ADDISON, Ala. — Addison hosted its neighbors to the south, Meek High School, Saturday night for a pair of games that mean a lot towards the road to the Winston County championship. The Lady Bulldogs won the first game 45-36 to avenge an earlier loss to the Lady Tigers while the Bulldogs downed Meek 71-40 to sweep the Tigers in their two meetings.
Addison 45 – Meek 36 (varsity girls)
The Addison Lady Bulldogs were looking to avenge a 16-point loss to the Meek Lady Tigers earlier in the year. The first half proved to be a back and forth affair with both teams winning a period. The young Lady Dawgs won the opening period 14-9 with Gracie “Bug” Manley leading the way with six points. The second period was a different story. Meek dominated the glass for most of the first half but especially in the second period. Meek Senior Abby Phillips, who torched Addison for over 30 points in the first meeting, scored six in the half but had a dominating 11 rebounds. Meek held the Lady Dawgs to only four points in the period while scoring 14 of their own. At the half, Meek led 23-18.
The second half had the Addison Lady Bulldogs putting the defensive pressure on the Lady Tigers. Coach Bailey West had the defense collapsing down on Phillips when she got the ball down low. Bulldog Lydia “Barbie” Ergle did the hard work trying to keep Phillips from lighting up the Dawgs like she did in the first game. Ergle had an outstanding defensive game in keeping Phillips to only 4 points in the second half. Addison was led by Manley as she powered her way in the lane to score and hit two quick threes. At the end of the third period Addison had erased a 5-point deficit to lead by three at 35-32.
The fourth period was about the same as far as the Bulldog defensive intensity went. The Lady Tigers were held to four points in the fourth while Addison scored 10. Addison came away with a solid 45-36 victory to put them in a tie with the Meek Lady Tigers for the county lead.
Meek was led by senior Dani Cotton who had 10 points and five rebounds. Phillips had 10 points and 15 rebounds to go along with three steals. Sophomore Madison Smith, who is an excellent young player, had four points but 10 boards, four assists and two steals. Senior Savannah Smith who is Madison Smith’s older sister, who isn’t half bad herself, put in six points, two rebounds, one assist and a steal.
Addison was led by “Bug” Manley who had an incredible 24 points, 11 rebounds and seven steals. Manley almost pulled off a triple double. Bracey “Tiny” Rodgers had an excellent all-around game with nine points, six boards, three assists and two steals. Molly Gilbreath had eight points, three boards and two steals.
After the game, Addison Coach Bailey West said, “24 (Lydia Ergle) was our player of the game. Don’t get me wrong, I am proud of all of them but Ergle played her heart out tonight. She had a tough assignment with 00 (Abby Phillips) but she came through and we were able to hold her (Phillips) way under the 30 she scored on us at Meek. The girls are playing well right now and we seem to be coming together at the right time.”
Addison improves to 7-9 on the year and Meek falls to 10-4.
Addison 71 – Meek 40 (varsity boys)
Addison was looking for the season sweep of Meek and the Bulldogs were fired up as it was senior night at Stephenson Gym. Prior to the game, Addison recognized senior Logan “Baby Shaq” Wilkins with a commemorative basketball for scoring his 2,000th career point at Addison against the Lynn Bears Friday night and for becoming the all-time leading scorer in Addison High School basketball history.
From the outset of this game, you could tell that the Addison defense was going to control the tempo on this night. Addison came out and outscored Meek 13-5 in the first period. This was a game where Addison played all twelve of their players and they all contributed in one way or another. Everyone got in the stat box on this evening. The second period was a repeat of the first. Addison won the period 20-13 to take a 33-18 half time lead. Wilkins led the Dawgs with 14 first half points. Cannon “TNT” Hiller had nine points. Meek Freshman Jarret Mixon had 8 points in the half trying to keep the Tigers in it. You need to get to know young Mr. Mixon because before he is done, he is going to be a holding a lot of Tiger records.
The second half didn’t get any better for the Tigers as Addison came out and continued with the defensive pressure. The Dawgs won the period scoring 25 points to the Tigers’ 13. Addison had a commanding, 58-31 lead going into the fourth period, so Head Coach Ben Mastin emptied his bench. Addison stayed sharp and focused as they ended up winning the period 13-9 to take an impressive 71-40 game over a solid Meek Tiger team.
Meek was led by Mixon with 15 points and five boards. Senior Kendrick Smith had nine points and three boards. Junior David Tidwell had seven points, four boards and two steals. Freshman Cameron Deaver had five points and three boards.
Addison was led by Wilkins had 18 points, four boards and three assists. Eli “Curly” Howse had 13 points and four assists. Hiller had nine points and four boards. Brady “Stick” Gilbreath had a season high 10 points and two rebounds. Quentin “Fabio” Barley four points and 10 rebounds. Xavier “Mr. Smooth” Barley had four points and five boards. Christian “Ice Man” Roberts had four points and five boards.
Following the win, Coach Mastin said, “This is a big win for us. We let one slip away (Cold Springs) that we should have won and that taught us a valuable lesson. We got the big lead in that game and coasted and ended up losing. I can promise you that that will not happen again. Our big two (Wilkins/Howse) had good games but everyone contributed tonight. Brady (Gilbreath) had a good game and we needed to see that from him because we are going to need him to contribute going forward. The twins (Barley) dominated the glass and if we could get 10 points and double-digit rebounds from them nightly, we will be a tough team to beat. Just couldn’t be prouder of our guys and we a coming together at the right time of the season. ”
Addison improves to 10-10 and all but locks up the county championship with a 5-0 record. Addison plays Double Springs next week.
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