By: Nick Hall
The Plainview Bears are coming off a grueling seven-day road stretch that saw them stumble for the first time this season at 6A Oxford, then rebound for wins at Etowah, Sacred Heart and Spring Garden. The breakdown of each game is below.
Oxford 70 – Plainview 32
Long story short? Everything that could go wrong for the Bears did. The Bears seemed distracted and unsure of themselves, not to take away anything from the Oxford Yellow Jackets. They seemed much more focused and were certainly more aggressive on defense than the previous meeting between these two teams at the DCSC in November. It also didn’t hurt that the Yellow Jackets had Rok Taylor back from football. The 6’3”, 200 lbs., sophomore forward was relentless off the boards, helping his team to lead the Bears 43-15 in rebounds. This, along with the fact that Plainview couldn’t buy a basket, added up to a bad night for the Bears. Kobi Tinker was the only Bear in double digits with 14 points, followed by Caden Millican with 7, and Haden White, who hit the Bears only shot from beyond the 3-point line out of 22 attempts, with three. Millican led the Bears with 5 rebounds. “Give Oxford credit. They were locked in and focused,” said coach Robi Coker. “They overwhelmed us with their effort and athleticism. There weren’t many positives for us to pull from that game. It was a dominating effort on their part.”
Plainview 91 – Etowah 86
If the Bears had any internal doubts after the ambush at Oxford, they didn’t show it as they prepared to take the court against the Etowah Blue Devils two nights later. You could tell the difference immediately after tipoff as the offense was hitting on all cylinders and the focus seemed to be at its usual intensity. In short, they looked like themselves again. Plainview cruised to a 30-17 lead at the end of the first period and a 59-36 lead at halftime. Not to be deterred however, the Blue Devils came storming back in the second half and would have made a game of it if not for Plainview’s record setting performance at the free throw line. The Bears shot an amazing 26-of-26, mostly down the stretch, from the charity stripe to add to their growing list of AHSAA records. Caden Millican collected another double-double to lead the Bears in scoring with 30 points and rebounding with 11. Other Bears in double digits scoring were Kobi Tinker with 26 points and Tristan Willingham with 16. “I really liked how our guys responded. We probably played as well offensively as we have so far in the first half,” said Coker. “We wish we would have finished the game better, but Etowah has a good team that’s only going to get better as the season goes on. Their athleticism and pressure gave us some problems down the stretch. It’s an area we have to address and get better at moving forward.”
Plainview 79 – Sacred Heart 68
The Bears had a 24-hour turnaround before travelling back to Anniston to take on the defending 1A State Champion Sacred Heart Cardinals. The free throw record swelled to 34 as the Plainview went eight-for-eight from the line to help defeat Sacred Heart in front of several Division One scouts. After leading a close game for most of the first half, the Cardinals went up by one going into the locker room. Plainview regained the lead early in the third period, however and never let go. Millican again led the Bears scoring with 21 points, followed by Tinker and Willingham with 16 each, and White with 10. Dane Haymon led Plainview in rebounds with 9 followed by Millican with eight. Our guys did a great job of being relentless and trusting one another. Our pressure bothered them, and we were finally able to seize control of the game,” said Coker. “The biggest positive was the way we were able to finish the game. Offensively we did a tremendous job of executing and getting easy baskets and defensively we forced contested shots and secured rebounds. It was just an overall great win for our guys.”
Plainview 66 – Spring Garden 59
It was evident early on that the Spring Garden Panthers were not intimidated. The Panthers jumped out to an early lead that they held for most of the first half due to a hot hand from beyond the three-point arch and Plainview going cold from the field. The Panthers also out-rebounded the Bears, but their inability to stop Millican from going inside proved fatal. Millican finished with 22 points on the night, followed by White with 14 and Tinker with 13. Willingham led the Bears off the boards with four rebounds. “Spring Garden is a good basketball team and they were ready to play but our kids were too,” said Coker. “To be able to go on the road and play four games over an hour away in the span of six days and win the last three says a lot about this groups character and competitive spirit.”