By Joe Medley, East Alabama Sports Today
JACKSONVILLE — Grant Smith wasn’t born the last time Glencoe’s boys’ basketball team played in a Final Four.
That reality the Glencoe center and his teammates had just earned their way in hadn’t quite set in Tuesday, minutes after the Yellow Jackets beat Piedmont 77-63 in the Class 3A Northeast Regional final in Pete Mathews Coliseum.
“I know we’re going to do good,” Smith said. “It’s just surreal, because I’ve never been on a big stage like this.”
Most valuable player Garrett Morgan led four Yellow Jackets (25-7) in double figures with 20 points Tuesday, and they did, indeed, punch their ticket to Birmingham. They will play the Montgomery Academy-Lee-Scott Academy winner on Feb. 25 at 1:30 p.m. in Legacy Arena.
Glencoe earned its first Final Four shot since 2000.
It’s a first for all of Glencoe’s players, but Glencoe coach Ryan Chambless has experienced it as a player for Alexandria and a coach. He led Jacksonville’s girls to two Final Fours, including their run to the Class 4A state title.
“I can’t think of a group I’ve coached that’s more deserving of this honor,” Chambless said. “I’m extremely proud of them.”
Glencoe also got 16 points apiece from Smith and Wade Segrest, who joined Morgan on the all-tournament team, and 11 from Jayden Patton.
It was enough to overcome a 28-point outburst from Piedmont’s Ishmael Bethel, who hit two of his 3-pointers in back-to-back possessions to close the gap to 68-62 with two minutes to play. Rollie Pinto added 14 points, and Colton Proctor scored 12.
Bethel and Pinto made the all-tournament team, and Piedmont finished 19-9.
The Bulldogs and Yellow Jackets battled four times this season, with Piedmont sweeping the regular season and earning the right to play host to the area tournament. Glencoe won the area and regional title games.
“They’re a great basketball team,” Piedmont coach Matt Glover said. “The other two teams in our area, Ohatchee and Westbrook (Christian), were good teams, also, so it was a tough area. It was a grind all the way through it, and they played a better game than us today.”
Glencoe shot 64.3 percent (27 of 42) from the floor Tuesday, hitting nine of 18 3-pointers.
The Yellow Jackets also held Piedmont to 41.3 percent shooting, including a 2-for-14 slump in the third quarter. Glencoe outscored Piedmont 18-5 in the third quarter to lead 48-35 going into the fourth.
The Bulldogs were 4-for-20 on 3-pointers.
“They do a good job of making you attack and hit your twos, and they really don’t help off of us to let us shoot the threes,” Glover said. “I think that’s his game plan the last two times.”
Tuesday’s game marked the high school finales for Piedmont’s four seniors, Bethel, Proctor, Cole Wilson and Noah Farmer.
Bethel called Piedmont’s season “impressive.”
“We came a long way, obviously,” he said. “It showed tonight. We fought all the way through the fourth quarter. We got cold, but towards the end, I didn’t see none of my teammates holding their heads down. That’s what I’m grateful for.
“I’m proud to play with them.”
