On their home court Tuesday night, the Patriots upset top seeded Danville 60-57 in the finals of the Morgan County tournament to win their first county title in 14 years.
“I was a junior on that team in 2010,” said Brewer head coach Matthew Crowe. “It’s been 14 years, and this is an incredible thing for our program.
Trailing 57-55 with under a minute to go, Jackson Dunn stepped up to be the hero Brewer needed.
With 40 seconds left, the junior swished a go-ahead 3-pointer that proved to be the game winner.
“We were down by two, and I knew we needed a shot. I pulled the trigger, and it went in,” Dunn said.
Brewer had to overcome a deficit to pull out the win, as Danville stayed in control nearly the entire game. The Hawks led 20-16 after the first quarter, 34-28 at halftime and 47-44 after three quarters.
Brewer never panicked.
“We knew the hole that we were in there,” said junior Austyn Holmes. “We knew if we just sat down and played some defense, eventually we’d get the shot that we needed.”
Holmes led the team with 22 points and was name the tournament’s MVP. Cason Oden added 18 points for the Patriots, while AJ Holladay led Danville with a game high 24 points.
Holmes, Dunn and Holladay as well as Nathan West (Danville), Ben Ellenburg (Danville), Dawson Fowler (Falkville), Caden Butler (Falkville), Jay Garland (West Morgan) Jalen Fletcher (West Morgan ), Sammy Holmes (Priceville ) and Luke Hood (Priceville) were named to the all-tournament team.
With the team’s first county championship in 14 years now in hand, Crowe said the future looks bright for Brewer boys basketball.
“We have a lot of young guys, and we’re moving in the right direction. This feels like just the beginning of an exciting time for us,” Crowe said.
Priceville girls win third straight title
Just two years ago, Priceville was the plucky underdog team winning the school’s first Morgan County championship for girls. Now, after winning their third consecutive championship, the Bulldogs are the gold standard for girls basketball in the county.
“I’ll be honest with you, this is special and something I wanted really bad,” said Priceville head coach Terrie Nelson. “What’s crazy is my seniors, this is their sixth in the row going back to middle school. They’ve never lost.”
Priceville put on a dominant showing to win its third title Tuesday night, defeating Falkville 62-22.
The Bulldogs led just 9-8 after the first quarter but outscored the Blue Devils 21-2 in the second to take a 30-10 lead at halftime. By the end of the third quarter, they led comfortably, 49-16.
Abby Langlois scored 14 points for Priceville. The sophomore was named the tournament’s MVP.
“I have a lot of emotions right now. I’m very happy,” Langlois said at the thought of her name being next to a long line of great players who have been named MVP. “I have to give a lot of credit to my teammates because they helped me get this.”
Lillyan Bloodworth led Priceville with 17 points, while Ashlyn Johnson added 13. Ellie Cate Hill and Leah Pearce each had six for Falkville.
Priceville’s Lillyan Bloodworth shoots against Falkville during the 2024 Morgan County tournament final at Brewer High School on Tuesday. Photo by Jeronimo Nisa.
Langlois, Johnson, Pearce and Hill, along with CJ Nelson (Priceville), Gracin Prater (Priceville), Abbey Grace Tomlin (Falkville), Jordyn Free (West Morgan), Haniyah Standridge (West Morgan), Adily Alberti (Danville), Madalyn Mccreless (Danville), Khloe Grandtstaff (Brewer) and Lilly Yancey (Brewer) were named to the all-tournament team.
After Priceville won the county championship a season ago, the Bulldogs made a run to the state finals in Class 4A. They’re hoping something similar is in the cards for this year.
“We’re hoping history repeats itself,” Nelson said.
