Injuries are a part of all sports, but it seems Apalachee High School varsity boys basketball coach Kevin Morris has had to deal with more than his share this season.
Now with his team getting healthy again, Morris has seen his Wildcats scratch and claw their way above the .500 mark with a 42-36 win against Towers in an opening-round game of a holiday tournament at Oconee County High School Saturday. (The team was scheduled to play Monday and Tuesday as well in Watkinsville.)
Ironically, it didn’t appear AHS would be able to take that step above the .500 mark Saturday as the Wildcats trailed 21-12 at halftime before using a second-half rally.
“We trailed basically the whole game,” Morris said.
Apalachee got within two points with 45 seconds left and got a defensive stop to have a chance to tie or take the lead.
A three-pointer by John Ansley gave the Wildcats a one-point lead.
Morris saw his team make another defensive stop as Clayton Barber came down with a key rebound.
After making 1-of-2 free throws for a two-point lead, the Wildcats continued to use their strong defense to force another Towers offensive miscue. After Barber grabbed another rebound, the Towers coach was called for a techincal foul and by the time AHS was finished at the foul line, the lead was up to six points.
Dillon Moon paced the Wildcats with 16 points in the win Saturday.
“We didn’t shoot that well in the first half,” Morris said. “We were limited in the number of attempts we had. Our scoring was so low, not because we turned it over but because we didn’t get as many attempts.”
The AHS coach said his team did a much better job on the defensive end in the second half.
“We don’t do a lot of scouting for these types of tournaments,” Morris said. “However, Towers had been putting up some high scores so I was pleased by our defense. It was one of our better games.”
Following play at the Oconee County tournament, the Wildcats will open subregion play Saturday at Habersham Central.
Varsity games are scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. in Cornelia.
