By Johnny Sanders, Sports Editor
Fort Payne – The Wills Valley Shootout Christmas Tournament was hosted by Fort Payne High School this past week. Springville represented the Tribune area well, making it to the championship game but falling just short to Campbell High School out of Smyrna, Georgia.
In game one, the Tigers took on the hosts, Fort Payne. Asa Morrison and Brodie Frederick led all scorers in the 73-55 win with 14 points each while Ty Harrison was close behind with 13. Coach Brandon Easterwood said, “We were excited to play against the host school in the first round. We got off to a slow start but played together in the second half. Started making the extra passes and found our teammates.”
In the second round of the tournament, Springville drew the Orange Beach Makos. Riding the wave of success from the previous day, the Tigers defeated the Macos 65-49. Ben Wood led all scorers with 14 points in this one, as Springville overcame another slow start on offense, but took advantage of a 23-point final quarter for the win. “A strong second half and fourth quarter carried us yet again. It’s good to see our team learning how to play from behind. I thought bench was the difference in this one,” said Coach Easterwood.
In the championship game, the Tigers took on Campbell high school out of Smyrna, Georgia and came up just 2 points shy of winning it all. Campbell won 66-64. Ty Harrison lit it up in this one, leading all scorers with 22 points, followed by Brodie Frederick with 17. But those two performances were not enough to pull them through. “Campbell was a strong, physical team that made the plays when needed to win the game,” said Coach Easterwood. “We had a game winning shot at the buzzer with contact, but the call didn’t go our way. Hopefully we can learn from this and grow as a team.”
Overall, Easterwood was really impressed with Brodie Frederick, who is just a Sophomore. “Brodie Frederick played well. He is growing up every game. He has a high level of maturity and skill for a younger player.”
Springville heads to Guntersville on Thursday night to take on Etowah.