Vigor’s Devan Whitsett powers to the basket against Carroll-Ozark in Thursday’s Class 5A South Regional semifinals at Garrett Coliseum in Montgomery. Whitsett scored 19 points in the Wolves’ 52-46 win. (Helen Joyce/Call News)
By JIMMY WIGFIELD
MONTGOMERY — Vigor coach Lee Riley leaned up against a brick wall outside his team’s locker room, exhaled deeply, squirted some water in his mouth and uttered, “Ten deep.”
He wasn’t referring to the sizable hole his Wolves found themselves in when they trailed Carroll-Ozark by 13 points in the second period Thursday. He was quietly celebrating the fact that he had plenty of tools to do something about it.
Vigor’s bench outscored the Eagles’ 22-2 and the Wolves’ pressure defense took its toll by forcing 25 turnovers as they rallied for a 52-46 victory in the Class 5A South Regional semifinals at Garrett Coliseum.
With its seventh straight win, Vigor (17-9) advanced to Tuesday’s 2:15 p.m. regional final against No. 6-ranked LeFlore (21-9), which has beaten the Wolves in two of three meetings this year.
“Depth is exactly what played a big part,” Riley said. “We’re probably one of the only teams that can go maybe nine to 10 deep on the bench and I actually trust those guys. It’s not just to get in to give somebody a break. I trust them to get in to make an impact.”
When the Wolves fell behind 23-10 in the second period, Riley threw his plan in the trash.
“I think we fell into playing their game,” Riley said. “We were focused on stopping what they were doing and not doing what we do best and that’s pressure the ball and get after it. We went in at halftime and I told the guys we’re going to play our game. Forget all the game plan stuff that we talked about earlier. Let’s just go play our game — and that’s getting after it, running our press defense, staying in their face and living with it.”
They’re still living as a result.
“With this team, there’s never a panic because they won’t quit no matter what the case is,” Riley said. “I’ve seen these guys down 20 and come back and take a lead. It’s more of the execution because I know they’re going to give me the energy and the effort.”
Junior forward Devan Whitsett scored 19 points and Jamarion Osborne added 11 off the bench for Vigor, which won despite making just 3 of 24 three-pointers. The Wolves more than compensated for the lack of perimeter production by outscoring Carroll 18-10 off the turnovers and, because of its huge 22-6 advantage on the offensive boards, 15-3 off second-chance points. They also had only three turnovers in the second half after turning it over nine times in the first half.
Senior guard Kobe Skipwith came off the bench to energize Vigor’s comeback by hustling after a loose ball and scoring all 6 of his points in the first half.
“I’m yelling and screaming, ‘Somebody give us a spark!’” Riley said, “and I believe Kobe diving on that loose ball was a spark we needed.”
In the final 4:13, Whitsett scored twice inside and Osborne had a backdoor lay-in as the Wolves froze the ball and spread out the Eagles’ defense to expand a 44-43 lead to 50-44.
“Whitsett was big at the end once again,” Riley said. “He closed us out against UMS (in the sub-regional) and then he closes out again today. He’s like our secret weapon. He can go outside, he can go inside and he’s a big frame.”
Now, Vigor must beat LeFlore when it counts the most, with a trip to the state final four at stake, and Riley is confident his team can do it if it replicates the way it handled the Eagles.
“Just what we did today, play our game,” Riley said. “That’s it.”
