FLOWOOD - Pillow Academy held Hillcrest scoreless in the final five minutes en route to a 41-37 victory in the first round of the State AAA Tournament here Tuesday night at Jackson Prep.
Hillcrest, ranked No. 2 in the statewide academy AAA poll, averaged 65 points in three wins last week as it captured the State AAA Division I championship, but the Cougars found the going much tougher against a determined group of Mustangs.
The No. 4-ranked Mustangs, 23-7, will play in the semifinals at 7:15 p.m. Friday against the winner of today's MRA-Lamar contest. With the top four teams from each of the three classifications advancing to next week's Overall Tournament, the Mustangs have qualified for the Big Dance for the first time since 2002.
"Our guys just kept battling like they have all year. It's a great win. We're just excited to be moving on to next week," PA coach Steven Makamson said.
Senior point guard Will Brunson had the dubious task of guarding cat-quick Hillcrest point guard Korlandes Lewis. Lewis scored a game-high 14 points, but he missed several key shots late with Brunson dogging him tightly. Lewis also finished with a game-high nine turnovers.
"(Lewis) is unbelievably quick, so Will had a huge challenge and held his own against arguably the quickest player in our league," Makamson said. "Their offense runs through him, so it was pretty big for Will to step up like he did."
Offensively, the first half was a real struggle for the Mustangs, who hit just 5-of-21 (23 percent) from the field. But they picked things up in the second half, scoring the first six points of the third period to erase an 18-13 halftime deficit.
Senior Martin Tribble sparked the PA offense as he hit three consecutive 3-pointers to score his team's final nine points in the third. He scored 10 of his 11 points in the second half.
"Martin got hot and gave us a big boost," Makamson said. "At the half, we talked about attacking them. We were thinking too much."
Junior Pate Shackelford paced Pillow in scoring with 13 points. He hit two free throws with 29 seconds left to put the Mustangs up by four.
Hillcrest outrebounded Pillow 41-30, but Mustang junior center Bo Craig came up with three straight key defensive rebounds down the stretch to keep the Cougars from getting second-chance point opportunities.
Craig finished with a game-high nine boards and added eight points. Junior Jacob Land had six rebounds and three points.
Shooting guard Bradley Parker finished with 11 points for Hillcrest, but he only had three points in the second half.
Hillcrest's season ends at 28-7.
