McGill-Toolen shows its guts but doesn’t have enough offense in state semifinal loss to Pinson Valley

 

 

 

 

By JIMMY WIGFIELD

BIRMINGHAM — McGill-Toolen coach Phillip Murphy, who nearly lost his life to a ruptured, infected intestine two years ago, knows a lot about guts. Perhaps that is why he clutched up in speechless silence, looked down and scratched his head when asked to describe how a team with barely a breath of offense could reach the state tournament.

“This is the most unique team I’ve had at McGill,” Murphy said Wednesday after the Yellow Jackets’ 56-37 loss to No. 4-ranked Pinson Valley in the Class 6A semifinals at Legacy Arena. “God bless them. They struggle to score, they have all year. But to have those offensive inefficiencies and to be able to get here and finish with a 22-9 record … and we were in the game in the fourth quarter. But their guard play is phenomenal and we had to start chasing them and that changes the game.”

The Jackets’ defense carried them as far as it could — into the sixth final four appearance under Murphy — but they finally withered in the fourth period as the Indians went on a 13-2 run and outscored McGill-Toolen 25-8 in the last eight minutes to take control of what had been a close game throughout.

Murphy felt pride in getting this far, especially since he nearly didn’t make it out of the hospital.

“This time last year, I had a tick line in my arm and was pumping myself full of all kinds of drugs and trying to make it,” he said. Of his players, he surmised: “The fact that they can will themselves to this moment is absolutely impressive.”

The Jackets’ offense — which mustered 70 points in just three games this season — had no solutions for Pinson Valley’s man-to-man defense. At times, it seemed nearly every shot they tried was as tough as digging a hole in a swamp, only to see it immediately fill back in with muddy water.

“They were very physical, I give props to them,” said forward Andrew Murchison, who concluded his high school career with 14 points and 7 rebounds. “We went through the game with the mindset that we’re bigger than them, we have more size, so we’re going punish them on the glass. But they did a fantastic job boxing us out, making contested shots and not getting into foul trouble.”

The game opened in the best possible way for McGill-Toolen, with Owen Norwood’s 3-pointer from the left wing and Murchison’s low-post score giving the Jackets a 5-0 lead. But by the time of Murchison’s last field goal on a tip-in at the end of the third period, McGill-Toolen had as many made free throws (9) as field goals.

There was no cure for the Jackets’ offensive obstacles.

“Yesterday alone, at our practice sessions, we probably put up 300 threes,” Murphy said. “We were trying but it just was not there. But the fight and the grit and the will and intestinal fortitude, these guys got it.”

The Indians took the lead for good in the second period and when Quay Lynch buried a 3-pointer and followed with a two-point jumper early in the fourth period, Murphy knew his team was in trouble.

“We knew if they had a six- to eight-point lead, they would start milking the clock,” he said. “We had to come out of our zone and their guard play was the difference. They were able to pass through the traps and the scrambles that we were throwing at them and executing their shape and finish on the back end.”

Pinson Valley coach Darrell Barber said his team’s film study of McGill-Toolen’s multitude of zone looks turned up some useful intelligence which the Indians used to great effect, especially in making intermediate jumpers in the Jackets’ soft spots. The 56 points Pinson Valley scored was the first time in six playoff games McGill-Toolen had allowed 50-plus points.

“We watched multiple films, so it’s kind of a gimmick 1-3-1, 2-3 (zone), and we felt if we can do what we need to do and get them out of it and go man, then they’ll play into our strengths,” said Barber, whose team reached the state semifinals despite losing 6-6 junior guard and national prospect Clyde Walters to a transfer to Brewster Academy in New Hampshire in the offseason.

The Indians (22-8) made 18 of 26 shots inside the 3-point line, led by Austin Coner’s 19 points. In contrast, the Jackets were a mere 9 of 26.

Pinson Valley also outscored McGill-Toolen 28-18 in the paint and 19-6 off the fast break.

Grayson Brower, whose broken wrist late last season might have cost the Jackets another final four appearance, finished with 10 points. But 6-7 center Ethan Stokes, who had supplied McGill-Toolen with reliable low-post production, had just 7 points and only one field — a 3-pointer out top in the fourth period — in his final high school game.

Despite the loss, Stokes looked back on the season with sentimentality.

“A couple years ago, we were the ones in the stands cheering on teams that were in the final four,” he said. “For us to be here and hear coach talk about us like this even after we don’t get it done is real special for us.”

 

MCGILL-TOOLEN (37)

Wittendorfer 0-4 0-0 0, Brower 4-10 1-2 10, Norwood 1-8 0-0 3, Stokes 1-3 4-4 7, Murchison 5-10 4-5 14, Addiss 0-1 0-0 0, Weems 0-0 0-0 0, Dumont 1-4 0-0 2, King 0-1 0-0 0, McCarron 0-0 0-0 0, Husting 0-2 0-0 0, Thrash 0-1 1-2 1, Heim 0-1 0-0 0, Patrick 0-0 0-0 0, Lomax 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 12-45 FG, 10-13 FT.

PINSON VALLEY (56)

Thomas 3-3 3-4 9, Lynch 4-12 2-2 11, Pritchett 3-7 0-0 6, Coner 5-10 9-11 19, Ringstaff 1-3 0-0 2, Addison 0-1 0-0 0, Green 3-4 0-0 6, Holifield 0-0 0-0 0, Wagner 1-1 0-0 3, Hudson 0-0 0-0 0, Crenshaw 0-0 0-0 0, Hill 0-0 0-0 0, Thompson 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 20-41 FG, 14-17 FT.

3-POINTERS

McGill-Toolen: Wittendorfer 0-2, Brower 1-3, Norwood 1-8, Stokes 1-1, Addiss 0-1, King 0-1, Husting 0-2, Heim 0-1. TOTALS: 3-19.

Pinson Valley: Lynch 1-6, Pritchett 0-1, Coner 0-4, Ringstaff 0-1, Addison 0-1, Green 0-1, Wagner 1-1. TOTALS: 2-15.

REBOUNDS

McGill-Toolen: Stokes 9, Murchison 7. TOTALS: 25 (8 offensive, 17 defensive.

Pinson Valley: Thomas 11, Coner 7. TOTALS: 31 (3 offensive, 28 defensive).

POINTS

In paint: Pinson Valley 28-18.

Off turnovers: Pinson Valley 10-5.

Second chance: McGill-Toolen 7-1.

Fast break: Pinson Valley 19-6.

 

McGill-Toolen    7   10   12    8  — 37

Pinson Valley     8   13   10  25  — 56