BIRMINGHAM, Ala.- The Bearcats are riding their identity of ‘CHAOS.’ right back into the State Championship.
On Wednesday morning, the Cullman Bearcats and Calera Eagles met at Legacy Arena for their 6A Final Four matchup. The two had played prior this season in the midst of Cullman’s shaky January, with the Bearcats dropping a 53-45 contest on the road.
For the first three quarters, it looked like Calera had the formula to beating the Bearcats, but an explosive fourth quarter run brought Cullman all the way back from down 15, and they eventually took the game 61-56 in overtime to move on to the State Championship on Saturday afternoon.
“That’s the epitome of what we are. We keep working, it might look like crap for three quarters but we keep coming, keep getting off the mat- like a Rocky movie. That’s just who we are because, every single day they have to go through war. In their shootaround this morning, they went through war- to earn the right to be on this stage. They’re just not going to go away when they have that in them,” head coach Stu Stuedeman said after the win.
Starting before tip-off, it was apparent this would be a battle. The Bearcats, like they do before every game, huddled at mid-court after entering the floor. The Eagles came out next, and instead of going around Cullman, attempted to go through them, likely to try and get in their heads. Words were had, shoulder nudges were exchanged, then lineups were announced and the game began.
Cullman came out firing. Threes from Gray Hopper and Sam Dorough helped build an early lead, but Calera’s speed got the best of the Bearcats, causing turnovers then turning them into points on fast breaks. It looked like those head games may have been working, as the antics continued every time the players met under the basket, with an extra shove usually given to a Bearcat after the whistle. A pair of threes then fell, and Calera went into the second with a 15-8 lead.
The Bearcats’ senior leader, Sam Dorough, was usually the target of those post-play shoves and words, but it didn’t rattle him. Dorough stole, slashed and shot his way to eight points in the second quarter, helping Cullman keep pace with Calera. The Eagles, after a slow start, got their downhill offense rolling, and while they weren’t hitting the shots through contact, they got to the line to keep a 22-20 lead at halftime.
After the break, Calera returned to their first quarter form. Six straight points opened the half for the Eagles, with their swarming half-court defense causing steals and unforced turnovers. The shots through contact also started to fall, with Calera’s Kaleb Duncan and Keelan Howard finishing tough layups. A technical free throw then a layup stretched their lead to 35-24, with an Owen Graves three breaking up an 8-0 run. The quarter closed on a high note with an Emory Bonds corner three, but the Bearcats trailed 42-30 heading into the fourth.
To open the fourt, a Colt Fletcher steal turned into a Gray Hopper layup, and the chaos began. Dorough would then split the defense, finding his way to the low post and finishing on a hook through contact on a play Steudeman pointed out as one of the turning points of the game. The energy was all Cullman’s, whose crowd exploded as Bonds again delivered on a three from the top of the arc to make it a 44-37 deficit with just under six minutes to go. After a nice side-step and lay by Loftin, Bonds got a crowd pop again, nailing a three from the wing to make it a one point, 44-43 game, with Calera still leading.
Bonds, a junior, has a knack for showing up in big moments. He may not score as much as Loftin or Dorough, but his points always come when needed. After the game, Bonds told the press “Once I start going, I can’t stop.”
He really couldn’t. With just over two minutes to go, Bonds let another one fly from the wing, sending the black and gold crowd into pandemonium as the Bearcats tied it up at 46 with his third deep ball. Then, Hopper came up big with a three to take the Bearcats’ first lead since late in the second quarter. Calera found the free throw line three times in the final minute-and-a-half, with one falling each time to tie the game at 49 and set the stage for an electric overtime finish.
With all the momentum on their side, the Bearcats took it to Calera in overtime and opened with a 11-2 run. The Eagles would grab a layup and drain a three, but it was too little, too late. The Bearcats, once down 15, took the semifinal game 61-56.
After the game, Stuedeman compared his team’s determination to the legendary racing horse, Secretariat. “When they did the autopsy on him, he had a bigger heart than any other horse. So what did horse people do when their horses were bred? They started looking at the size of their heart. Obviously we have a lot of heart, and we started talking about how, men, we gotta have a bigger heart for everything we do,” Stuedeman said. He continued “we have to live every single day with that 22-pound heart.”
Dorough led the Bearcats with 23 points and added five rebounds, three assists, four steals and two blocks. Behind him, Hopper finished with 14 points and five boards, and Bonds went 4-8 from deep to finish with 12 points, adding six boards and a steal.
The Bearcats will play in the ASHAA 6A Boys State Championship on Saturday at 2:15 p.m. at Legacy Arena, awaiting the winner of Saraland and no. 1 Oxford.
