HANCEVILLE, Ala. – After fending off Athens Bible in the Sweet 16 last week, the Meek Tigers were back on the court Monday to face the Lions of Hubbertville in the Elite Eight. Meek trailed by 10 at halftime and continued to battle back in the second half but the Tigers couldn’t come up with enough on the offensive end to keep pace with Hubbertville, bringing another impressive postseason run to an end with a 69-56 loss in the Elite Eight.
A pair of Parker Ferguson baskets gave Meek an early, 4-3 lead and Evan McCay buried a three to keep the Tigers ahead 7-5 later as the quarter went on. A 7-0 run from Hubbertville gave the Lions a 12-7 lead later midway through the period but Briley Bowling laid one in to stop the run and make it a 12-9 game. Ryan Ewing scored a pair of baskets to hold the Hubbertville lead to 17-13 with one minute to play in the first quarter and McCay drove to the rim for another bucket to bring the lead down to 17-15 going into the second quarter.
Another Bowling basket made it a 19-17 game early in the second, but the Lions responded with a 10-2 scoring run to move out in front 29-19 with three minutes to play in the first half. A pair of McCay free throws trimmed the lead to 29-21 later in the period and another Ferguson basket held it to 31-23 but Hubbertville scored one more time in the final minute to take a 10-point lead into the locker room at halftime.
Baskets by Ewing and Bowling cut the lead to 42-27 early in the third quarter. McCay scored the next five points for the Tigers to make it a 44-32 game midway through the period. Bowling split a pair of free throws and added a basket in the paint to bring the lead down to 46-35 and McCay laid another one in to make it a 9-point game with a minute remaining in the third. However, the Lions capped the third quarter with a 7-0 scoring run to stretch their lead to 53-37 at the start of the fourth.
Ferguson scored the first 5 points of the fourth quarter to trim the lead to 53-42 and Conner Lane hit a pair of free throws to make it 53-44 with six minutes to play. Brady Baxter and Lane both knocked down three-pointers to hold the lead at 59-50 later in the fourth and two more Ferguson baskets made it a 62-54 game with three minutes remaining. Another Ewing basket made it 64-56 with just over a minute on the clock but Meek couldn’t chip away any more than that and Hubbertville held on to win it 69-56.
Ferguson (six rebounds) led the Tigers with 17 points in the loss. McCay posted 14 points, Bowling added nine points and 10 boards and Ewing recorded eight points and five rebounds.
Parker Ferguson and Evan McCay each earned Northwest Regional All-Tournament team honors.
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