By Johnny Sanders, Sports Editor
JACKSONVILLE – Friday morning, the Springville Tigers took on the Scottsboro Wildcats in a 5A Northeast Regional Semi-Final game to determine who would make it to the elite eight. The Tigers had good first and fourth quarters, but could not get the offense going in the second and third and dug themselves quite a hole, leading to a 64-49 loss to the Wildcats.
Springville came out shooting well in the first quarter and played pretty good on defense as well. Scottsboro managed 13 points against the Tigers while Springville scored 17 to take the early lead after one quarter of play.
The Wildcats would dominate the second quarter on the defensive side, holding Springville to just 9 points for the period. The Tigers took a step back on the defensive side of the ball, allowing Scottsboro to score 15. The halftime score would be 28-26 with Scottsboro holding the narrow lead over Springville.
With a narrow deficit, the Springville Tigers came out of the locker room with hopes of moving to the next round well in hand. Dominant defense and consistent scoring by Scottsboro led to a 17-7 quarter, turning that narrow lead into a much bigger lead for the Wildcats and quite the uphill battle for Springville if they wanted to extend their season. It would be 45-33 heading into the final quarter of the game.
In the fourth, Springville found offensive success once again, putting up 16 points against the Wildcat defense. On defense, Springville continued to struggle to stop the Wildcats’ scoring, allowing them to score 19 points and close out the 15-point victory and move on to the next round.
Springville was led by Ty Harrison and Brodie Frederick with 12 points each, followed by Zach Brown with 11 of his own.
“Scottsboro is a team who is hard to guard. They are very deep and constantly pushing the ball. They keep 5 players on the floor who can all shoot the three which made it difficult to stop penetration without over helping,” said Springville Coach Brandon Easterwood.
Springville finishes the season with an impressive 21-11 record. Coach Easterwood said, “I was very proud of our team. To finish the season with 21 wins and make it to regionals is a place not many teams make it to. It’s always upsetting to lose but our guys competed with one of the best teams in 5A and they didn’t quit. Several guys played well. Brodie Frederick, Ty Harrison on and Zach Brown paced our offense throughout the game. Our 5 seniors set the bar high for next season. It will be hard to replace them.”