HANCEVILLE, Ala. – Our second championship showdown of the afternoon was for the JV Boys title and featured a matchup between the Fairview Aggies and the Raiders of Good Hope. Both teams battled back and forth in a contest that the Raiders led by just one at the half but after creating some separation in the third quarter, the Aggies pulled away to win it in the fourth 61-57 to capture this year’s JV Boys County Championship.
Weston Hancock scored in transition to give the Raiders a 2-0 lead to start the game, but Ethan Frazier converted a three-point play on the other end to put the Aggies ahead 3-2. Good Hope got its own and-one play from Konner Stevens to take a 5-3 lead, but Cade Arnold scored inside to tie things up at 5 with four minutes to play in the opening period. Yarbrough split a pair of foul shots to give Fairview a 1-point lead midway through the first but Tucker Malin was fouled on a three-point attempt on the next Raiders possession and he netted all three free throws to give them an 8-6 lead. Cade Yeager knocked down a three for the Aggies to retake a 9-8 lead but another and-one play by Stevens put Good Hope in front 11-9 with two minutes to play in the first quarter. A Colton Whatley basket gave the Raiders a 13-9 advantage with a minute remaining in the first, but Cooper Salazar drained a three-pointer on the other end to make it a 13-12 game and Fairview trailed by just one going into the second quarter.
A Tyler Cone basket made gave Good Hope a 15-13 lead at the start of the second, but a pair of Kobe Payne free throws trimmed the lead to 16-15 later in the period. Another Salazar trey gave the Aggies an 18-16 lead with just under four minutes to play in the half and Payne drove the baseline and laid one in to extend the lead to 20-16. Malin responded with a three-pointer on the other end to cut the lead to one and Hancock drilled a three of his own to retake a 22-20 lead for Good Hope. Bryson Chamness nailed a three to put Fairview back in front 23-22 and Stevens and Payne traded baskets to make it a 25-24 game with just over a minute remaining in the second. Hancock hit mid-range jumper to give the Raiders a 26-25 lead with 40 seconds to play in the period and after a Stevens free throw, Hancock drilled another jumper to extend the Good Hope lead to four. However, Payne buried a corner three for the Aggies just before the buzzer to cut the lead to 29-28 going into the locker room at halftime.
Malin drilled a three to start the quarter for the Raiders and Hancock laid one in to give them a 34-30 lead. A Chamness three-pointer made it a 1-point game and Yarbrough completed an and-one play at the line to give Fairview a 36-34 lead. Arnold and Hancock traded buckets to make it a 38-36 game midway through the third and Arnold converted another and-one play for the Aggies to give them a 41-36 advantage. Another Hanckock basket cut the lead to 41-38 but Arnold laid another one in to keep Fairview in front 43-38 with three minutes to play in the third quarter. Chamness drained another three-pointer to stretch the lead to 46-38 but Hancock came up with another basket for the Raiders to trim the lead to six. Arnold scored inside to build the lead back up to eight with just over a minute to play in the period, but Hancock continued to fill it up on the other end and keep the Aggies from pulling away. Both teams got another look at the basket before time expired, but neither could score again, and we went to the fourth quarter with Fairview leading Good Hope 49-42.
Another Arnold basket gave the Aggies a 51-42 lead at the start of the final period, but Hancock laid one in to cut the lead to 52-44 later in the fourth. Arnold split a pair of foul shots to make it a 9-point game with just over five minutes remaining, but a Cone basket trimmed the lead to seven around the four-minute mark. Stevens scored to make it a 53-48 game, but Salazar drilled a baseline jumper to extend the lead to 55-48. Hancock scored in transition to get the lead back down to five with less than three minutes to play but Arnold scored a quick basket on the other end to keep Fairview in front 57-50.
Yarbrough hit a pair of shots from the foul line to make it a 59-50 game with just over a minute on the clock but a bucket from Malin and a three by whatley cut the lead to 59-55 with 32 seconds remaining. Chamness was sent to the line with 24 seconds and he hit one of two to give the Aggies a 5-point lead. Malin was fouled on a three-point attempt and knocked down two of the three to make it a one-possession game with three seconds on the clock but Salazar iced it with a free throw on the other end and Fairview held on to win this year’s JV Boys title 61-57.
Arnold led the Aggies with 18 points in the win, 16 of which came in the second half. Chamness posted 11, Payne and Salazar finished with nine and Yarbrough added seven. Hancock led all scorers with 23 points in the loss, followed by Malin with 13 and Stevens with 11.
JV Boys Cullman County All-Tournament Team
Hunter Farr – Holly Pond
Kolton Perry – West Point
Ashton Rodgers – West Point
Tyler Cone – Good Hope
Tucker Malin – Good Hope
Weston Hancock – Good Hope
Kobe Payne – Fairview
Cade Arnold – Fairview
Cylas Yarbrough – Fairview
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