By Johnny Sanders, Sports Editor
SOUTHSIDE – On Valentine’s Day, there is typically a knock on the door and a nice gift is delivered to someone who opens the door and it is a gift of love like flowers or candy. On Valentine’s night, 2023, the visiting Springville Tigers did not knock on Southside’s door and they did not bring gifts of love. They kicked down the door and their gift for the Panthers was an early exit from the AHSAA state basketball playoffs.
Springville’s defense started the domination early, holding the host team to just 7 points in the first quarter. Coach Easterwood’s boys, however, did not come out on offense and shoot the lights out, managing only 7 points of their own. Ty Harrison and Zach Brown each had a three-pointer for the Tigers in the period to lead their team.
In the second quarter, the defense would continue to play well, holding Southside to 11 points for the period. On offense, the Tigers got a bit better in the second, scoring 13 points of their own in the quarter. Brown would lead the Tigers with 5 points in the quarter to go with 4 from Brodie Frederick to send Springville into the halftime break with a narrow 20-18 lead.
Coming out of the locker room, Springville’s defense would simply hold serve and hold Southside to another 7-point quarter, continuing their tenaciousness on defense. The Tigers would answer with 7 of their own in the quarter, continuing to struggle to get anything going on offense. Frederick would lead the way with 3 points, followed by Harrison and Asa Morrison with 2 each to make it 27-25 Tigers with one final quarter to play in the game.
The fourth quarter would be an absolute flood gate of scoring from the Springville Tigers who could clearly see their season slipping away in the first 3 quarters. The defense did their thing, holding Southside to just 10 points in the period. On offense, Springville exploded for 27 points in the quarter. Brown had 11 points in the quarter to go with 7 from Collin Lockhart and 5 from Ayden Walton. Springville would end things with a 54-35 win to advance to the sweet sixteen.
Zach Brown won the night for the Tigers with 19 points to lead Springville in scoring. Ty Harrison would add 10 and Collin Lockhart would add 9 as well.
“I am extremely proud of the effort and focus our team put into executing the game plan,” said Springville’s Head Coach, Brandon Easterwood. “Southside is a good team who has come on strong at the end of the season. Getting a win on the road in a sub-regional atmosphere is a big accomplishment for our team. Point Guard Zach Brown had a great game. He was under control and got us into our offense. He went 8 for 8 in the fourth quarter from the free throw line and that put the game away.”
Springville will take on Scottsboro in the next round of the playoffs on Friday morning at 10:30 am at Jacksonville State University.