Opp made a strong effort, but saw a last-minute comeback attempt fall short of the Hillcrest-Evergreen score, 45-42 during the South 3A Boys Regional semi-finals at Montgomery’s Garrett Coliseum on Saturday, February. 18.
The Jaguars increased their record for the season to 19-5, and set the stage for the regional final match with Cottage Hill. The Bobcats ended the season with an 18-9 record.
OHS did not lose the lead in the beginning and started to gain momentum early in the period. JaKanye Mount scored an easy layup. Terry Davis followed with a triple to take a 5-0 lead at 6:45. Jermonte Stallworth scored two free throws, before Davis scored a third. Al’quan Richardson sank an open jumper to bring HHS to within four points at 8-4. Jabarri Hill, and Jakelleus Lane both scored baskets and increased HHS’ lead by 12-4 following one.
Lane extended the lead to 14-4 during the second. Jacob Bradley cut the deficit to a quarter with a 3-point play, while Jamarious Barlow also added two free throws. After a foul shot by Colby Ballard, Robert Simpson hit a jumper. AJ Coleman earned the next three points, giving the Bobcats an advantage of 18-11 until momentum changed direction with an 8-0 streak. Stallworth was able to score back-to-back buckets while Christian Locke executed a fast break shot to make the Jaguars ahead by 19-18 at the half.
Hill started the third quarter with a basket to take an early lead of 20-19 however Locke took control of the game with seven straight points, and an advantage of 26-20. Ballard scored a thunderous shot from downtown the court, and Hill came back with a shot to make the score six. Davis cut the deficit to 29-25, but an unforced throw and a jumper made the score 32-25 with 8 minutes left.
Coleman began to shine in the first minute of the fourth period and the fourth quarter saw him bring Opp up to 32-30 with the scoring of a layup and a triple. Hillcrest came back by scoring 8-1 and took a lead of 40-31 at 4:31 into the game. OHS didn’t let up and scored three crucial points from Mount. Hill took two free throws before cutting the gap to 43-39 with 36 seconds remaining. Coleman scored the score 45-42 after three points as HHS kept fighting with two more threes after the last six seconds were not successful.
Coleman led the Bobcats with 12 points to lead the Bobcats. Davis as well as Mount each had eight. Locke was the top scorer for in scoring for the Jaguars in scoring with 16 points while Stallworth also posted two figures, scoring 11. Bradley scored seven points during the win.
The article Opp ends the season with an enthralling loss to Hillcrest at the regional level was first published at The Andalusia Star-News.
