The Adairville Cardinals hit 9 of 15 free throws in the fourth quarter and 15 of 28 for the game to overcome a one-point deficit and beat Auburn 36-27 for the championship of the boys division of the Logan County Middle School Basketball Tournament Feb. 2.
Coach Daniel Hartley’s team also got a big fourth quarter from one of its big men, Zane Batten. He scored 7 of his game-high 14 points in the final frame. Center Chandler Snorton and big guard Colton Rayno each hit 3 free throws in the quarter. Snorton put in all 6 of his points from the line in 8 attempts. Rayno was 4 of 5 on foul shots for the game.
Jack Delaney, who hit the champs’ only 3-pointer, added 4 points in that fourth quarter. His 7 points proved to be the second most by any player in the championship game. Rayno joined Snorton with 6 points, and the other Cardinal starter, Ryan Rayno, had a solid game, as did top reserve Jake Regan.
Runner-up Auburn had three players—Tanner Robinson, Braden Engler and Davin Yates—hit a 3-pointer. They were among eight Tigers who scored. The problem was no one hit multiple treys and no one scored more than 5 points. Forwards Isaac Stanley and Yates led the way with 5 each.
Coach Josh Hall’s team were awarded only 12 free throws and hit just 4 of them. Auburn was assessed 20 fouls and Adairville 13. Starting guard Chance Sweeney fouled out for Auburn.
Score by Quarters: 1) AdMS 9-7, 2) 12-10, 3) AuMs 18-17, Final) Adairville 36, Auburn 27
AdMS (36) Zane Batten 14, Jack Delaney 7, Corbin Rayno 6, Chandler Snorton 6, Trent Regan 2, Ryan Rayno 1, Jayven Chester
AuMS (27) Isaac Stanley 5, Davin Yates 5, Chance Sweeney 4, Clay Warden 4, Braden Engler 3, Tanner Robinson 3, Kade Wall 2, Landyn Gorrell 1, Clifton Faughn, Jacob Haas, Drew McLellan, Brayden Bond, Colby Collins
Adairville and Auburn were obviously the two best teams. They won their semifinal matches that morning by an average of 29 points per game.
Semifinals
After a sensational first quarter in which he scored 12 points, Batten outscored Chandlers for the game by a point as Adairville won 44-17. Auburn’s big men dominated with Batten scoring 18 and Snorton 8.
All of the Cards’ points came on two-point field goals. In fact, they didn’t shoot a free throw. On the other hand, the Bears went to the line 6 times, hitting 4. Mason Brown hit 3 of 4 free throws.
Travis Kodiak led Chandlers in scoring with 6. Jayden Blick hit the only successful 3-pointer of the game.
Score by quarters: 1) AdMS 18-3, 2) 30-8, 3) 40-15, Final) Adairville 44, Chandlers 17
AdMS (44) Zane Batten 18, Chandler Snorton 8, Jack Delaney 6, Ryan Rayno 4, Corbiin Rayno 2, Jake Regan 2, Jayven Chester 2, Gavin Ward 2, Seth Graves, Elijah Woodard, Ridge Holman, Jeremiah Washington, Kade Robertson
CMS (17) Travis Kodiak 6, Jayden Blick 4, Mason Brown 3, Logan Gidcumb 2, Hayden Brewer 2, Nick Blann, Dylan Joliceouer, D.J. Sears, Connor Blair, Kaden Switzer, Lawton Plumlee
The LoJo
Both teams struggled to score in the first quarter with Auburn leading 4-0 at the first stop, but the Tigers turned on the offense in the second quarter to lead Olmstead 21-0 at the half. The Rams found the goal in the third quarter, scoring 10 points. Auburn advanced to the finals with a 44-14 win.
The Tigers hit a pair of 3-pointers in both the second and third quarters. Tanner Robinson sank two of them on the way to a game-high 10 points. Landyn Gorrell hit a trey and scored 7 of his 9 points in the second quarter. The other 3-pointer was by Chance Sweeney on the way to 7 points.
Clay Warden hit 3 of 6 free throws and scored 5 points. The only other Tiger free throws were shot by Sweeney, who hit both tries.
Coach Hall went deep into his bench. Ten Tigers tallied points.
Ryland Nichols led Coach Drew Teel’s Rams with 6 points. Thomas Myers and Hayden Strader each hit a 3-pointer, and Harper Butler scored the other two points.
Score by Quarters: 1) AuMS 4-0, 2) 21-0, 3) 37-10, Final) Auburn 45, Olmstead 14
AuMS (45) Tanner Robinson 10, Landyn Gorrell 9, Chance Sweeney 7, Clay Warden 5, Isaac Stanley 4, Kade Wall 2, Brayden Bond 2, Braden Engler 2, Clifton Faughn 2, Colby Collins 2, Jacob Haas, Devin Yates
OMS (14) Ryland Nichols 6, Hayden Strader 3, Thomas Myer 3, Harper Butler 2, Dawson Wilson, Tripp Washington, Tobey Sydnor, Zach Krohn, Evan Dana, Charlie Myers
First Round
Defending champion Lewisburg’s Brady Hinton provided the drama but Chandlers got the 43-38 win in the number four-five game earlier in the week.
Hinton found himself in the utmost pressure situation, as he was fouled shooting a 3-pointer at the regulation buzzer. With his dad/coach Brent Hinton alternating between pacing and holding his breath, young Brady sank all three foul shots to force an overtime.
One OT proved to be insufficient. Each team scored 9 points in the first overtime.
Chandlers took over the second extra period, especially at the foul line. Travis Kodiak, who scored a tournament-high 25 points, hit 8 of 16 free throws in the overtimes. Otherwise, the Bears managed to get only 5 of 29 freebies to fall. Jayden Blick scored 4 of his five points in extra time, including a 3-pointer. Kodiak also hit a trey in the first overtime. Hayden Brewer scored 8 points in the win for Coach Nick Suttlte’s Bears.
The Rangers could have won the game at the line. Even though Hinton hit those three free throws in the clutch, he had missed his first four. And even though Elijah Houchens led LMS with 18 points, he went 4 of 12 at the stripe. The Rangers went 9 of 28 for the game.
Hinton and Keyton Jenkins each scored 6 points for the Rangers.
Score by Quarters: 1) CMS 7-6, 2) LMS 13-12, 3) CMS 20-19, 4) 24-24, 1st OT) 33-33, Final) Chandlers 43, Lewisburg 38
CMS (43) Tony Kodiak 25, Hayden Brewer 8, Jayden Blick 5, Mason Brown 3, Lawton Plumlee 2, Nick Blann, Logan Gidcumb, Kadin Switzer
LMS (38) Elijah Houchens 18, Brady Hinton 6, Keyton Jenkins 6, Isaac Christian 3, Lane Atkinson 3, Montgomery Milam 2, Nicholas Thomas, Bentley Brown, Christian Stokes