BIRMINGHAM&045;Cold shooting was the difference in the Wilcox-Central Jaguars season ending loss to the top ranked 5A Athens Golden Eagles, 75-58.

“The ball just wouldn’t fall for us,” Jaguars coach Mark Dukes said of his teams attempt to repeat as 5A champions. The Jaguars shot just 33% from the field in the game.

Wilcox-Central fell behind early after making only one shot in 11 field goal attempts in the opening quarter.

Athens took advantage and jumped out to a 17-5 first quarter lead.

It was pretty much all Athens the rest of the game. The Jags got as close as four late in the third quarter when they went on a 10-2 run to cut the deficit 49-45.

Athens followed with a run of their own by scoring seven straight points to end the quarter. They held a double digit lead the rest of the game.

“Athen’s had a great game plan and executed well,” added Dukes, after the game, “but I’m proud of my team. And I’m proud of the way they’ve played all season.&uot;

The season ends the high school basketball career of McDonald’s high school All-American Michael Williams.

“I really enjoyed my career at Wilcox-Central”, said Williams who scored 15 points in the game, “It’s now time to move on to the next level, which is Texas.”

Junior Allen Crumpton dropped in 12 points for the Jaguars.

Junior Yamene Coleman grabbed 13 rebounds to go with his 10 points.

Tank Beavers, of the Golden Eagles poured in a game high 27 points. Richard Hendrix pulled down 17 rebounds and scored 13 points.