Irondale-The Shades Valley Mounties (8-8, 1-0) got a 58-47 win at home over region opponent Woodlawn (3-8, 0-1) Friday night.
By: John Goolsby
The Mounties jumped out to a 11-5 lead in the first period behind an aggressive defense.
Shades Valley’s defense continued their intensity and held the Colonels to 8 points in the second stanza. Offensively, the Mounties hit four three-point shots in the period: a pair by JaMarcus Jackson and one by Jeremiah Williams and Carter Berry. Rashad Bryant was a presence in the paint. The sophomore pulled down seven rebounds and added a block. Valley took a 29-13 lead into the locker room.
The Mounties came out in the second half, continued to play aggressively, and pushed the lead to 45-23 at the end of the third period. Kendarius Irvin scored ten points during the quarter, and Ethan Johnson provided great defensive intensity in the paint for Valley.
The Colonel turned up the defense pressure in the third quarter with Valley senior point guard Sean Crawford on the bench with foul trouble. Woodlawn outscored the Mounties 24-13 over the last 8 minutes to cut the final Valley lead to 11 points.
We have to learn how to close teams out,” said Valley head coach Audwin Howard. “We were up big and allowed them to creep back…that’s a sign of youth and inexperience.”
Irvin and Jackson led the Mounties with 14 points apiece. The freshman duo of Williams and Berry scored 9 each. Bryant added ten rebounds and two blocks.
Howard sees progress in his young team as the Mounties get deeper into region play. “I think we are trending in the right direction.”
The Mounties travel to Pell City Tuesday night for another region game at 7:30.
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