Fairhope’s Jackson Gulley, right, scored 10 of his 23 points in the fourth period Wednesday as the No. 5 Pirates defeated Daphne 71-57 to win the Class 7A South Regional at Garrett Coliseum in Montgomery. (Helen Joyce/Call News)
By JIMMY WIGFIELD
MONTGOMERY — When Fairhope’s Jackson Gulley wasn’t bending the rim with one of his six dunks, Jackson Robertson was tickling it with three-pointers Wednesday to put Daphne in a predicament it couldn’t overcome.
Gulley scored 23 points, including 10 in the fourth period, and Robertson added 15, including a pair in the second period to wedge open a close game, and the No. 5-ranked Pirates went on to beat the Trojans 71-57 and win the Class 7A South Regional and advance to the state tournament for the first time since 2020.
“Everybody tends to key in on (Jaden) Champion and Gulley and you can’t do that with us,” said Robertson, who was named the regional MVP. “We’ve got people all around that can shoot the three and make plays. You’ve got to pick your poison. We either hit threes or Jackson Gulley’s going to dunk on you.”
Fairhope (19-9) — which has won 11 of its last 12 games — plays Florence (26-7) in the Class 7A state tournament semifinals on Feb. 27 at 10:30 a.m. at Legacy Arena in Birmingham.
After a first half featuring eight lead changes, Robertson dropped a pair of three-pointers on Daphne to help the Pirates to a 35-28 halftime lead. At one point in the second period, Fairhope was shooting 71% and had made five 3-pointers, two from Broder Elliason and one each from Champion and Gus Faulkner.
The three glee was so contagious that Robertson stepped back in the corner to make sure he was behind the line, gored the cord, then grinned at a Trojans defender going back up the court.
“Me and that kid played in AAU together,” said Robertson, the son of Coastal Alabama Community College coach Robby Robertson. “That’s the thing with Daphne and Fairhope, we’ve all played with these guys growing up. And so just hitting that on him in this big of an environment, it was awesome. We were joking about it. It was a good time. That was a big shot and it was on my buddy, so it was fun. I prepared for it, man. I worked my butt off for three years. I finally got my opportunity my senior year. And then when I got to the game, I was confident about it. I let it fly.”
Pirates coach Ralph Watson said Robertson has the perfect background to thrive in such a moment.
“He got us going in the first half,” Watson said. “He’s a coach’s kid, so J.R. has been around the gym a whole lot and he’s just a competitor. He’s also our quarterback on the football team, so I think that makes him get a little thickness of your skin, you know, and he handles these moments.”
Watson said Robertson’s step-back 3 sent a message.
“It said, ‘We’re here. We showed up,’” Watson said. “We won an area game against them by three (51-48) but they outplayed us. They should have won the area. We won it. They outplayed us in that game but today, I thought we really responded really, really well.”
Fairhope had taken the lead for good on Elliason’s 3-pointer to open the second period and by halftime the Pirates were shooting 65% and had outscored the Trojans 13-3 off 11 turnovers.
Gulley, a 6-7 junior forward and major college prospect, then took over in the second half, scoring 18 points on 8-of-10 shooting and grabbing 10 rebounds.
“I didn’t say anything to him,” Watson said. “He got himself going. Hey, take over, you’re a Division I player. And he makes everybody better, he draws a lot of attention. And then, obviously, when you have good shooters, it certainly helps.”
Gulley said he knew it was time to assert himself.
“I was really high,” he said, and not just when he was dunking. “I just wanted to really win. It’s our rival school and I wanted to go to the final four ’cuz we haven’t done it in a while. The area championship game was a dogfight but I feel like we were ready. Our guys came out and dominated.”
Fairhope won three of four games against Daphne this year but Trojans coach Reed Hotard felt his team was in good position until Gulley took over the game.
“If they’re hitting shots, they’re really, really hard to beat and they hit a lot of shots in that first half,” Hotard said. “And then Gulley showed why he’s a Division I player and not just on the offensive end but on the defensive end. He caused a lot of problems for us.”
Javion Dailey scored 20 points (making 4 of 7 three-pointers) and C.J. Gardner added 16 for Daphne (21-7), which finished with nine 3-pointers to Fairhope’s eight.
The Pirates, who also got 13 points from Champion, shot 53% from the field, had 30 points in the paint, made 15 of 22 free throws and led for 27:29.
Watson wanted to enjoy the win before turning his attention to Florence in the state semifinals.
“I haven’t even looked at them,” he said. “We were looking on the bus and I said, ‘Don’t say one word to me. I don’t want to know anything about them.’ I’m sure they’re going to be really good. We’re excited. We’re going to the final four. What more could you want as a player?”
