The Opp Bobcats made the transition from the gridiron to the hardwood Monday afternoon in the New Brockton/Southeast Sun Invitational, but ran into a stingy G.W. Long defense before they could get to the goal.

The Rebels from Skipperville more than doubled their scoring output over the previous three quarters with a 23-point fourth-quarter surge as they advanced to play Daleville with a 44-30 win in rematch of last year's championship game.

Long's defense limited Opp to just 3-of-18 shooting in the first half as the Bobcats failed to dent the scoreboard in the for nine minutes and thirty six seconds in the first half.

"I was pleased with our defense," a disappointed Opp coach Michael Cassady said. "Both teams played a great defensive game. They got some easy shots underneath the basket. That was the difference. Seven of our nine guys played football and I was worried about our shooting coming in."

Emmanuel Lane made 55 three-pointers to lead the Bobcats last season, but in the face of pressure from Rebel Tim Hunt he connected just once and finished with 10 points.

The Bobcats trailed 13-7 in the defensive struggle at the half, but finally caught fire and reeled off eight straight points to grab their only lead of the game at 17-16 with 3:07 left in the third quarter.

The game was tied at 19-19 before Hunt slashed to the basket along the base-line to lay in the basket that put the Rebels ahead to stay.

Long then scored the first 10 points of the fourth quarter to open up a 31-19 lead before Mariel Mount ended the run with a three-pointer.

Kyle Wisham and Randy Eutsey led the charge for Long scoring four points, respectively, in the run. Wisham promptly added six more points to his total as the Rebels pulled away for the win.

Wisham finished with 16 points with 12 coming in the second half. He had 11 in the fourth quarter. Hunt added nine points, while Tee Morris had eight, all in the second half. Eutsey finished with six points. Tyrell Hunter was also in double figures for Opp with 10 points.

Opp girls defeat rebels

Opp High School’s girls just didn’t advance in the New Brockton/Southeast Sun Invitational Monday afternoon, the Lady Bobcats literally stole their first win of the season.

After getting beat by the buzzer against Florala in its season opener, Opp set the tone against Long early creating seven steals in the first quarter on its way to an easy 65-32 win.

The Lady Bobcats will meet Ashford, a 42-41 winner over Geneva County, in Friday afternoon’s semifinals at 3 p.m.

&uot;Forcing turnovers and turning them into easy baskets was the difference,&uot; first-year Opp coach Michael Smithhart said. &uot;That’s what we want to do. We did a good job of penetrating and getting to the basket. That makes things happen.&uot;