy shots in transition. We started knocking down some 3s in the second half to get some separation."
Falcons start slowly
While the Trojans came out firing, Seventy-First struggled to get started in its game against the Tigers (13-13).
South View scored 23 in the opening frame, led by seven points by Treshawn Patterson, who finished with a game-high 15.
"We haven't had a good first quarter in the last couple of ball games," Falcons' coach David Simmons said. "I think once we were able to overcome that mentally, we were able to play a solid ball."
The Falcons began to push the ball inside, serving to DeVante Thomas, who finished with 12, and Chris Bennett, who scored 11.
The Tigers faltered, giving way to a Falcons' victory.
Pine Forest 65, Jack Britt 44
JACK BRITT - McMiller 2, Peek 8, Ware 2, Sweeney 8, Murray 2, Camps 6, K.J. McGrew 10, MacLain 6
PINE FOREST - Travis McEachern 10, Alex Bradley 10, Corbett 2, Hall 6, Ray 5, E.J. Williams 10, Isaac Lyerly 11, Naquan Smith 12
Fouled out: None
Technical fouls: None
3-point goals: JB - Peek; PF - McEachern 2, E. Williams, Lyerly 3
Records: Jack Britt 9-17, Pine Forest 24-1
Seventy-First 72, South View 53
SOUTH VIEW - Rian Holland 10, Evans 5, Wiggins 6, Cox 2, Jewell 6, Baize 4, Treshawn Patterson 15
SEVENTY-FIRST - Knox 9, Swait 2, Francis 2, Vince 2, Williams 8, Chris Watson 10, Page 9, Anderson 2, DeVante Thomas 12, Chris Bennett 11, Ragland 5, Harvey 2
Fouled out: SV - Jewell
Technical fouls: None
3-point goals: SV - Holland 2, Britton, Jewell 2, Patterson 2; SF - Knox, Williams 2, Page
Records: South View 13-13, Seventy-First 18-7