UMS-Wright boys battle back but fall short to Escambia County

 

By JIMMY WIGFIELD

MONTGOMERY — UMS-Wright fought back from a 12-point deficit to tie it late but Escambia County’s Stephen Williams made sure the Bulldogs got no further.

The 6-9 senior center scored on back-to-back lay-ins to break the tie and finished with 12 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Blue Devils to a 43-35 win in the Class 4A boys South Regional semifinals Monday at Garrett Coliseum.

“(Williams) is a man,” UMS-Wright coach Michael Napp said. “He got 12 and 12. His ability to finish plays for them defensively is big.”

The Bulldogs, who finished 16-17, fell behind 21-9 in the second quarter and never led but tied it 33-33 with 6½ minutes to go and again at 35-35 with 3:15 remaining before Williams took over.

Escambia County (17-8), which shot 50% from the field, patiently worked UMS-Wright’s zone for Williams’ first lay-in to give the Blue Devils the lead for good at 37-35.

After Michael French’s steal, Williams posted up against the Bulldogs’ man-to-man defense to make it 39-35 and Escambia County’s Lorenzo Arnold and Cleo Bolar made four free throws in the final 44 seconds.

“Give credit to our kids for competing so hard to get back in it,” Napp said. “We needed another two stops and we couldn’t find it today.”

Bolar led the Blue Devils with 17 points.

“I thought going in if we could hold (Bolar) and (Williams) to 25 points combined, we’d be right in it,” Napp said. “They got 29.”

Bolar got into foul trouble and played just 19 minutes “but we couldn’t take advantage of it,” said Napp, whose team went without a field goal in the final 3:20.

Jeff Holston scored 10 points to lead UMS-Wright, which got outscored 22-14 in the paint and 19-4 on points off turnovers.

The Bulldogs are losing three senior starters in Joe Lott, Jack Church and Sims Druhan and are moving up to Class 5A but Napp is looking forward to next season.

“We’re going to be good but we’re also going up to 5A,” he said. “But we’ve been there before. The last time we were in 5A, we went to the final four.”