ADDISON, Ala. – The top-seeded Addison Bulldogs were upset at home by Winston County (WCHS) after dropping a 47-46 overtime battle with the Yellow Jackets. The Bulldogs had defeated the Yellow Jackets on three separate occasions this season, but Winston County was able to win the most important game.
The first period started with Winston County coming out and playing very loose. They played with confidence and were dead on accurate from the field. WCHS Sophomore Sy Blanton had three threes in the first period and led WCHS to a quick 17-12 lead. Addison was led by Cannon “TNT” Hiller who had two threes of his own.
The second period had Addison settling into their trademark pressure man to man defense. WCHS built a quick 20-12 lead, but then Addison defenders hounded Jacket players and were able to hold the Jackets to only five more points in the period. Addison managed 13 of their own with Logan “Baby Shaq” Wilkins putting in seven. At the half, Addison and Winston County were tied at 25 and it could still be anybody’s ballgame.
The second half started out with both teams being ice cold from the field and no one could take advantage of the others inability to score. A whopping 11 points were scored in the period with Addison scoring six of them to take a 31-30 lead into the fourth. Then the fun began.
Addison scored the first four points of the period with Eli “Curly” Howse and Hiller putting in buckets for Addison’s largest lead of the night at 35-30. Winston County answered with an Austin “Mr. Everything” Owens put-back. Addison’s Quentin “Fabio” Barley scored to give the Dawgs the 37-32 lead. Winston County’s Eli Edgil drove to the basket for two and the score stood at 37-34 with only 1:32 to go in the game. A bucket by Christian “Ice Man” Roberts and a Wilkins free throw gave Addison what seemed like a comfortable 40-36 lead with 58 seconds to go in the game. Blanton hit two free throws to cut the lead to 40-38 and Howse answered for the Dawgs with a free throw of his own.
The game was down to the final 29 seconds and Addison led the upstart Yellow Jackets by 3 and the Jackets had the ball. Winston County Sophomore Blanton took the ball the length of the floor and drilled a three-point shot to tie the game and send the visiting jacket faithful to the rafters in excitement. With the game tying shot coming with only 20 seconds left on the clock it still left the hometown Bulldogs with time to come out with the win. Wilkins shot a beautiful three-pointer of his own that went in and came back out much to the dismay of the home crowd. At the end of regulation, the score was tied at 41 and the momentum seemed to be with the Yellow Jackets.
During overtime, Addison’s Wilkins scored a bucket to give Addison the 43-41 lead. Winston County Junior Cameron Thompson nailed a three from the corner to give the Jackets the 44-43 lead. It incidentally was the only shot that Thompson took all night. Hiller answered for the Dawgs with a deep three of his own to give Addison the 46-44 lead with only 29 seconds to go in overtime. Not to be outdone, Winston County’s Edgil nailed a three to give the lead back to the Jackets, 47-46 with 23 seconds left. After exchanging timeouts, Addison was able to get a Roberts shot up that came up a bit short off the front rim and it fell harmlessly away as the buzzer sounded to end the game.
Winston County defeated Addison 47-46 and the visiting fans went nuts. It was an amazing game to watch as both teams played their hearts out. Addison can say that they went 3-1 against WCHS this year but they lost the one that counted most. The Yellow Jackets will move on to play the second-seeded Cold Springs Eagles at Cold Springs Friday Night.
WCHS was led by Blanton with a game high 25 points that included six made three-pointers. Edgil had nine points, two boards and two steals. Owens had seven points, six boards and two steals. Thompson had three points and two boards.
Addison was led by Howse with 12 points, three boards and three assists. Hiller had 12 points. Wilkins had 11 points, four boards, two blocks and two assists. “Fabio” Barley had four points and six boards. Roberts had two points and three boards. Jessie “Rooster” Brock had three points. Xavier “Mr. Smooth” Barley had two points and three boards.
WCHS head man, Adam Gray, said after the game, “We had some kids that made some plays tonight. This win was a total team effort. I told our boys that if we can keep it close, we are going to be fine,” Gray said. “The kids executed our game plan to perfection and never got down on themselves. I thought we played great defense on number (Wilkins) tonight. No one gave us a chance to win this game, but our kids believed that we could win. I am very proud of our boys.”
After the loss, Addison Head Coach Ben Mastin added, “Give all the credit to them. Their kids played fearless. You could see it in their eyes tonight. It was like they were saying, ‘so what you guys beat us three times this year, that doesn’t matter we are going to win tonight.’. We didn’t execute well tonight especially at the end and they made the plays when they had too,” Mastin said. “I told the guys especially my seniors, you guys have changed the program. You did some things that haven’t been done here in a long time. You should hold your heads up high and know that you have made a difference. We are going to get back to work and build on what we have done this year to be ready for next season.”
The Bulldogs’ season included the best regular season record in Winston County, a Winston County Tournament Championship and the best regular season area record. The season may not have ended how they had hoped but the guys accomplished a lot and should be proud of their efforts.
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