Cedar Bluff’s Season Ends Against Talladega County Central

JACKSONVILLE – The Cedar Bluff Tigers have faced teams with size this season, but nothing compared to the size and athleticism Talladega County Central presented them in the Class 1A Boys Northeast Basketball Regional at Jacksonville State University’s Pete Mathews Coliseum on Friday night.

Six-foot senior guard Crystyle Stockdale netted a game-high 26 points and grabbed five rebounds, 6-foot-5 senior forward Dontaevious Johnson posted 25 points and nine boards, and 6-foot-4 senior guard Tervarus Garrett finished with 15 points and five rebounds to lead Talladega County Central to a 79-61 victory.

Cedar Bluff's D'Shawn Fife makes an acrobatic move toward the basket Friday night against Talladega County Central. Photo courtesy of Billy Garrett, garrettsportshots.com.
Cedar Bluff’s D’Shawn Fife makes an acrobatic move toward the basket Friday night against Talladega County Central. Photo courtesy of Billy Garrett, garrettsportshots.com.

TCC (21-10) advances to Tuesday’s regional final against No. 4 Sacred Heart (23-8). The Lions defeated Skyline 76-46 in the other Class 1A boys semifinal on Friday. Ninth-ranked Cedar Bluff’s season ends at 18-10.

“We’re proud we made it here,” Cedar Bluff coach Joe Carpenter said. “We were 8-20 last year and ended up 18-10 this year. I’m really proud of the guys for what they’ve put together this season. (Devante Dixon and D’Shawn Fife) were the only two seniors coming back from last year’s team, and without these two guys, we wouldn’t have accomplished what we did. I appreciate their leadership, their play and the sacrifice they made for our team this year.”

But before Cedar Bluff bowed out of the regional, the Tigers gave TCC a run for their money.

Talladega County Central jumped out to a 15-6 lead in the first quarter, only to see Cedar Bluff cut its lead to 17-13 by quarter’s end. TCC held a 36-28 lead at halftime and led by 10 in the early goings of the third quarter, but again, Cedar Bluff rallied. This time, a 10-2 run – capped off by freshman strong forward Michael Croft’s bucket with 4:21 to go in the third – pulled Cedar Bluff to within two at 42-40.

“We knew we had a chance to stay in the game with those guys,” Dixon said. “They’re an extremely athletic team, but we believed we could stay with them when we went on that run.”

Fife said it was just a matter of playing Cedar Bluff basketball.

“We didn’t really worry about their size even though they were bigger than what we usually play,” he said. “We went to the basket knowing we could play with them.”

However, Talladega County Central managed to keep its composure and closed out the quarter on a 14-4 run to take a 56-44 advantage heading into the fourth.

“We cut it to two, but then they went on a 22-4 run,” Carpenter said. “We turned it over several times, and they got us in a position where they wanted us. They spread us out and pounded the ball inside. We fixed that problem, then they brought in another guy (Devin Wilson) who was a rebounder. It was just too much underneath for us. We got out-rebounded and started giving up easy baskets. They didn’t have to work as hard for them, and consequently, we got further and further behind.”

TCC coach Reginald Jacobs said his team has given up big runs to their opponents this season, but his team wasn’t going to allow another one end their season.

“We just had a small breakdown,” he said “Basketball is a game of runs, and they got a little momentum. Our guys started losing a little composure, but this is nothing we haven’t seen in the regular season. We’ve lost games where we’ve mentally broken down, but our senior guards and forwards stepped up and said ‘It’s not going to happen again.’

“We got a grip back on things and started executing. It was a situation we’ve seen before, but we don’t want to see it again. These guys came through adversity and closed this game on out.”

Freshman strong forward Keaton Kilgro topped Cedar Bluff with 16 points. Croft came away with 15 points. Dixon delivered 12 points. D’Shawn Fife added 10 points and freshman guard Davion Fife finished with eight points.

Although disappointed with the loss, Carpenter said this season’s team helped put the Tiger boys basketball program back on the right track.

Cedar Bluff's Keaton Kilgro drives inside against Talladega County Central on Friday night. Photo courtesy of Billy Garrett, garrettsportshots.com.
Cedar Bluff’s Keaton Kilgro drives inside against Talladega County Central on Friday night. Photo courtesy of Billy Garrett, garrettsportshots.com.

“This is four times since 2010 we’ve been to regionals. They went 8-0 in the area and won the area tournament this season. We have nothing to be ashamed of,” Carpenter said. “We didn’t play as well as we wanted to tonight. Obviously we’re disappointed, but in the long run, I’m proud of what they accomplished. We could have easily had another 8-20 year if they didn’t put in the effort they did this summer, buy into what we were trying to do and come together as a team.”

Dixon called this season “amazing.”

“Like Coach said, we could have tucked our tails and gone 8-20 again, but our younger guys stepped up in the gym,” Dixon said. “We felt like we had a chance to make it to Birmingham, but unfortunately we didn’t.”

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