Vigor coach Lee Riley accepts the Blue Map after his Wolves beat Sylacauga 59-49 to win the Class 5A state championship Saturday at Legacy Arena in Birmingham. (Helen Joyce/Call News)
Vigor’s Aslan Jones goes up for a shot against Sylacauga in the Class 5A finals. Jones was named the tournament MVP after scoring 11 points Saturday and 30 in two games in Birmingham. (Helen Joyce/Call News)
Vigor’s Jermaine Tate goes through traffic to the basket Saturday against Sylacauga. Tate scored 13 points. (Helen Joyce/Call News)
Vigor’s Devan Whitsett drives up court during Saturday’s Class 5A finals against Sylacauga. Whitsett scored 13 points. (Helen Joyce/Call News)
By JIMMY WIGFIELD
BIRMINGHAM — The tight rims that demanded perfection or otherwise spat out shots, the vastness of Legacy Arena that made those rims hard to pick out of a crowd and the horrific thoughts of avoiding a second straight loss in the state finals did not matter to Vigor on Saturday.
Instead, the Wolves put on a stark fourth-period clinic on the basics of winning a state championship.
Vigor’s relentless full-court pressure got under Sylacauga’s skin in the first half, then ripped gaping wounds in the Aggies in the fourth period to provide some daylight, and the Wolves made 14 of 15 free throws in the final eight minutes to pull away for a 59-49 victory and deliver to the school its first basketball Blue Map.
“This year, it seemed like a whirlwind,” said Vigor’s first-year coach Lee Riley, who admitted it took time for he and his players to mesh but concluded the season with an 11-game winning streak. “It got really, really tough at times but these guys are here to pick me up just like I picked them up. For a first-year coach to win, it’s a blessing. They had my back and we just stayed open to each other.”
Aside from a third-period wobble, the Wolves (21-9) had a loose grip on the game from the outset but strangled the Aggies (31-4) in the fourth period for a decisive victory to break Sylacauga’s 13-game winning streak in a championship final between two unranked teams.
Jermaine Tate and Devin Whitsett scored 13 points each, tournament MVP Aslan Jones added 11 and Ke’Viasz Malone — who made 8 of 8 free throws in the fourth period — added 10 points from Vigor’s exceedingly deep bench.
The Wolves, who lost to Fairfield 69-65 in last year’s finals, had led for all but 34 seconds in the first half but Sylacauga caught up in the third period to take a 29-26 lead before what became a significant media time out.
On the bench, Riley and his assistants conferred about what to do to regain the momentum but his players had already decided what must happen.
“These guys throughout the year have always had another gear,” Riley said. “I knew in the third quarter I didn’t see that gear yet.”
As Riley approached the players’ huddle during the timeout, he heard a lot of intensity, confidence and decisiveness.
“I was hearing a lot of good things,” he said. “I think it had nothing to do with (the coaches). It was just them believing in each other.”
Jones went to Riley with a straightforward request: “Coach, turn me loose.”
Suddenly, the Aggies felt they were trying to maneuver in wet concrete and comb wasps out of their hair. Vigor’s trapping press forced five turnovers in the third period, four more in the fourth and 19 in all as the Wolves’ steady foot on Sylacauga’s throat finally choked the Aggies, who were outscored 18-5 off turnovers.
“The third quarter, our press was really stagnant,” Riley said. “It was more just slowing them down. I wanted steals out of it, so I told the guys, ‘Hey, quit worrying about the fouls. Just fly around. We can’t take them home, so just go play.’ And when I turned those guys loose and tell them to fly around and they go out and execute, that’s beautiful for us.”
Jones, a defensive back who signed with Arkansas State, was a modern-day kamikaze with four steals.
“Aslan picked it up and didn’t worry about fouls,” Riley said. “He was all over the place. That makes it easy when you’ve got a guy like that who’s itching to go get the ball. You’ve just got to learn how to control him. But after I let him go, he really set the tone for it.”
Jones knew Vigor’s defense would gain the inevitable triumph as the Wolves shot only 32% from the field (17 of 53). But Vigor made 13 of 27 layups, most of them off 16 steals, and outscored Sylacauga 22-14 off the fast break. In two games at the state tournament, the Wolves had 35 steals and scored 52 points off turnovers.
“I’m a defensive-minded coach,” Riley said. “When I came in, I told them off the rip, ‘Hey, I know you guys can score but can you play defense and can you play it the right way?’ So, that’s been my challenge with them all year, making sure they can play defense the right way and they started to buy into it, started to believe in what I was saying. It showed that I kind of knew what I was talking about, so they took it and ran with it. We have a lot of steals and we’ve impressed a lot of people.”
Out of the pivotal third-period time out, Jones couldn’t wait to get on the court and prove that defense wins championships.
“Our defense is gonna make up for our offense,” he said. “We mostly work on defense at practice, so that’s what we do the most and that’s what’s gonna get our points.”
Tate, who made five 3-pointers in a 71-53 rout of Guntersville in the semifinals, conjured an old-fashioned three-point play to give Vigor the lead for good at 35-33 late in the third period and often closed the traps that Jones set.
“As soon as they went to the trap zone in the corner, we trapped,” said Tate, who had 5 steals. “We were stepping, rotating, closing out to the shooters and just getting steals and getting all our baskets in transition.”
Once the Wolves got the lead, they stalled with precision, handled the Aggies’ press with ease and made their free throws.
Riley said learning to slow the pace to preserve victories was another challenge with his new team.
“These guys are super-talented,” he said. “They believe they can score on anyone but there’s a time and a place for everything. And, once again, they bought into it. They saw that it worked a couple of games. With their athleticism, how quick they are, they knew they could hold the ball. As the season progressed, they started to come to me and say, ‘Hey, coach, it’s time to stall the ball. Coach, it’s time to hold the lead.’ And, of course, as a coach, you want to hear that. So, they really locked in.”
Sylacauga coach Joel Jones, who is also a custodian at the high school, said his team could never get control of the game.
“My hat’s off to that Vigor team,” he said. “They were well-coached. They knew what they wanted and when we tried to pressure them, they handled that well and they went to the line and made free throws. We didn’t find the rhythm all game long. You have to find the rhythm. If we break that press, if we shoot layups, they’ve got to make a change and we never forced them to change their strategy.”
The Wolves — whose foul shots resembled wounded butterflies early in the season — were masterful from the free-throw line in the fourth period, sinking 14 of 15 after making just 9 of 19 in the first three periods.
“Free throws at the beginning of the year were not our strong point,” Riley said. “These guys were dedicated to getting better, starting to stay over after practice, shooting free throws, making sure they make 50 before they leave, 25 before they leave. It shows a lot of maturity with this class. It’s something I don’t have to tell you to do. You know we’re bad at it and they decided to correct it themselves.”
Vigor’s players, who balked at playing any kind of zone defense when Riley first tried to teach it, executed 2-3 and 1-2-2 zones Saturday to hold Aggies guards C.J. Franklin and Jordan Roberson to a combined 18 points and 5-of-15 shooting.
“Their guards don’t have much size but they are very aggressive in the paint, so we just wanted to come out and limit the paint touches,” Riley said.
If the Wolves want to touch another Blue Map next year, Riley must overcome the loss of four senior starters, although his penchant for playing 10 deep will help with his second team.
“It’s going to be a new year,” Riley said. “These guys set the standard. My young guys, they’re looking at how (the seniors) carry themselves, the stuff that they do. We even brought some of them on the trip with us and I’m hoping that some of that carries over to them. I feel a lot more confident now that I have a spring, a summer and a fall with my players. I don’t feel behind the eight ball.”
SYLACAUGA (49)
Roberson 3-9 0-0 7, Crowe 0-7 2-2 2, O’Neal 5-9 0-2 14, Franklin 2-6 6-10 11, Speer 4-6 1-4 9, Patterson 2-5 1-1 6, Threatt 0-0 0-0 0, Whetstone 0-2 0-0 0. TOTALS: 16-44 FG, 10-19 FT.
VIGOR (59)
Tate 3-12 6-9 13, Whitsett 3-10 7-8 13, Holley 1-2 1-3 4, Jones 5-11 1-3 11, Kelley 0-1 0-0 0, Malone 1-6 8-9 10, Skipwith 0-0 0-0 0, Osborne 4-9 0-2 8, Williams 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 17-53 FG, 23-34 FT.
3-POINTERS
Sylacauga: Roberson 1-3, Crowe 0-4, O’Neal 4-4, Franklin 1-3, Patterson 1-2. TOTALS: 7-16.
Vigor: Tate 1-6, Whitsett 0-1, Holley 1-2, Jones 0-3, Kelley 0-1, Malone 0-1. TOTALS: 2-14.
REBOUNDS
Sylacauga: Crowe 11, Speer 8, Franklin 7. TOTALS: 40 (11 offensive, 29 defensive).
Vigor: Jones 9, Whitsett 6, Kelley 5. TOTALS: 33 (11 offensive, 22 defensive).
POINTS
In the paint: Vigor 28-16.
Off turnovers: Vigor 18-5.
Second chances: Sylacauga 9-8.
Fast break: Vigor 22-14.
Bench: Vigor 18-6.
Sylacauga 8 11 17 13 — 49
Vigor 14 9 17 19 — 59
