Region 1-1A boys: Malone rallies past Holmes County

MALONE — Rural Class 1A was designed to give smaller schools a better chance of playing for state titles. The trouble for Malone and Holmes County on Tuesday was having to play each other in the opening round.

Chris Murff’s 3-pointer with five seconds to play gave Malone a 50-48 victory in the Region 1-1A semifinal battle pitting two of the state’s top teams. Malone (25-3), which overcame a 15-point second-half deficit, advanced to host Chipley for the regional title on Saturday.

The Rural atmosphere in Malone’s tightly packed gymnasium was like a scene straight out of Hoosiers. Spectators were shoulder to shoulder and their toes touched players trying to inbound on the opposite side from the team benches.

The home crowd wasn’t as boisterous in the first half as it was in the second. But when a 30-15 Holmes County lead turned into a 38-37 Malone advantage early in the fourth quarter there was no denying the home court worked in the Tigers’ favor.

 “The crowd was incredible and that’s why you want to win district to get them at home,” Malone coach Steve Welch said. “We never gave up. That’s a testament to everybody.”

Holmes County (21-7) may have had the giant on the floor in Chris Walker, but the Tigers’ rafters provided the proof of which program had been to the mountain top. Malone proudly displayed its 13 state title banners, the last coming in 1998.

Tuesday provided Malone with the potential first step toward title No. 14.

Walker was Malone’s focal point on defense throughout the game, as the 6-foot-10 junior found himself the constant recipient of double teams. Walker scored three points in the first half, but unlike in some games the Blue Devils found someone to pick up the scoring slack.

Jordan McAllister scored 22 of Holmes County’s 28 first-half points and he made four of his team’s five 3-pointers to give the Blue Devils a 13-point lead.

Malone was the victim of poor shooting in the first half. Much of that could be attributed to staunch Holmes County defense that forced bad shots and kept Malone from running the floor.

That wasn’t the case in the third quarter, when Malone scored 19 points, four more than it did in the first half, to pull within 37-34 on a traditional 3-point play by Ladarius McElroy at the end of 24 minutes.

Antwain Johnson’s score early in the fourth put Malone ahead 38-37 for its first lead since the initial basket of the game.
Holmes County held two final leads on Walker scores, the last 48-46 with 1:11 to play. Chai Baker scored his lone point on one of three free throws to narrow the gap to 48-47 with 29 seconds on the clock.

A Holmes County turnover gave Malone the ball nine seconds later. The Tigers worked the ball to Murff, who scored from the corner for the win and McAllister dribbled out of bounds to prevent a final heave at the buzzer.

“Sometimes it’s hard to handle adversity and if we would have kept our composure things may have been different,” Holmes County coach Po White said. “When they came back there was too much time left in the game.”

McAllister led the Blue Devils with 26 points. Walker warmed up in the second half and finished with 17 points.

Ty Baker scored 16 to pace Malone. McElroy added 11 points and Murff eight.

“They were doubling Chai all night, but we knew we had other players who could score,” Welch said. “It was a big shot by Murff.”

• HOLMES COUNTY (48)
• Russ 2 0-0 5, McAllister 9 4-6 26, Walker 4 9-11 17. Totals: 15 13-17 48.
• MALONE (50)
• McElroy 4 2-2 11, Williams 2 1-2 6, CBaker 0 1-3 1, Murff 3 0-0 8, TBaker 7 1-1 16, AJohnson 3 0-0 8. Totals: 19 5-8 50.
• Holmes County 19 9 9 11 – 48
• Malone 13 2 19 16 – 50
• 73-point field goals: HC 5 (McAllister 4, Russ), M 7 (Murff 2, AJohnson 2, McElroy, Williams, TBaker).