Bullock County vs. Central Coosa

Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center – Birmingham, AL

Bullock County hoopsters makes school history
Cedrick Peebles earns MVP honors

Birmingham, AL - The Bullock County H.S. boys basketball team made school history Friday evening in the Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center when they held off a stubborn Central Coosa team 45-40 to capture the boys Class 4A State Championship. The championship was the first state championship in any sport for Bullock County High School.

The Bullock County faithful were fired up right from the start and you could tell that the players felt the energy, Anthony Pendleton drained 2 quick jumpers for the Hornets as they jumped out to a quick 8-2 lead. The Hornets full-court press swarmed all over the Cougars in the early part of the quarter forcing Head Coach Joe Belyeu to burn a couple of timeouts.

When the Cougars were able to get the ball across half-court they put the ball in the hands of guard Roderick Murray who drilled a long three-pointer to put his team right back in the hunt cutting the lead to 10-7.

The inside play of Cedric Peebles and Courtney Mack was the difference in the first quarter, Pebbles scored a pair of hoops on put-backs to put Bullock County up 16-9 at the end of the first quarter.

Central Coosa settled down in the second quarter and started doing a little board crashing themselves, especially power-forward Joe Russell. A 6-0 run spearheaded by a pair of hoops each from Russell and Murray pulled the Cougars to within two, 22-20 heading into the half.

The game remained close in the third period as the team became more deliberate in their play.

With just over 5:00 minutes left in the quarter the Cougars took their first lead 29-26 on a three-pointer by Murray. A few moments later Bullock County tied the score as Peebles drilled a three. Mack scored the last four points of the third quarter to put the Hornets back in front 35-31.

The action got real tense in the forth quarter, Bullock County would start to seize control but the Cougars would claw their way back into the game. With 4:16 left on the clock Russell scored again inside to tie the game at 37-37.

A 6-0 run by the Hornets made the score 43-37 with 3:00 minutes to go, giving them a little breathing room but again the Cougars would fight back. A three-pointer by Jamorral McKinney cut the lead to 43-40 with just under 1:00 minute left in the game.

Down the stretch Central Coosa made a couple of critical turnovers and they took some bad shots that ultimately did them in. Pendleton made a pair of free-throws for Bullock County to seal the deal as the Hornets held on to capture their first Class 4A State Championship.

Cedric Peebles scored 15 points and was named the tournaments “Most Valuable Player”. Peebles along with Courtney Mack and Central Coosa’s Roderick Murray and Joe Russell were named to the All-Tournament Team.

The Final Score: Bullock County 45 – Central Coosa 40.

Scoring Recap

	Bullock County		Total	3-pt		Rebs
No.	Player	p	fgm-fga	fgm-fga	ftm-fta	off-def	tot	pf	tp	a	to	blk	stl
04	PENDLETON, Anthony	*	2-4	0-0	2-2	3-2	5	1	6	3	0	0	1
23	PETERSON, Tremayne	*	2-4	0-0	2-3	3-1	4	0	6	3	1	0	0
33	TARVER, James	*	1-7	0-2	0-0	4-3	7	1	2	2	1	1	0
35	MACK, Courtney	*	6-11	0-0	2-3	4-4	8	3	14	1	2	1	2
42	PEEBLES, Cedric	*	7-18	1-9	0-0	2-3	5	2	15	0	2	0	1
10	PEEBLES, Che'rod	-	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-1	1	0	0	0	1	0	1
12	LAMPLEY, Danaurio	-	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
21	MOORE, Lionel	-	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	2	0	0	1	0	0
50	WASHINGTON, Michael	-	1-1	0-0	0-0	1-0	1	0	2	0	0	0	0
	Team Totals:	-	19-45	1-11	6-8	19-14	33	9	45	9	8	2	5
	Central Coosa		Total	3-pt		Rebs
No.	Player	p	fgm-fga	fgm-fga	ftm-fta	off-def	tot	pf	tp	a	to	blk	stl
12	Latravious Whetstone	*	0-2	0-2	0-0	1-2	3	1	0	3	1	0	2
14	Roderick Murray	*	8-19	2-8	1-2	0-2	2	2	19	4	2	0	1
22	Torey Jones	*	0-1	0-1	0-0	0-0	0	3	0	0	0	0	1
34	Jamorral McKinney	*	1-4	1-2	0-0	2-2	4	1	3	1	1	0	1
40	Joe Russell	*	8-12	0-0	2-2	2-2	4	4	18	0	0	1	0
20	Achilles Flowers	-	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-1	1	1	0	2	1	0	0
	Team Totals:	-	17-38	3-13	3-4	7-9	16	12	40	10	6	1	5