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By Carey Reeder | Managing Editor

Keith High School used a big midgame run to defeat Maplesville High School 60-39 in the Class 1A Sweet 16 on Feb. 11 at the Dunn-Oliver Acadome on the campus of Alabama State University in Montgomery. Keith’s Titus Lanier Jr. led all scorers with 21 points on 9-for-16 shooting and the Bears forced 29 Maplesville turnovers en route to the win.

Devon Nix broke the ice for Maplesville to go up 2-0, but Keith jumped straight into their full-court pressure to keep the Red Devils uneasy. Pearce Yeargan checked in and immediately gave Maplesville a spark with a quick 5-0 run himself to put them ahead 10-8. Lanier Jr. got off to a quick start for Keith keeping things close early, but Maplesville held a 13-12 lead after the opening frame.

The teams went back and forth to start the second quarter with Miles Hannah hitting an and-one layup and it being answered with a 3-pointer from Aidan Abbott. With the score 19-18 and the Red Devils leading midway through the second quarter, Keith’s defensive pressure was turned up. The Bears ended the first half on a 12-1 run, forced 15 Maplesville turnovers in the first half and 12 of Lanier Jr.’s 21 points helped build a 30-20 lead at halftime.

“We pride ourselves on applying pressure on defense, and coming into this game we said ‘If we play good defense, then our defense will lead to offense,’” Keith head coach Marcus Turner said.

Keith carried over the momentum and the run bloomed to 18-1 and the lead to 36-20 after halftime. A Nehemiah McCary dunk ended the run, but Maplesville still trailed by 12, 38-26 with just over two minutes left in the quarter. As time expired in the frame, Lanier Jr. drove left before pulling up for a jumper and hitting it with a few seconds left to give Keith the 42-29 advantage.

McCary had 11 points and eight rebounds, followed by Jakobe Nix with nine points and four steals and Yeargan with seven points.

“It pays off to have a team who has been practicing the whole season, and it is hard to compete against that,” Maplesville head coach Undra Rush said. “Keith is a known basketball school, and for us to get to this point for the amount of time we had to prepare shows a lot about our boys and where the program is headed. We are excited just to be here, and hopefully next year we will be back.”

Maplesville’s comeback bid got the lead down to nine points in the fourth quarter, but McCary fouled out with 6:41 left in the game to take some much-needed size off the court.

Maplesville ends its season at 16-4 overall.