Pierce County’s 8under boys’ basketball allstars clinched a state tournament berth Saturday beating Appling County.
The young Bears knocked off the Pirates 33-26 in the District II Class C tournament hosted by the Pierce County Recreation Department.
Pierce County faces District I champion Glennville Friday, March 7 in the first round in Tiger hosted by the Rabun County Recreation Department. The winner advances to face the survivor of District 3 champion Mitchell County and District 4 runner-up Temple in the semifinals.
District 6 champion Putnam County faces off with host Rabun County while District 4 champion Meriweather County meets District 7 champion Gilmer County in the other quarterfinal matchups.
Pierce County’s 14under all-star team came up short in its quest for the state tournament falling 64-47 to the City of Pearson in Saturday’s Distric II final played at Pierce County High School. The Bears advanced to the title game knocking off McIntosh County 59-47.
8U championship Pierce County........33 Appling County .....26 The Bears outscored Appling County in each of the first three periods to win the championship.
Cole Harris led the way for Pierce County sharing game-high scoring honors with 10 points. Ridge Dixon, Dawson Godwin and Mel Tanner added six points apiece. K.J. Moore contributed five points.
The Bears kept things interesting connecting on just 3-of-15 free throw attempts.
Pierce County outscored the Pirates 9-7 in the opening period. Both teams matched their first quarter points in the second stanza with the Bears taking an 18-14 lead at intermission.
The Bears added three points to their margin during the third period outscoring Appling County 7-4 in claiming a 25-18 lead. Each team scored eight points in the final quarter.
Luke Merritt paced Appling County with 10 points.
14U semifinals Pierce County........59 McIntosh Co..........47 Pierce County’s D.J. Moody exploded for a game-high 38 points leading the Bears past McIntosh County.
Moody scored 19 points in each half, hit two threepointers and threw down two dunks. He netted all 17 of Pierce County’s fourth quarter points.
The Bears grabbed a 146 lead by the end of the opening stanza with Moody scoring 10 points. Pierce County added one point to its margin outscoring the Bucs 15-14 in the second quarter to take a 29-20 halftime lead.
Each team scored 13 points in the third period with the Bears taking a 4233 lead into the final quarter. Pierce County outscored the Bucs 17-14 to advance.
Maverick Pitts joined Moody in double figures finishing with 15 points. Jared Watson, Miles Pitts and Noah DeLeon bucketed two points each.
Z’den Hattaway led McIntosh County with 15 points. Justus Ratliff netted 11 points.
14U championship Pearson..................64 Pierce County .........47 A 17-point first quarter deficit was to much to overcome for Pierce County in the matchup with the City of Pearson all-stars.
Pearson raced out to a 25-8 lead in the first quarter burying four of its seven three-pointers. The Bears whittled six points off the deficit during the second period outscoring Pearson 13-7 to trail 32-21 at intermission.
Pierce County clipped another point of the margin outscoring the Rebels 18-17 to get to within 4939. Pearson closed out the game outscoring the Bears 15-8.
Moody, who got into foul trouble early in the first quarter, scored 18 of his 22 points over the middle two periods. Timmy Cole and Maverick Pitts followed with nine points each. Greyson Raulerson netted five points with De-Leon bagging two points.
Pearson was led by the game-high 26 points of Isiah Odum (two treys). Jeremy Gibson scored his 12 points on four treys. Anthony White chipped in 10 points.
