BNI Newswire

GREENVILLE &045; Morgan Academy coach David Walker knew that if his team committed 30 turnovers like it did against Fort Dale Academy in the opening round of the Class AAA West Area 4 Tournament, that he would be coming home with a runner-up trophy.

So the gameplan was simple.

Cut down on the turnovers and play good defense.

The Senators (9-11) did both and came away with a convincing 44-23 victory over Monroe Academy to capture the area tournament title.

Morgan Academy limited the Volunteers (16-9) to just 8 second-half points en route to the win.

Good rebounding was a by-product of Monroe’s poor shooting. As a team, the senators grabbed 43 boards. Blake South and Ben Callaway were responsible for 10 rebounds each while John Porter pulled down eight.

After battling to a 9-all stalemate in the first period, Morgan edged ahead by hitting timely field goals and holding Monroe scoreless for the last three minutes before intermission.

John Porter and Weston Mason drained back-to-back buckets in the final three minutes to give the Senators a 22-15 cushion at the half.

From there, the wheels just fell off for Monroe.

The Volunteers could not buy as basket for the entire second half. Monroe managed to hit its only field goal in the final period with 1:47 left to play.

Rett Rivers led the Senators with 14 points, including three clutch 3-pointers in the first half to keep Morgan in the game. Rivers was also selected to the All-Tournament team, along with teammate Will Summerlin.

Porter added nine and tournament most valuable player Blake South added seven.

Trent Dawson was one of just three Volunteers to earn an entry in the scorebook. Dawson led Monroe with 10 points, while Todd Kilpatrick had eight.

Morgan now awaits its opponent in the regional tournament, which will be played a Huntingdon College. The Senators will face their opponent at 8 p.m. Saturday.