CULLMAN, Ala. – With a firm 79-44 lead and seven seconds to go in the fourth quarter of Saturday’s area semifinal vs. Mortimer Jordan, Cullman’s crowd wasn’t satisfied just yet. “WE WANT WARREN!” rang out from the student section over and over, and Bearcats head coach Stu Stuedeman yielded. He sent 5-9 junior guard Warren Pitts onto the floor, who got set at the top of the key, caught a pass and nailed a buzzer beater from deep, sealing Cullman’s 82-44 win.
The student section rushed the court, and the Bearcats’ bench mobbed Pitts, who was barely visible in the rush, getting thrown around from teammate to teammate. A later addition to the roster on another high ranking Cullman team, Pitts was aware playing time would be scarce, but took on the slog of practices and a long season anyways.
“‘You might not get the glory, but we want you around because we love you so much’ and he’s been a great kid, that was wonderful for him, a beautiful moment,” Stuedeman said of Pitts’ spot on the team. On the team’s reaction, he added “That’s a group of guys who have been through the fire this season. It’s fun to play here, it’s rewarding to play here, but it takes an uncommon person to play at Cullman. When they see one of their brothers who doesn’t get as much shine as they get, they want them to be successful.” The shot and celebration were just one of many positives for the Bearcats, who, after a tough January, are finding their form once again.
Mortimer Jordan, despite a 6-22 record coming into the game, held their own in the first quarter. Sam Dorough terrorized Blue Devil ball handlers on the perimeter, getting two steals early. One, he took to the rack himself, the other, he tossed ahead to Brooks Loftin who finished with a powerful two-handed jam. They built a 12-2 lead, capped off by a Colt Fletcher three, but Mortimer Jordan fought back, finding open men downcourt for layups when the Bearcats were in their press defense on inbound plays. Cullman got a pair of layups before the buzzer, and went into the second up 17-12.
Off another steal, Loftin threw down another dunk to kick off a back and forth second quarter where the Bearcats’ strength inside was the difference. Loftin and Dorough fought through contact in the paint on multiple occasions, finding the bucket on tough finishes or getting to the line, or both, with each finishing three-point plays at the line to stretch Cullman’s lead. Despite Mortimer Jordan’s best offensive quarter, scoring 16, the Bearcats went into halftime up 42-28.
Coming out of the break, Cullman built on their momentum, imposing their will on Mortimer Jordan with a 12-0 run to open the third with shots from Dorough, Bryce Burden and Costa Burks falling. On the other end, the Blue Devils got offense almost exclusively from guard RJ Hopper, who scored 11 of their 12 third quarter points. The Bearcats, almost unstoppable on offense by this point, went into the final frame leading 67-40.
Cullman continued to build the lead with a 10-2 run to open the half, with Burden and Emory Bonds draining threes and Dorough finishing through contact and hitting the free throw yet again. The Blue Devils would only score four points in the fourth, and Pitts’ three put a cap on the win for Cullman.
Leading the Bearcats was Sam Dorough with a game high 23 points. Complimenting him was Loftin with 14 and Gray Hopper with 14. The Blue Devils were led by Brooks Wilson’s 13, followed by RJ Hopper’s 11.
“I thought our guys were great, all week in practice I thought they were great, in shootaround this morning they were great and they came out with a purpose, they were really fantastic. I gotta shout out my assistants. On thursday, I missed practice, because i had a baby girl getting born- so, my assistants, in the most important practice of the year they showed up, and were fantastic. They got our guys ready, and, man, that’s what a program is. We got great coaches, we got great players and we gotta keep rolling,” Studeman said.
The Bearcats are yet to go a season under Studeman without winning their area, and standing in their way is another matchup with Jasper, who bested them twice in their matchups in January. The Vikings claimed the top seed in the 6A, Area 13 tournament, giving them home court advantage and a first-round bye. Their rival Bearcats, playing their best basketball in 2026 so far, will make the trek down SR-69 on Tuesday night to play for the area title at 7 p.m.
“Let me say, Jasper beat us twice. Yeah, maybe we weren’t at our best, but they beat us. So, we owe them something, but we gotta go over there and play well and take it. We can’t just show up because we’ve got a rhythm and think we’re grooving now and expect to win. That ain’t how it works. They’re a good basketball team, I’m ready to bring it to the square and see what we’re about,” an emphatic Stuedeman said.
