Jemison's block keys Patriot victory
Homewood fought back from a seven-point deficit and overcame Pelham, 39-34, in the Class 6A, Area 9 Tournament championship game on Saturday night at Homewood High School.
The Patriots saw themselves trailing 30-23 early in the fourth quarter, before a 7-0 run keyed by Trey Jemison tied the contest.
A few minutes later, Pelham possessed the ball down one. A Panther drove to the goal, but was denied by the long arms of Jemison.
“I was trying not to foul him but I had to jump so I caught it, and I was falling out of bounds," Jemison said.
As he was falling out of bounds, he looked up and saw Luke Touiliatos streaking up the floor.
"I saw Luke and I just threw it out there. I knew he was going to get it so I tried it," Jemison said.
Touiliatos grabbed the ball at midcourt and raced to the basket, where converted the layup and got the foul call. His free throw gave the Patriots a four-point lead, and they held on the rest of the way.
Jemison finished the game with ten points and a monster 13 rebounds, to register a double-double.
Pelham's Justin Allison scored a layup off the tipoff to get the game started, and Homewood led 8-6 after a quarter. Allison finished the game with 11 points.
The Panthers scored the first seven points of the second quarter, as junior forward Alex Reese began to assert himself. Reese paced Pelham with 16 points and 14 rebounds, and blocked two shots.
Allison and Touiliatos exchanged three-pointers early in the third quarter, and the game got chippy soon after. Peyton Brown and Reese were called for double fouls, and Homewood's Chris Miller added an emphatic block.
Touiliatos struggled shooting from the field, but hit all five of his free throws and led the team with 12 points.
Homewood shot just 23% from the floor, but hit 19-of-25 from the charity stripe to get the victory.
The win secures a home game in Sub-Regionals for Homewood, as the Patriots will host Russell County on Tuesday.
"I'm so proud of my team," Jemison said. "They worked their butts off and played defense. I'm so happy."