By By BRUCE HIXON Sports Editor
Jessie Carlin went to a zone. So did Faulkner State.
Both zones proved to be the downfall for the Jefferson Davis Community College Warhawks, as they dropped their home and regular season finale to the Sun Chiefs 78-61 Thursday.
Carlin's zone was a shooter's zone. With Faulkner State up just 46-44 with just over 10 minutes left, Carlin hit a trio of three-pointers in just over a minute and five in the second half to enable Faulkner State (9-6 in the Alabama Community College Conference and 19-11 overall) to pull away.
Carlin wound up with 24 points to lead all scorers, 19 of which came in the second half.
At the same time Carlin found his zone, the Sun Chiefs went to a defensive zone that limited the Warhawks (4-11 in the ACCC and 9-19 overall) to just nine points over the next nine minutes.
While Faulkner State led from start to finish, the Warhawks did some good things to stay within striking distance until Carlin's second half outburst.
For starters, the Warhawks were able to force Faulkner state into 13 fouls in the first half. Three Sun Chiefs, Jermaine Searles, Jon Dodd and Marcus Grant, all collected three fouls.
JDCC failed to take full advantage of Faulkner State's foul problems. The Warhawks hit only seven of 14 first half free throws and 10 of 20 for the game.
JDCC had good balance in its attack in the first half, as eight players scored. However, none of the eight had more than five points.
Faulkner State got off to leads of 6-0 and 12-4 to start the game before the Warhawks started to bounce back. Brandon Montgomery's dunk off a lob pass from Jeff Foster and Ryheen Drakeford's three-pointer cut the gap to just 18-16 with nine minutes left in the half.
The Sun Chiefs' advantage would fluctuate between two and seven points the rest of the half. Two free throws by Thad Burns and a steal and layup by Carlin late in the half enabled Faulkner State to take a 32-26 lead into half-time.
Two quick buckets by Montgomery at the start of the second half pulled the Warhawks to within 32-30 before seven unanswered points by Faulkner State widened the gap to 39-30.
JDCC rallied once again. Two hoops by Kenny Thompson and field goals by Randall Burno and Norvell "Junior" Coleman cut the gap to just 44-42. Moments late Foster scored to make it a two-point deficit once again at 46-44.
Then came the three-pointers by Carlin in a 70-second span that quickly knocked the lead up to 55-46. Carlin hit two more treys over the next two minutes that capped off a 25-9 run and knocked Faulkner State's lead up to 71-53.
JDCC opened up the ACCC Tournament at Bevill State in Jasper Saturday.
At JDCC
Faulkner State 32 46 – 78
JDCC 26 35 – 61
FAULKNER STATE (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) Carlin 1-6-4-24; Green 6-1-0-15; Suitts 0-3-1-10; Evans 3-0-0-6; Searles 3-0-0-6; Grant 2-0-1-5; Holmes 2-0-1-5; Burns 1-0-2-4; Robinson 1-0-0-2; Dodd 0-0-1-1 (Totals: 19-10-10-78)
JDCC (2FG-3FG-FT-TP) Foster 7-0-3-17; Montgomery 5-0-1-11; Madison 1-2-1-9; Thompson 3-0-2-8; Coleman 2-0-1-5; Drakeford 1-1-0-5; Burno 1-0-0-2; Owens 1-0-0-2; Hubbs 0-0-2-2 (Totals: 21-3-10-61)