Down by two points midway in the second half Thursday in the ACCC regional tournament at Shelton State, the Jefferson Davis Community College Warhawk basketball team used a late run to get a 62-53 win over Chattahoochee Valley.
Down 46-44, with 7:47 left in the game the Warhawks used a 15-0 run over the next six minutes to take a 59-46 lead over the Pirates with 1:38 left in the game. Following their 15-0 run, the Warhawks would fall to a 7-3 run by the Pirates but would hang on for the win. JDCC was outscored 30-29 in the first half but outscored the Pirates 33-23 in the second half.
With the win the Warhawks, who are the No. 1 seed from the South Division, improved to 19-9 overall and will play Wallace State Hanceville Friday at 5:30 p.m. in the regional semifinals. Wallace State defeated JDCC 69-61 in their only match up this season back in December.
Sherman Presswood led JDCC with 18 points and Turmonte Ragland had 16. Brandon Scott added nine points in the win and D.J. Jackson chipped in seven. Greg Crum had four points while R.J. Bowers and Larel Jackson had three points each. Malcolm Bell had two points for the Warhawks.
Larel Jackson led with three steals and five assists while Presswood had one block. Ragland led with eight rebounds.
JDCC head coach Allen Gainer said he thought it benefited CVCC to have played their first game of the tournament Wednesday while his team had a bye. But while he thought it helped with nerves, he also thinks it hurt with their fatigue Thursday late in the game.
“I think the benefit to playing yesterday was getting the nervousness out,” Gainer said. “We were just really tight early. Down the stretch I think their fatigue from yesterday came into play. It should be a challenge (Friday) with Hanceville. They play hard.”
If JDCC wins Friday in their Final Four game against Hanceville, the Warhawks will play for the regional championship Saturday at 7:30 p.m. against the winner of Lawson State and Shelton.