Strong second half propels Leake to semi-finals
Southern Sports & Travel
The stakes were high last night in a round two matchup between Leake and Kirk as both squads battled it out to avoid a season ending loss at the North AA State Tournament held at North Delta in Batesville. In the end Leake bounced back from a three point halftime deficit to take a 65-52 win over Kirk and advance to take on top ranked Marshall this evening.
Leake freshman Alex Shepard poured in 22 points to lead the tenth ranked Rebels and senior Wesley Webb added 19 as Leake improved to 24-10 on the season.
Leake had their hands full with Kirk throughout a fast paced first quarter that had five lead changes.
Kirk would end the opening quarter with a Sayle Roberts driving lay-in at the horn to take a 19-18 lead into the second quarter.
Wesley Webb’s 3-pointer and an Aaron Shepard bucket in the paint quickly put Leake back on top at 23-19 in the opening minute of the second quarter but Kirk ripped off a 10-3 run to retake the lead at 29-26 with 4:14 left in the half.
Kirk maintained a three point cushion throughout the remaining four minutes of the quarter and would take a 34-31 lead into intermission.
(Above) Sayle Roberts of Kirk drives for 2 of his 17 points
Leake exploded in the third quarter with an 18-3 run to regain the lead at 49-37. The run spanned the first seven minutes of the quarter as Leake’s fast pace style of play seemed to have taken the legs away from Kirk. Leake held Kirk to three points in the quarter.
Kirk managed to reduce the deficit to eight points on two occasions in the final quarter of play but Leake’s style of play remained steady as the Rebels continued to attack the basket and had a 61-49 lead to show for it with just under two minutes left in the contest.
Two Alex Shepard free throws with 1:57 remaining gave Leake their biggest lead of the night at 65-49.
Drew Tillman of Kirk closed out the scoring on the night with a 3-pointer in the closing seconds to make it a final of 65-52.
“Kirk played really hard,” said Leake head coach Phil Shepard. “They really wanted to play at their gym next week at the state tournament.”
“We told our guys at the half to just keep playing. We got stops defensively tonight and I think we wore them down a bit in the second half.”
Leake was led by freshman Alex Shepard with 22 points, Wesley Webb added 19, Aaron Shepard had 11, Thomas Tubby 6, Austin Shepard 4 and Reid Mayfield 3.
Sayle Roberts led Kirk with 17 points, Reid Walker added 15, Drew Tillman 10, Jake Poe 7 and Tyler Kirk 3.
