Vigor eyes state title after clobbering Guntersville, 71-53

 

 

 

 

 

By JIMMY WIGFIELD

BIRMINGHAM — In a game with all the suspense of a man standing before a firing squad, Vigor annihilated Guntersville 71-53 in the Class 5A state tournament semifinals Wednesday evening at Legacy Arena to reach the finals for the second straight year.

And if the Wolves keep playing the way they did against the Wildcats, they will likely find a seat for a Blue Map on the bus back to Prichard on Saturday.

Jermaine Tate, who said his confidence escalated when he filled the basket during pregame warmups, bombed Guntersville into the 21^st century by dumping 21 points — including five 3-pointers — on the Wildcats’ zone.

“I was here last year, so I came in with all the confidence through the roof,” Tate said. “I knew I wanted to win and make it to the state championship. I knew what it would take. I felt it. In warmups, I was knocking down plenty of shots. So, coming off the tip-off, it was already in my head that I’m going to hit a couple of shots. It got me started and just took off.”

Aslan Jones, who was active on both ends of the floor, added 19 points and 7 steals, Ke’Viasz Malone 13 points and Parker Holley 10 points for Vigor (19-9), which won its 10^th straight game.

The Wolves, who lost to Fairfield 69-65 in last year’s state championship game, get another chance Saturday at 10:45 a.m. against Sylacauga (30-3), which edged No. 5-ranked Wenonah 69-68 in the other semifinal.

Vigor coach Lee Riley likes the Wolves’ chances.

“The ones that played last year, they’re ready this time,” he said. “They’re more seasoned.”

They played that way Wednesday, making three-pointers with the ease of layups early on. In fact, the Wolves made eight threes and just three shots inside the line in the first half.

By the end of the first period, Riley had already maneuvered eight players into the game — one for every turnover they squeezed out of their overwhelmed opponent — and Tate had sprayed a trio of threes.

By halftime, Vigor led 34-12 and had outscored Guntersville 18-2 off 14 turnovers and 11-2 off second chances.

“That was our key to success, to wear them down,” said Riley, who used 13 players in all. “I didn’t know it was going to happen that fast. By halftime, I wanted them to be tired. These guys came with an extra little energy and Jermaine got hot for us. That energy got contagious.”

Riley knows that kind of quality depth leads to championships at tournament time.

“I really trust those guys,” he said. “That’s what all it boils down to. I feel like if I put them out there, they’re going to do exactly what I ask and not try to do anything extra. For a coach, that’s very, very good because I know what I’m going to get from certain players. They’ve accepted their roles.”

But Riley had to admit he didn’t know the three-point revival was coming, as the Wolves were just 28 of 60 from behind the arc coming in. They finished the game 10 of 24.

“If I’m being completely honest, we have never shot the three that well,” Riley said. “And I told them, ‘Guys, hey, don’t fall in love with it.’ They were locked in.”

Combined with forcing 25 turnovers and numerous runouts that led to a 20-6 advantage off fast-break points, Vigor had no chance of losing unless the players decided to go home at halftime. As it was, they spent about five minutes in the locker room; no adjustments were needed unless some shoelaces had to be retied.

Wildcats coach Brett Self, whose team was ranked No. 8 in the state, was stunned after the beating.

“They hit shots consistently that we had not seen them do up to this point,” Self said. “We just never got into a rhythm and a lot of that has to do with their defensive pressure and intensity.”

Few thought Riley — in his first year on the job after following Jarius Jackson — would be standing in Legacy Arena one game from winning the Wolves’ first state basketball championship. Vigor started 0-5 and was 9-9 before the 10-game winning streak began, which coincided with the players coming to the conclusion that Riley knew what he was doing.

“Let’s get it clear, coach Jack was a great coach,” Riley said. “What they did last year, it worked, right? I won’t say it was an easy road but midway through the season, maybe closer to the area tournament, they started to buy in to what I wanted. It wasn’t a dictatorship. These kids were used to doing things a certain way. So, you’re bringing a new guy in late, you’re getting the football players late. It was just challenges all the way around. I was trying to feed it to them, not giving it all to them at once.”

The main issue — and one that has become a strength — was an alteration of defensive philosophy.

“We were trying to reprogram and teach them to play defense a certain type of way,” Riley said. “They’re used to flying around, and that’s fine, but we also want them to know how to play a half-court game as well in case we don’t get a chance to fly around. I did have to pull them back in zone and they didn’t understand it, nor like it, because there wasn’t a lot of pressure. And they love to pressure the ball but I let them know we can still be aggressive in the zone. And once they saw it work, they started to buy into it.”

The only zone the Wolves were in on Wednesday was the one in which they grabbed Guntersville by the neck and never let go, as their man-to-man pressure all over the court gnawed the Wildcats to the bone.

“I knew they could play defense at will,” Riley said. “As a matter of fact, my assistant coach got mad because I turned down a walk-through this morning. He wasn’t happy with that. But I just felt like the guys needed to save their legs so we could really apply defensive pressure and it worked in our favor.”

 

VIGOR (71)

Tate 6-10 4-4 21, Whitsett 0-3 0-2 0, Holley 4-7 0-0 10, Jones 8-14 0-1 19, Kelley 2-4 0-0 4, Malone 2-8 9-14 13, Skipwith 0-1 0-0 0, Osborne 1-5 1-4 3, Williams 0-0 0-0 0, Bryant 0-0 0-0 0, Boykin 0-1 1-2 1, Davis 0-1 0-0 0, Hines 0-1 0-0 0. TOTALS: 23-55 FG, 15-27 FT.

GUNTERSVILLE (53)

Holsonback 2-5 3-4 7, Waller 4-11 2-2 10, Avery 2-8 1-2 6, Logan 1-5 0-0 2, Scott 5-12 6-6 16, Harbin 2-2 0-0 4, Hammond 0-1 2-2 2, Watkins 0-0 0-0 0, Moon 1-1 0-0 2, Pike 0-1 0-0 0, Duvall 0-0 0-0 0, McCoy 0-0 0-0 0, Cobb 2-2 0-0 4. TOTALS: 19-48 FG, 14-16 FT.

3-POINTERS

Vigor: Tate 5-7, Holley 2-5, Jones 3-7, Malone 0-4, Skipwith 0-1. TOTALS: 10-24.

Guntersville: Waller 0-2, Avery 1-4, Logan 0-2, Scott 0-5, Hammond 0-1, Pike 0-1. TOTALS: 1-15.

REBOUNDS

Vigor: Kelley 7, Osborne 5, Tate 4. TOTALS: 32 (15 offensive, 17 defensive).

Guntersville: Logan 6, Waller 4, Scott 4, Moon 4. TOTALS: 36 (11 offensive, 25 defensive).

POINTS

In paint: Guntersville 36-26.

Off turnovers: Vigor 34-18.

Second chance: Vigor 12-9.

Fast break: Vigor 20-6.

 

Vigor                 17   17   12    25 — 71

Guntersville       6     6     8    33 — 53