“We came out and got a lead early which is always a positive thing, because it takes the pressure off of you,” said Tigers head coach Carson Grier. “Then we came out in the third quarter and kind of put it out of reach.”
Corey Bradford led Comer with 17 points. Owen Wallace had 15, while Jalon Murphy had 13.
Tyari Powell led Fayetteville with 16 points. JT Townsend had 10 points for the Wolves, all in the second half.
“I was disappointed tonight,” said Fayetteville head coach Mark Reed. “I didn’t want to come out the way we did in the first half. Comer has some big players, but we’re not a running team.”
The Wolves will face Beauregard for third place tonight at 6:30, while the Tigers will face Alabama Christian in tonight’s final at 8.
The Eagles beat Samson by forfeit on Monday and edged Beauregard 45-43 Tuesday to earn a spot in the finals.
“They’re a pretty good basketball team,” Grier said when asked about Alabama Christian. “They’re very fundamental, they play really hard, they’re big and very quick. They play in a good league in the Montgomery area so we’ll have our hands full. Those are the kind of games you want to play.”
The Tigers got off to a quick start in the first quarter. Murphy put up four points in a 10-2 run that set the pace for the opening period.
Fayetteville cut the lead to five points at 12-7 with Zach McGrady’s 3-pointer, but what transpired put the game out of reach as B.B. Comer reeled off a ferocious 21-0 run that extended into the second quarter. The Tigers used good defense and scored several points off of steals in the run.
“They didn’t handle pressure well and we changed up pressures,” Grier said.
Wallace hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give Comer a 25-7 lead heading into the second quarter. Kirksey scored all nine of his points in the run, which ended when Fayetteville’s Powell scored on a layup with about five minutes to play before the break.
The basket sparked an 11-0 run for Fayetteville, capped by another triple from McGrady as the Wolves cut the lead down to 33-18.
After trading a few more blows, the Tigers led 38-20 at the half.
Fayetteville got some strong minutes from Townsend as the senior scored six points in the third quarter. The Wolves hung with the Tigers for much of the period, but were unable to significantly cut into the lead.
Comer led 49-32 heading into the final quarter. Grier played several reserves as the Tigers outscored the Wolves 19-7 for the 29-point win.
Contact Wesley Sinor at wsinor@dailyhome.com.
