Valentine’s Day wasn’t so sweet for the Morgan Academy Senators who saw their dreams for an AISA Class AAA State Championship in varsity boys basketball come to an end.
The Senators were defeated by Pike Liberal Arts on Monday by a score of 91-49 at Cramton Bowl Metroplex in Montgomery.
“They are really good and just straight up beat us from start to finish,” said Morgan Academy head varsity boys basketball coach Matthew Allen of Pike Liberal Arts.
“My guys played really hard and ever gave up, which is all I can ask from them,” Allen said.
The Senators were led in the losing effort by Rhyne Williams with 14 points. Both Williams and Cink Minter were named to the All-Tournament Team.
The Morgan Academy Senators advanced to the final four of the AISA Class AAA basketball tournament with a wild 45-44 win over Valiant Cross at the Cramton Bowl Metroplex on Feb. 10. The win came in the Elite 8 part of the tournament.
Williams led the way for Morgan with 11 points. Andrew Thomas scored 8, Teddy Henry scored 7, Minter scored 6, David Vardaman scored 5 and both Cole Wilson and Trey Jones scored 3.
“It was a scrappy game from start to finish,” said Allen. He said Valiant Cross took a 1-point lead late in the fourth quarter, “But we never got our heads down. Williams hit a huge layup that put us up 1 and we were able to force them into a bad missed shot.”
The Morgan Academy varsity boys basketball team advanced to the championship of AISA Class AAA basketball on Saturday, Feb. 12 with a 65 to 26 win over Bessemer Academy at the Cramton Bowl Metroplex in Montgomery
“We played one of our most complete games,” said Allen. He said his team shot the ball extremely well and played some of the best defense it has played.
Allen said Henry coming off the bench and scoring 13 points was “absolutely huge.” The two 3-pointers he hit in the first period got the Senators in control of the game and put Bessemer on their heels.
“Minter was our anchor in the middle and did a fantastic job protecting the rim because we had to spread our zone defense out so far to account for their shooters,” Allen said. “He was by himself down there a lot, but he didn’t allow any easy shots.”
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