Andalusia, Opp advance
Published 12:00 am Monday, December 29, 2003
Half of the teams from Covington County in the 37th annual Andalusia High School Invitational Basketball Tournament earned first-round wins Thursday.
The host Andalusia Bulldogs and Opp Bobcats both recorded victories to advance to the quarterfinals. Pleasant Home and Straughn came up short in first-round games.
The tournament resumes tonight with Opp playing Enterprise at 6 p.m. followed by a game that pits a former Andalusia Bulldog against his coach.
The Elba Tigers, coached by AHS graduate Karl Bledsoe, will face the Bulldogs in a quarterfinal game. Tip-off is slated for 7:30 p.m.
Opp advanced to the quarterfinals with a dramatic overtime win against the Brantley Bulldogs.
Mariel Mount hit a jumper with 15 seconds left in regulation to knot the score at 54-54 and send it into overtime.
Holt Parker drained a long jumper for two points with 15 seconds left in overtime to give the Bobcats a 62-60 lead. It was enough as the Bulldogs failed to score and Opp earned the win.
Tyrell Hunter was the leading scorer for Opp with 17 points. Mariel Mount added 13 and Daniel Coleman hit for 12.
Devin Person had 23 points for Brantley in the loss, including 7 three-pointers. Joshua Daniels added 17 for Brantley.
In the second game of the tournament, Enterprise topped Straughn by a final score of 62-50.
Raven Gray paced Enterprise with 14 points. Chris Crouch added 11 and Robert Brooks hit for 10 in the win.
Sterling Driver had 14 points to pace Straughn. Jared Armstrong had 9 points. Garrett Windham had 8 points.
In the third game, the Elba Tigers pounced on the Pleasant Home Eagles early and held on for a 54-40 win.
The Tigers were on top 15-4 after one quarter of play and did not look back en route to the win.
Quinton Gavin had 13 points to lead Elba. LaRay Williams and Kikko Logan hit for 12 points each.
Devin Spivey was the leading scorer for Pleasant Home with 15 points.
Andalusia won the fourth and final game of the tournament's first day by outscoring New Brockton 61-45.
Michael Cauley was on fire after missing his first shot. He scored 22 points in the win, including 18 in the first half.
The game was close early.
The score was knotted at 12-12 after one period of action.
Andalusia built a lead in the second quarter and held a 37-23 edge at the halftime intermission.
Andalusia maintained its lead in the second half for a 61-45 win.
Brandon Wilson added 11 points for Andalusia in the win. Lance Evans had 10 points.
Brett Parrish had 16 points for New Brockton. Brandon Owens hit for 15 points.