Lake Taylor regains command of district rivalry with defense
Lake Taylor gave up two early scores in the first quarter before the third-ranked Titans turned up the defensive pressure.
Once they did, they held No. 2 Maury scoreless the rest of the way as they came from behind to upset the visiting Commodores 27-14 in a pivotal Eastern District showdown.
Both teams came in as defending state champions, with Maury winning the Class 5 title and Lake Taylor the Class 4 title.
The Titans (2-0) hadn’t forgotten the 49-7 loss to Maury in 2019 that helped give the Commodores the Eastern District title. The Titans had won at least a share of the past eight championships.
That loss was definitely on the Titans’ minds.
But Maury struck first. On its first play from scrimmage, Eric “EJ” Gibson threw a 62-yard touchdown pass to Emmanuel Whitehead to give the Commodores a 7-0 lead.
Lake Taylor answered quickly when running back Chuck Fisher broke free for a 70-yard touchdown run to tie the game.
With 9:06 left in the first quarter, the Commodores scored again, this time with their other quarterback, Ahmarian Granger. He went 43 yards for a touchdown to give Maury a 14-7 lead.
Lake Taylor tied the game with 5:31 left in the second quarter on quarterback Jeffrey Foster’s 12-yard touchdown pass to Darious Speight.
The Titans took the lead later in the second quarter when defensive back Camauri Hunter intercepted Gibson and returned it 42 yards for a touchdown and a 21-14 halftime advantage.
“No one likes to play from behind,” Lake Taylor coach Hank Sawyer said. “Once we tied the game, it seemed like the whole team settled in better. Of course, when we took the lead, we were definitely OK.”
The Titans added to their lead in the third quarter. They got the ball to start the second half and marched 66 yards on 10 plays, capped by Foster’s 6-yard touchdown run. The drive took five minutes.
The Commodores’ offense couldn’t get going in the second half, thanks to Lake Taylor. The Titans kept constant pressure on Gibson and forced him to throw three interceptions.
“We were able to make some adjustments,” Sawyer said. “Sometimes, we would bring pressure and then sometimes we would ease up. We tried to mess up his timing and his tempo.”
Sawyer said it was important to maintain possession, especially against a team as talented as Maury.
“We were playing too much defense,” he said. “It takes more energy to play defense because teams are moving the ball on you. Offense is fun. We tried to pick up first downs to keep the defense off the field.”
David Duke made a tiebreaking tip-in with 2.8 seconds left on Saturday, and Providence held on after blowing a 20-point lead to beat No. 10 Villanova 54-52.
Jeremiah Robinson-Earl had an open look at a 3-point try after a long inbounds pass, but the shot hit the front of the rim, and the buzzer sounded before Jermaine Samuels tipped it in.
Already without point guard Collin Gillespie, who tore his MCL on Wednesday, the Big East champion Wildcats lost backup Justin Moore to an ankle injury in the first half.
Duke and Nate Watson scored 20 points apiece, and Noah Horchler had 10 points and 13 rebounds for Providence (13-12, 9-10 Big East). The Friars have won five of their last seven games against ranked teams.
Samuels scored 16 of his 21 points in the second half, making back-to-back layups to start a 14-2 run and adding the last five points of the rally that gave the Wildcats (16-5, 11-4) a 50-49 lead with less than three minutes left.
Wildcats in trouble: Arizona has released the Notice of Allegations it received from the NCAA last fall, which includes five Level I violations.
The school released the notice Friday after a judge this week ruled in favor of a lawsuit filed by ESPN.
The charges include a lack of institutional control by the men’s basketball and swimming programs, and unethical behavior by assistant basketball coach Emanuel Richardson for accepting $20,000 in bribes.
Purdue continues dominance over Indiana:
Zach Edey scored 20 points and Jaden Ivey added 17 as No. 23 Purdue beat Indiana 67-58 for its ninth straight win in the in-state rivalry, the Boilermakers’ best run in the series since John Wooden played for them.
The Boilermakers beat Indiana nine in a row from 1929-35 boosted by Wooden, a star player who went on to coaching fame. Purdue beat the Hoosiers a school-record 12 straight from 1908-14.
Krutwig leads Loyola: Cameron Krutwig had 18 points and 11 rebounds, and No. 22 Loyola Chicago beat Indiana State 65-49 on Saturday to advance to the Missouri Valley Conference tournament final.
Krutwig also had four assists and blocked three shots. Fellow senior Lucas Williamson scored 14 points for the Ramblers (23-4), and Keith Clemons had 12.
Indiana State (15-10) shot 38.5% (20 for 52) from the field. The Sycamores beat Loyola 76-71 on Jan. 10, but they fell behind early Saturday and never caught up.
Alabama bounces back: Herbert Jones had two baskets in a 9-0 run to open the second half that gave No. 8 Alabama the lead, and the SEC champion Crimson Tide beat Georgia 89-79 on Saturday.
Jahvon Quinerly led five Alabama scorers in double figures with 18 points. John Petty Jr. had 15 and Jaden Shackelford finished with 14.
Alabama (21-6, 16-2) matched its school record for Southeastern Conference wins in the 1986-87 season. The Crimson Tide will take a three-game winning streak into next week’s SEC tournament in Tennessee.
No Cunningham, no problem: Minus star freshman Cade Cunningham, No. 17 Oklahoma State still found some momentum going into the postseason.
Sophomore Avery Anderson III scored a career-high 31 points and the Cowboys, with Cunningham sitting out the regular-season finale because of a sprained ankle, beat No. 6 West Virginia 85-80 on Saturday.