By Johnny Sanders, Sports Editor
HANCEVILLE – What a season it has been for the Pinson Valley Indians already. They have won their area both in the regular season and in the tournament and they have managed to stay undefeated on the season with many of those games being blowouts. On Friday morning, at Wallace State, the undefeated streak was in jeopardy like it has not been all season. It took a heroic fourth quarter from Caleb White, but this dream season continued Friday as Pinson bested Muscle Shoals by a score of 59-54, punching the Indians’ ticket to the elite eight on Tuesday.
Muscle Shoals started the game off the way they needed to in order to defeat the might Indians from Pinson Valley High School. They outscored Pinson 15-10 in the first quarter and had the best team in Alabama on the ropes after one period.
In the second, Pinson recovered and outscored the Trojans. The Indians would score 11 points on offense and, on defense, they would hold Muscle Shoals to just 9 points. This effort would make it 24-21 Trojans heading into the halftime break.
Both teams would find some sure footing in the third quarter, however. Muscle Shoals would cut through the Pinson defense, scoring a game-high 20 points in the quarter. Pinson was only a point behind their counterparts with 19 in the quarter, setting up a fourth quarter showdown with just 4 points separating the teams at 44-40, Muscle Sholas having the lead.
The fourth quarter would prove why Pinson is considered the best basketball team in all of Alabama, regardless of classification as well as a top 30 team nationally. Caleb White, unwilling to have a repeat of the past couple of seasons where the Indians exited the playoffs early, decided to take over the game and put his team on his back, scoring 15 of his 20 total points, in the final period of play. Pinson ended the game on a 17-4 run, outscoring the Trojans 19-10 in the fourth quarter and pulling out the 59-53 win.
Caleb White led the team with 20 points, 3 assists and 2 steals. Clyde Walters, a Freshman that is really heating up at the right time, had a double-double with 14 points, 10 rebounds, 2 blocks and 2 steals. Terry Coner had 11 points, 2 assists and 2 steals for the Indians as well.
“I thought Muscle Shoals had a great game plan, said Pinson Coach Darrell Barber. “We had a lot of defensive breakdowns early on. I thought Freshman Clyde Walters was key early with key rebounds and blocks. He did it all for us. Terry Coner was also clutch in the third. Caleb White brought it home for us in the fourth. He just had a ‘refuse to lose’ mentality in the fourth, scoring 15 of his 20 points.”
The Indians, now 29-0, will take the court at Wallace State in Hanceville in the Northwest Regional Finals on Wednesday morning against the Buckhorn Bucks. The winner earns a trip to Birmingham and the final four in the AHSAA 6A Tournament.