Wenonah’s Demazzia Taylor races for a fast-break layup as LeFlore’s Justin Lawrence trails the play Wednesday night during the Class 5A state tournament semifinals at Legacy Arena in Birmingham. Taylor scored 19 points and the Dragons outscored the Rattlers 41-21 off the break in a 79-60 romp. (David Holtsford/AHSAA)
LeFlore’s Brayln Taylor tries to drive on Wenonah’s defense Wednesday night. Taylor led the Rattlers with 23 points, including six 3-pointers. (David Holtsford/AHSAA)
LeFlore’s Armani Rowell goes in for a layup against Wenonah Wednesday night. (David Holtsford/AHSAA)
By JIMMY WIGFIELD
BIRMINGHAM — Wenonah showed Wednesday night that a rattler can’t strike what it can’t catch and proved there may not be an antidote for its lethal transition game.
The No. 2-ranked Dragons outscored LeFlore 41-21 off the fast break and routed the Rattlers 79-60 in the Class 5A state semifinals at Legacy Arena.
“We stressed getting back on defense and stopping the fast-break points and I mean we just couldn’t get a hold on it tonight,” LeFlore coach Johnny Mayhane said. “I can’t tell you what went wrong but I know the fast break really hurt us. To be honest with you, we run the break too but we just couldn’t get to it.”
What went wrong — what triggered the starting gun time and time again on the basketball equivalent of the 100-meter dash — was Wenonah wiping the glass clean 51-33 and getting the ball out to yellow blurs going the other way. Three of its players had 13 rebounds apiece: Santez Pendleton, Brendon Davis and Jaurice Smith.
“That’s the way we play,” Dragons coach Cedric Lane said. “We prefer to play fast. I know if we got that going, then we’d be in good shape. We’ve got a good group of guys. They play unselfish. One of our mottos is ‘everybody eat.’ We try not to care who scores the points as long as we get the points. We do a good job of sharing the ball in transition.”
Pendleton scored 25 points, Davis 23 and Demazzia Taylor 19 for Wenonah (26-5), which unloaded point-blank broadsides at the Rattlers — outscoring them 48-24 in the paint and shooting at 60%, mainly because it made 21 of 31 layups, most of those off the fast break.
LeFlore had not allowed more than 57 points in the postseason but the Dragons reached that late in the third period.
“I know we probably average like 80-some points a game and we’ve put guys in in the fourth quarter to not go over 100,” Lane said. “We could have done it plenty of times but we chose not to.”
Wenonah led by as much as 31 points in the third period before the Rattlers rallied somewhat in the fourth period against the Dragons’ reserves.
“I’m proud of my guys for fighting and building up a big enough lead that we could play the way that we did but I am very disappointed how we finished,” Lane said. “Our guys got comfortable. We’ve been talking about not getting comfortable and not letting games be close so that we don’t have an opportunity to lose by one or be in a situation like the last game, where a buzzer beater almost killed us.”
Mayhane was certainly disappointed to begin the season 0-6 but proud of how his team finished to reach the state tournament for the 18th time, finishing 19-8, including an 11-game winning streak which featured a 53-47 upset of No. 1-ranked Williamson in the regional semifinals.
“I want to give my guys the utmost respect on what they did and what they had to fight through this year,” Mayhane said.
But they couldn’t fight through what Wenonah did to them on both ends of the floor. The Dragons were much better off the dribble and LeFlore scored from the field on back-to-back possessions only three times through the first three periods. Only nine three-pointers — six by guard Brayln Taylor — averted a loss that could have been much worse.
“It seemed like they wanted it more than us,” said Taylor, who led the Rattlers with 23 points. “We didn’t play hard.”
Wenonah led 17-14 after one period, then went on a 19-8 run in the second period to take a 36-22 halftime lead.
The victory set up what Lane characterized as a revenge game for the state championship Saturday against No. 10 Sylacauga (30-2), which beat the Dragons 69-68 in last year’s semifinals.
“Our guys have been very, very hungry to see them again,” Lane said. “The only way for us to see them again was to meet here in the championship game. I’m hoping we don’t need any motivation for this. We’re back here and we didn’t come here to lay down.
“We’ve got 32 minutes left in the season. How you want to be remembered? You can be a champion or not be a champion. A lot of people act like we’re just going to wake up and be back in the final four. You have to grind to get back, so you start all over from zero.”
Mayhane won’t have to start over. All those who started for him Wednesday night will return next season to try and fulfill the high standard for LeFlore basketball established by legendary coach J.D. Shelwood, who won two of the Rattlers’ four state championships.
LeFlore remains the gold standard for Mobile-area high school basketball, which has taken a beating at this state tournament, but the Rattlers last won a Blue Map in 2007.
“The biggest thing when you get to this point in the final four, you have some guys who are experienced and you have some teams and coaches who’ve been here,” Mayhane said. “It was these guys’ first time. A lot of teams don’t make it. This is what you fight for each year. We have to get back to work and really dive into being better players and I need to be a better coach for them. I am just going to love my guys. We’re going to get to work and we’re going to see what next year has for us.”
