Scott Nickerson
Elmore Autauga News
The Marbury Bulldogs boys’ basketball team is advancing to the regionals for just the second time in school history after defeating Valley 83-66 in the 1st Round of the Class 5A playoffs.
“We are humbled by the opportunity that has presented itself,” said Marbury Head Coach William Turner. “Getting out of the subregional round was something very important in relation to our goals for the season and my goals for year two here at Marbury. I’m proud to have this great group of young men representing the school we love in such a positive way. This being the second time in school history is not something lost on us. We are proud of the accomplishment but not satisfied.”
Coach Turner cited some of the key factors that led to the Bulldogs home playoff win over Valley.
“Over the past couple of weeks our pressure defense has really done a good job of putting us in some advantageous situations and in the subregional it forced Valley into tempos that they weren’t comfortable with and we took advantage of the opportunities. It doesn’t hurt that we knocked down a ton of shots and scored 83 points. Valley scores a bunch of their points on second chance opportunities and although they still got some we limited them and that really helped,” said Coach Turner.
For the season, junior Noah Trotter is leading Marbury in points scored per game, averaging 16.1 points per game. The Bulldogs also have two other players averaging double digits per game. Junior Jamar Brown is averaging 11 points per game along with 3.5 rebounds, 4.6 assists, and 2.3 steals. Sophomore Jalen Hall is averaging 10.5 points per game to go along with 7.8 rebounds, 1.6 steals, and 1.2 blocks per game.
The Bulldogs will face Central of Clay in Regional Semi-Final on Thursday. Central was the runner up of Area 8 but defeated Selma on the road in the 1st round of the Class 5A playoffs.
“We’ve seen some of Central Clay’s games and they are a solid team that is coached very well. We respect what they do. We will focus on doing what we do well and try to limit our mistakes. Hopefully we can force them into uncomfortable situations and take advantage of the opportunities that those situations provide. I expect it to be a really good, competitive game. Neither team would be at this point if they weren’t legitimate so we will take them as seriously as a game of this magnitude should be taken,” said Coach Turner.
The other two teams in the regional will be Elmore County and Sylacauga. The Aggies were the Class 5A Runner-up last season.
