5A-WEST BOYS McCoy clinches title for Alma

— Alma put its 5AWest Conference title hopes in the hands of Isaac McCoy, and McCoy delivered.

McCoy scored a schoolrecord 42 points to give the Airedales a 76-62 victory over Harrison on Friday at Charles B. Dyer Arena. It was a winner-take-all contest for the regular-season conference championship and a No. 1 seed from the 5A-West at next week’s 5A state tournament, which Alma will host.

“Wow, I told my kids it was a once-in-a-lifetime thing,” Alma Coach Stan Flenor said. “It was a great, special night at Charles B. Dyer Airedale Arena tonight.Our fans, our students, it was electric. Both teams played at a championship level.”

McCoy scored 26 points in the first half, including 17 in the second quarter, to give Alma (21-5, 12-2) a 37-34 halftime lead. He added five during a 17-2 run that turned a 47-47 tie into a 64-49 advantage in the opening minute of the fourth quarter.

Alma, ranked No. 3 in Class 5A, led by at least eight points the rest of the way.

“Isaac obviously was just phenomenal tonight,” Flenor said. “When you score 42 points in a basketball game, you’re cramping and a lot of times you’re guarding their best player too, it’s a special deal.

“I’m so proud of them, and I’m so excited for them.”

Harrison (21-5, 10-4) was ahead for nearly seven minutes in the first half and pushed its lead to 27-20 early in the second quarter. Then McCoy caught fire, scoring 12 consecutive points - including 3 threepointers - to give Alma a 32-27 lead with 3:17 left in the half.

Held to 12 points in a loss at Harrison earlier in the season, McCoy said he was motivated to redeem himself Friday.

“I wouldn’t say it was easy,” McCoy said. “I was just determined to score. They were playing pretty good defense. I was just making shots. Coming out of halftime we were kind of stiff, but we settled down and started playing our ball game.”

John Colliver led Harrison with 18 points and 20 rebounds, but it was not enough against McCoy and the Airedales. Alex Rose added 18 and Blake McNair had 14 for theGoblins.

“When we played them the first time, we gave up the perimeter shot and tried to keep him out of the lane,” Harrison Coach David Stahler said of McCoy. “Tonight he got a full head of steam coming into the lane and he was hitting his threes. You’ve got to give up something with him.”

Brock Widders was the only other Alma player besides McCoy to finish with at least 10 points. Widders scored 13 off the bench, including six in the fourth quarter.

HARRISON (62) Dorman 1 0-0 2, Andreson 2 0-0 4, Colliver 7 4-7 18, Martin 1 0-0 2, Young 2 0-0 5, Rose 5 2-3 17, McNair 5 2-2 14. Totals 23 8-12 62.

ALMA (76) Jensen 0 5-7 5, Candelaria 3 1-2 8, McCoy 13 12-18 42, Martin 1 0-0 2, Duerr 1 0-0 2, Widders 4 5-7 13, Peters 1 0-0 2, Hensley 0 2-2 2. Totals 23 25-36 76.

Harrison (21-4, 10-4) ......... 20 14 15 13 - 62 Alma (21-5, 12-2) ............. 16 21 23 16 - 76 Three-point goals - Harrison 8 (Rose 5, McNair 2, Young), Alma 5 (McCoy 4, Candelaria). Team fouls - Harrison 25, Alma 19. Fouled out - Colliver, Martin, Hensley GIRLS

ALMA 61, HARRISON 44

Alma (15-11, 6-8 5A-West) never trailed and pulled away in the second half to defeat Harrison (6-20, 3-11).

Alma also learned after the game that it had clinched a Class 5A state tournament berth. The Airedalettes needed to defeat Harrison by at least 10 points, have Huntsville defeat Greenbrier, and win a tiebreaking coin flip in order to make the state tournament.

Alma used a 12-2 run in the third quarter to take a 10-point lead over Harrison.

Caroline Dean led Alma with 14 points, Britney Rainwater added 13 and Hannah Brown finished with 11. Rainwater also pulled down six rebounds.

Kylee Quattlebaum of Harrison scored 14 points, including three consecutive three-pointers midway through the game. The Lady Goblins were just 6 of 17 from the free-throw line.

HARRISON (44) Quattlebaum 5 1-1 14, Scheuter 3 1-8 7, Covan 1 0-0 2, Campbell 1 0-0 2, Wilson 3 0-0 6, Shaver 2 2-2 7, Norton 1 1-4 3, Woods 1 1-2 3. Totals 17 6-17 44.

ALMA (61) Brown 3 3-4 11, Dean 3 8-10 14, Folkerts 2 3-4 7, Marrs 4 0-1 9, Rainwater 3 5-6 13, Nelson 3 1-4 7, Honeycutt 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 20-29 61.

Harrison (6-20, 3-11) ......... 13 9 21 18 - 61 Alma (15-11, 6-8) .............. 5 13 14 12 - 44 Three-point goals - Harrison 4 (Quattlebaum 3, Shaver), Alma 5 (Brown 2, Rainwater 2, Marrs). Team fouls - Harrison 19, Alma 13. Fouled out - Honeycutt.

Sports, Pages 19 on 02/26/2011

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