AHSAA 6A, Area 13 hoops at Bearcat Arena:
Jasper 13 15 15 13 - 56 (19 & 6, 4 & 0)
Cullman 14 10 19 11 - 54 (19 & 5, 2 & 2)
Cullman: Sam Dorough 19, Brooks Loftin 16, Gray Hopper 8, Owen Graves 3, Bryce Burden 2, Colt Fletcher 3, Everett Swindall 3.
Jasper: Braylen Johnson 20, Caden Steiner 14, Keegan Keeton 11.
GDW Analysis:
An overflow crowd witnessed an intense battle that decided the setup of the 6A, Area 13 tournament.
Jasper's comeback at Bearcat Arena in the final period featured the Vikings and 'Cats exchanging the lead on the scoreboard at least half a dozen times down in crunch time.
But an issue Cullman had will seal the Bearcats' doom.
Cullman missed 5 FTs in the final period.
Dorough, the leading scorer for Stu Stuedeman, was only 8 of 13 at the stripe in the game.
Lofton, the man in the post for the 'Cats, failed to connect on three attempts in the final minute.
The 'Cats were called for two FT lane violations in trying to deliberately miss the attempt and get the rebound.
Johnson was good for the Vikings from the line in the 4th, making 5 of 6. He had more points at the line in the 2nd half (5) than he had in FGs (4) for the Vikings to complete the sweep of the Bearcats.
Photo of Cullman's Bryce Burden (21) trying to stop Jasper's Brayton Dickerson from scoring in a game at Carl Cannon Coliseum January 13.
Photo courtesy of the Daily Mountain Eagle.
