[MONROE, LA] The Muddy River Counselors headed over to Monroe for the Gulf Coast District Tournament. The Counselors took the 18U boys team and received a #6 seed.
The Counselors began the weekend facing the Saline County Warriors. The two teams faced each other twice last season, with Saline County winning both, the first by a score of 73-63 and the second 68-60.
Since the Counselors had never beaten them, they had this game circled. When the game got going, it was clear who was taking this one. The Counselors went out to a 30-4 lead and never looked back. Caleb Sanders set the Counselors record with 31 points and the Muddy River Counselors won the game 75-45.
After defeating the Saline County Warriors, the Counselors faced off against the #22 team in the nation, the Tyler Heat. Tyler had taken on the #14 seeded Laurel Knighthawks and won 72-18. The game started as a sprint with both teams looking to blow each other out as they usually do but to no avail. The Counselors held onto a 16-14 lead at the end of the first quarter.
The second quarter belonged to the Tyler Heat. The Counselors scored a mere four points in the second quarter and the Heat opened up a ten point lead at halftime, 30-20.
With some adjustments, the Counselors were able to bring the game within four points in the fourth quarter. But shooting woes caused Muddy River to fall short, losing to the Tyler Heat 44-59.
The Counselors were then matched up against the CHEF Patriots, who entered the game with a 26-4 record, although just coming off of a seven point loss to the eventual champion Little Rock Flames. The game was tight, going back and forth with many lead changes. The game was close until five minutes to go in the game where the Patriots took a 56-47 lead in the fourth quarter. Ethan Veverka then hit a big shot to cut it to six. After that, Sun Michael Williams went on a run, closing the game beautifully by hitting three pointers and free throws to close out the 68-60 win.
Williams finished with 22, Caleb Sanders finished with 20, and Rydell Breakfield finished with a big game, scoring 18.
The final game for the Counselors was the 5th place game against the Hattiesburg Forerunners. The Forerunners really surprised people with their 49-41 win over the #5 seeded Faulkner Falcons. The previous meeting between the two teams ended in a 60-33 win for the Muddy River Counselors.
Hattiesburg began the ball game looking like they were about to upset Muddy River. They started off with a 7-0 lead and even held a 21-12 lead in the first quarter. But the Counselors stormed back and went into halftime with a 30-28 lead. The Counselors looked as if they would blowout the Forerunners in the second half but Hattiesburg brought it back close, down by 3 with 90 seconds to go. The Counselors played it smart, moving the ball around as Hattiesburg looked to foul. The Counselors hit their free throws and pulled through for the 57-48 win.
Caleb Sanders had another big scoring game, finishing with 28 points.
The Counselors finished 5th in the Gulf Coast District Tourney and had a 3-1 record putting them to a 16-5 record for the season.
The PCA Paladins, who are the #1 seed in 18U boys division of the MSAHA, finsihed second losing by 6 to the Little Rock Flames. The Counselors are looking to knock off the Paladins come playoff time, but it will be a tall task. The Counselors though are looking sharp so we should be in for an interesting playoffs.
The MSAHA Playoffs will be in Hattiesburg from February 2-4. The Counselors will compete in 18U boys and girls and in 16U boys.
