ADDISON, Ala. – Addison hosted the Shoals Christian Flame for the right to advance to the Northwest Regional Saturday night and the game did not go as planned as the Flame came out and roasted the Bulldogs on their own floor 84-59.
Shoals Christian came out on fire as they jumped out to a 6-0 lead and then extended that to 12-3 with still 4:24 to go in the first period. The Flame play a five-guard lineup which is uncommon but due to their guards’ above average skill set it more than fit the bill. The Shoals players, especially Clark Hughes, surprisingly held their own against the bigger Bulldogs. Hughes led all rebounders in the first period with six. Shoals put intense pressure on the Bulldogs ball handlers and without their starting point guard, Jed Wilkins, who has been out for a month with an injury, the young Addison guards just couldn’t keep up.
The Flame won the period 26-12 and it wasn’t a fluke. Shoals is probably the most fundamentally sound team Addison has played all year. Their crisp passes and lights out shooting from three led to many easy layups throughout the game. Addison’s young big man Kiah Lake led the Dawgs with 6 points and 3 rebounds. Bulldog senior Jacob McLamb led the Dawgs with 4 boards. The Flame were led in scoring by Danny King with 10 points, while Hughes and Isaiah Shaw each had 6 points.
The second period didn’t get any better as Shoals Christian ran away with it by the score of 22-10 to take a 48-22 lead into the half. During the period, Addison made a run cutting a twenty-point lead down to fourteen, 34-20. Bradley Willette and Lake each had a basket in the paint and McLamb hit two free throws for Addison but that only reignited the Flame who then scored ten straight points to basically ice the game. Willette led Addison with 4 points in the period. Shoals Christian’s Shaw had 10 points to lead the Flame. King, J.D. Bachofer and D.J. Shanes each had 4 for Shoals. The Flame couldn’t miss in the first half as they probably shot over 60% from three-point land and made a ton of first half lay-ups.
Addison didn’t give up and did play better in the second half, but it just wasn’t enough. The third period had each team scoring 23 points, so Shoals Christian led 71-45 going into the fourth frame. McLamb led Addison with 8 points while 8th grader Scout Flynn had 6 points. McLamb led Addison with 3 rebounds. King led Shoals with 7 points while Shaw had 5. Bachofer and Sam Storie each had 2 boards for the Flame.
Addison took some consolation by winning the final period 14-13 but lost the game pretty convincingly, 84-59. McLamb led Addison with 6 points in his final high school game while Willette, Elijah Roberts and Senior Hayden Holland had 2 boards apiece. Shoals Christian was led by King’s 8 points while Storie and King each had 2 rebounds.
Addison had a very successful season, winning their area and posting 17 wins on the year. The Bulldogs bring back a ton of experience next year, but they will need to replace a good outside shooter in Senior Jacob McLamb and Senior Hayden Holland who does the dirty work down low and brings a football mentality to the paint.
Addison Head Coach Scott Flynn,
“We just ran into a team that shot lights out and outplayed us tonight. They just didn’t miss. The five-guard lineup gave us a little trouble, but I felt like we played okay. It is just hard to win when the other team shoots as well as Shoals did tonight.”
Addison concludes their successful season on a disappointing note while Shoals Christian will move on and play the winner of the Belgreen/Lynn matchup.
Unofficial stats
Addison was led in scoring by McLamb with 17 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and a block. Flynn had 13 points, 4 boards and 2 steals. Willette had 12 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists and a block. Lake had 8 points and 4 boards. Roberts had 6 points, 3 boards and 3 assists. Holland had 2 points, 3 boards, 1 assist and 1 steal. Kaden Dyson had 1 point, 2 boards and a steal. Owen Pratt had 2 boards and a steal. Cole Rodgers had a steal.
Shoals was led by King with a game high 29 points and 3 boards. Shaw had 21 points and 4 boards. Hughes had 14 points and 8 points. Bachofer had 8 points and 3 rebounds. Storie had 4 points and 5 rebounds. D.J. Shanes and Ashland Husainy had 4 points apiece. Rylan Pettus had 2 rebounds.
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