Parsons blast Bishop St.

It's three seasons and three ACCC Basketball Tournament berths for the Snead State men's team under head coach Jeremiah Patterson.

Christian Wilson-Poole pumped in 22 points and Jason King 19, propelling the North Division No. 3 seed Parsons to an 86-64 triumph over South No. 6 seed Bishop State of Mobile in a tournament play-in game Friday night at Plunkett-Wallace Gymnasium.

The Parsons won their fifth straight game and improved to 25-6 overall. The defending tournament champions, they face South Division No. 2 seed Coastal Alabama-North in the ACCC quarterfinals Tuesday at 3 p.m. at Lawson State in Birmingham.

The Snead State/Coastal-North winner advances to the semifinals against either Wallace State-Hanceville or Chattahoochee Valley on Thursday at 5 p.m.

The Parsons dropped 51 points on Bishop State in the opening half. A late 14-0 run gave them a 51-27 margin with 2:08 remaining.

Bishop State trimmed it to 51-33 at intermission.

"I thought my starting group came out with the right intensity tonight, sharing the basketball on offense and really working hard on 'D' [defense]," Patterson said.

"Our main focus at halftime was don't lose the intensity. Keep playing the way we're playing because it's easy to relax. We do it all the time, this team does, because they're so young. We do have those three sophomores, and I think they're really focused on getting these guys where they need to be.

"We talked about staying intense on defense, making sure we keep getting the right shot because we could get good shots against them."

Snead State didn't cool off during the break, as it opened the second half with an 8-0 run featuring consecutive 3-pointers by Joel Logan and Jeric Packer.

Following a Bishop State basket, Hunter Preston's driving dunk sparked an 8-0 surge, giving the Parsons a 67-35 cushion with 13:48 remaining.

Wilson-Poole buried a 3 from the left corner, extending Snead State's advantage to 72-39 with 12:12 left in the game.

The Parsons matched their 33-point lead at 80-47 on Justin Murphy's free throw with 6:48 to go. Bishop State outscored Snead State's reserves 17-6 the rest of the way.

Hunter Preston netted nine, Shakari Williams seven and Ralph Barnett, Mark Wilcox and Packer all six for the Parsons. Logan contributed five, DJ Goodmon three, Cam Preston two and Murphy one.

Penda Wiggins scored 25 and Jordon Parks 20 to pace Bishop State.

"We started out the second half and I think we got up 33, and it was done with defense and playing offense the right way," Patterson said. "Attacking when it was there and kicking to the open guy. Not just settling and not being selfish, and they did a great job of it and that allowed us to rest some guys.

"It was what we wanted — guys doing what they needed to do. We got a lot of guys who hadn't been getting to play much some playing time. It kept us a little fresh."

Patterson said he felt like the Parsons were "kind of rusty" when they arrived in Birmingham for the ACCC Tournament a year ago.

They had a nine-day break between the end of the regular season and the start of the tourney, because they didn't compete in a play-in game as the North Division's No. 1 seed.

"I didn't want to play this game because you don't want to give yourselves a chance to get beat," Patterson said. "But now that it's over with, I think it keeps us fresh and keeps us kind of on schedule, so I'm happy about the way things went with that."

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Story by Shannon J. Allen, Sports Editor at The Sand Mountain Reporter