HANCEVILLE, Ala.- After their Winston County rival Meek was knocked out of the playoffs, the Addison Bulldogs took the court at Tom Drake Coliseum to face Marion County on Tuesday afternoon. The Bulldogs struggled with shot selection, went down early, failed to hit a single three-pointer and suffered a 16-6 turnover margin. Despite that, rebounding, stellar defense and a willingness to drive through contact led to the Bulldogs pulling off a gritty 47-40 win over the Red Raiders to advance to the Elite Eight for the first time in 54 years.
“Well I was Born in ‘72, so it puts it into perspective. You know, Addison’s had a lot of great athletics programs, so getting to the Elite Eight in basketball, as a first year head coach you couldn’t ask for a better administration. You couldn’t ask for a better team. They set their mind on making it to Wallace, they set their mind to go as far as they can. I don’t know that there’s a limit to how far they can go,” first year head coach Chris Lane said.
In the first quarter, the crowd was treated to a back-and-forth battle, with Marion’s Samuel Taylor opening the game with a corner three, then dishing a feed to Philip Wilson for a mid-range jumper. Addison would strike back with a coast to coast layup from Joey Wilson and a pair of free throws from Elijah Roberts. Wilson and Taylor would both put in buckets for the Raiders, with Kiah Lake answering with two tough put back layups to put the Bulldogs ahead 11-9 at the end of the first.
Despite the lead, the Bulldogs shot just 4-14 in the first, with Marion’s defense forcing some tough shots and the Bulldogs opting to shoot through contact far too often. That trend would continue in the second for Addison, with the Bulldogs shooting 0-6 from the floor. The shots through contact still weren’t falling, but they did often draw free throws which gave them all five of their second quarter points. On the other end, Marion County was beginning to heat up, with three straight scores from Wilson leading them to a 21-16 lead at halftime.
Out of the break, the Bulldogs got smarter, taking better shots and finding ways to finish through contact when they needed to. Roberts and Joey Wilson opened the half with driving layups, then Roberts hit a mid-range fadeaway to tie the game up at 23. The Raiders came out firing, too, and would get an and-one and a pair of threes from Taylor to put them ahead 34-35, threatening to run away with the game. A late third quarter run fueled by the interior defense of Lake made it manageable for Addison, who trailed just 34-31 heading into the final frame.
The streak would continue for the Bulldogs, who went on to open the fourth with three straight baskets from Lake, Roberts and Wilson to take a 37-34 lead. Marion threatened late, bringing it within three, but had to resort to intentional fouls with just under a minute to go. With the game on the line, Scout Flynn went to the charity stripe twice and with all the pressure of the game on his shoulders, he sank four free throws to put it out of reach, sealing Addison’s trip to the Elite Eight to face Hubbertville.
Roberts led Addison in scoring with 16, earning a double-double alongside his 10 rebounds, three assists and three steals. Lake also finished with a 13-point 10-rebound double-double in addition to two steals and a block.
