Saints’ season ends in loss
Published 12:00 am Sunday, February 20, 2005
Auburn High School’s boys had been in this position the past two years, with one huge exception – they were on the road.
This time, the Tigers were in front of a raucous crowd of supporters with a trip to Troy on the line in the sub-region playoffs. And they took advantage.
Auburn advanced to the Class 6A region finals behind a stellar second half, finishing with a 62-56 win over Selma at the Auburn Fieldhouse.
“We reminded them of the bitter taste that was still in their mouth from last year against Carver (a 54-49 sub-region loss),” Auburn coach Frank Tolbert said. “The whole team stepped up in the second half. They never gave up and kept playing hard.”
Forward Tyler Cannon had a big night for the Tigers, hitting four 3-pointers and finishing with 15 points.
“This is my first time going to Troy,” Cannon said. “It felt great to hit those 3s, but I wish I could have done more.
“But it still feels good right now and we hope we can keep this going and go far in the tournament.”
Auburn and its raucous crowd were stunned at halftime. Selma went to the locker room carrying a load of momentum after a 7-0 run in the final 53 seconds of the first half gave the Saints a 35-30 lead.
Selma appeared to keep the momentum early in the third, as Malcom Crittenden got a tip-in to start the second-half scoring.
But Auburn snatched the momentum away, and got its crowd back into the game as Durrell Baker, Cannon and Asim McQueen scored consecutive baskets to cut Selma’s lead to just one point, 37-36.
Quindell Pernell put the Saints back up by three, but McQueen made it a one-point game and Cannon gave the Tigers the lead with a rainbow 3-pointer at the 4:54 mark of the third quarter, making the score 41-39.
The Saints retook the lead with a 6-2 spurt, but Cannon buried another trey with 2:30 left to give the Tigers a one-point lead, and Tilmon Holloway followed with a 3-pointer with 12 seconds left to extend the advantage to four points.
The consecutive treys started a game-busting 16-2 run that stretched deep into the fourth quarter.