Andrews boosts Warriors to win
CULLEOKA — After averaging 59 points over three District 10-A Tournament victories as the No. 4 seed, Culleoka opened up the offense and opened the Region 5-A tourney with an 81-72 quarterfinal win Saturday over visiting Jo Byrns.
Reaching the 80-point mark for just the third time all season, the Warriors (16-10) advanced into Tuesday’s semifinal against tournament host Richland, a 47-45 winner Saturday at Houston County.
On the other side of the bracket, Mt. Pleasant and East Robertson will meet after homecourt quarterfinal triumphs. Mt. Pleasant outlasted McEwen, 57-51 in overtime, while the Indians downed Santa Fe 63-46.
“You’ve got to give it to Jo Byrns,” Culleoka coach Mike Lovett said after his team won its fourth straight game — one short of a season high. “Their record (6-18) does not do them justice. That is an incredible team, has a lot of potential, has a great basketball player. (Jayden Caira) had 25 points. He was unbelievable.
“Now, what we take away from that is, that sort of shows us that we can play with just about anybody.”
Culleoka got out to a strong start, despite Caira firing away from 3-point range, and led 22-13 through the opening period. The visitors cut into that margin during the second quarter, trailing just 36-35 at halftime, and moved ahead 41-39 two minutes into the third quarter. Jo Byrns built a seven-point cushion by the end of the period, leading 57-50.
Landon Andrews, the district tournament most valuable player, continued his late-season surge and sparked the Warriors down the stretch. The junior hit a pair of free throws with 5:32 remaining to tie the game at 60-all, then knocked down a 3-pointer a couple of minutes later for a 66-65 lead. After the visitors went back up, Andrews hit another 3 for a 69-67 advantage.
Caira put the Red Devils ahead with a final trey to make it 70-69 near the two-minute mark, but Tavon Bagsby scored three points down the stretch and Andrews hit a pair of free throws — capping a 30-point night — to pull Culleoka clear.
“Being that this is our last game, I’m just proud of our boys and the effort they gave,” Jo Byrns coach JoJo Northington said. “This game was closer than what the score showed. So, I don’t think any negative of my boys. They gave the best effort they could have. And that’s all you can ask for.”
Logan Head added 18 points for Jo Byrns. Preston Bagsby finished with 14 points and Tavon Bagsby with 10 in support of Andrews.
Culleoka faces Richland after splitting with the Raiders during the regular season — suffering a 62-48 homecourt loss on Jan. 14, before winning 48-44 in Lynnville on Jan. 31.
“We definitely know we can compete with Richland,” Lovett said. “The mindset that we have to make sure we maintain is that Richland is not going to give it to us. We’ve got to make sure we go in amped up, lot of intensity, and we cannot take them for granted, because they’re going to have a little bit of advantage playing at their place.”
Culleoka boys 81, Jo Byrns 72
J 13 22 22 15 — 72
C 22 14 14 31 — 81
Jo Byrns (72) — Collin Harper 2, Bobby Ogg 11, Boone Fletcher 11, Logan Head 18, Jayden Caira 25, Bryce Cox 5
Culleoka (81) — Ethan Hardison 7, Chris Hutcherson 5, Preston Bagsby 14, Landon Andrews 30, Cooper Parks 5, Eric Mick 8, Tavon Bagsby 10, Hunter Harris 2
3-pointers — Jo Byrns 9 (Fletcher 2, Head, Caira 6), Culleoka 8 (Hardison, Hutcherson, P. Bagsby 3, Andrews 3)
East Robertson boys 63, Santa Fe 46
SF 10 6 15 15 — 46
ER 10 22 13 18 — 63
Santa Fe (46) — Logan Wilkins 5, Sammy Caudle 4, Colton Steward 3, Jeremy Dotson 23, Andy Slaughter 8, Will Monhollen 3
East Robertson (63) — Nelson Brown 3, Scott Wiggins 5, Taylor Groves 29, Alex Patterson 5, Darion Shannon 12, Jesse Ayers 1, Dalton Hammonds 8
3-pointers — Santa Fe 6 (Dotson 4, Slaughter, Monhollen), East Robertson 8 (Brown, Groves 2, Patterson, Shannon 2, Hammonds 2)
Mt. Pleasant boys 57, McEwen 51 (OT)
McE 10 10 19 8 4 — 51
MtP 12 5 15 15 10 — 57
McEwen (51) — Garrett Wright 2, Joseph Swearingen 2, Hayden Colston 10, Caleb Wilson 2, Baron Mayberry 6, Tanner Brock 4, Robbie Rusciano 25
Mt. Pleasant (57) — Kentra Frierson 9, Tip Marlow 2, Keshawn Hudson 17, Kayne Forest 11, Jakob Smith 18
3-pointers — McEwen 3 (Colston, Rusciano 2), Mt. Pleasant 1 (Hudson, Forest, Smith)