Selma to play Wilcox Central in Saturday’s championship game

Published 7:40 pm Wednesday, February 23, 2011

MOBILE — Faith Academy needed less than two minutes to score the game’s first six points against Selma on Wednesday afternoon.

After that, it looked like the Selma defense covered the rim with a lid in the 50-43 win.

Selma (23-8) opened in a man-to-man defense, but Kyle Cumlander nailed a baseline jumper on the Rams’ first possession and point guard Petey McClain converted an old-fashioned 3-point play just 18 seconds later.

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When Chris Casher swished a free throw with 6:14 to go in the opening period, Faith (22-9) led 6-0. Selma head coach Woodie Jackson then switched to a zone defense — using a 2-3 and 1-3-1 — and the move stymied Faith for the rest of the game.

Faith finished the first quarter with 11 points, had 15 at the half and 21 at the end of the third. Jackson’s defensive game plan was simple — prevent the 6-foot-4 Casher from getting the ball in the paint and limit McClain’s penetration. If the Saints could do that, Faith would be forced to settle for jump shots. That’s exactly what happened, as Casher scored 5 points and took only 6 shots.

“We didn’t shoot the ball well, either,” Jackson said, “but in the end we had enough to win. We had enough stops and hit the boards well enough to get the win.”

Faith finally made some shots in the fourth quarter — getting 3-pointers from McClain, Ethan Hancock and Aaron Alexander. But the Rams could get no closer than 45-41, and the Saints made 9-of-12 at the free throw line in the final 1:27.

Malcolm Riley led Selma with 14 points, while Tarvaska Rivers added 13.

Selma advances to play area rival Wilcox-Central in Saturday night’s championship game.