When William Fleming and Salem took to the hardwood Tuesday night in the Fleming gym for a boys Group 4A Conference 24 first round game, only one certainty was on the table.
The loser between the two ” Big-11 ” Top-5 teams would see it’s season come to an end.
Rebounding from a five-point Salem lead at halftime, the Colonels put the pedal down in the final 16 minutes to pull away for the easy 75-51 win.
If Fleming head coach Mickey Hardy is looking to pocket some extra cash, he’d be smart to bottle and sell whatever halftime speech he offered his squad.
“We felt if we could come out in the second half and get into some type of rhythm, we could come back, ” Hardy said after the game. “Suddenly our shots started going down and our confidence got better. We went to a zone defense and we picked it up in making stops.”
Salem controlled the tempo in the early going, keeping the Colonels contained before a 3-pointer at the buzzer had Fleming up 21-17 after one quarter.
Fleming led by six early in the second frame before a free throw, a bomb from behind-the-arc by Spartan Austin Coulling and basket in the paint by Salem big-man Alex Light tied the game at 27. Coulling would hit another trey from the right corner with 1:59 left in the half to give Salem 32-27 lead, and the Spartans carried the five-point margin to the break, up 34-29.
Salem opened the third quarter with a 5-0 run fueled by a DeVonte Joyce 3-pointer that staked the Spartans to a quick 39-29 advantage. Then, Fleming found its shooting touch and the bottom fell out for Salem.
Two scores in the paint and a Warren Craft deep-3 brought the Colonels to within 39-36. Tyrell Adams was fouled on a 3-pointer on the next Fleming possession and Adams calmly swished three straight from the charity stripe to tie things at 39.
Craft hit from behind-the-arc, Jamel Hale drove for an old-fashion 3-point play and Larry Green scored on a breakaway and was fouled. Green missed his free throw, but Fleming snared the rebound and Craft buried another trey that put Fleming up 50-40, culminating a 21-1 run. Fleming’s Steven Jones closed the third quarter scoring on a deep bomb that sent Fleming to the final 8 minutes up 55-44.
The Colonels pulled away in the final quarter as Salem couldn’t find the basket. The Colonel lead ballooned to 70-47 with 1:54 left and both teams cleared the benches before establishing the final margin.
“That’s one of the best halves of basketball we’ve played,” Hardy added.
Craft and Adams both finished with 24 points for Fleming, while Hale added 9. Joyce led Salem with 13 points, with Troy Mann chipping in 11 for the Spartans.
Craft said Fleming played its game in the second half.
“We picked up the intensity and played better defense,” Craft noted. “We have got to play as a team.”
“We controlled the tempo in the first half, then they began hitting the 3s,” Salem head coach Kevin Garst noted afterward. “They were playing faster and the shots they were hitting were tough shots. It makes it hard to come back.”
Salem, whose team won the Group AA Division 4 state championship last year, saw its campaign come to an end.
“Ultimately, in this new playoff format, you have to win,” Garst pointed out.
Hardy didn’t mince words with his displeasure of the new setup.”It’s totally insane. No matter if it’s rec league, high school, or the NBA, this type of tournament format should never happen. We got too many good teams in this area to be switching brackets and having to travel 75 miles for another do-or-die game.”
Fleming travels to GW Danville Thursday night.
“We going to a place that is very hostile,” Hardy said, shaking his head.
Bill Turner
