CLINTON - Last year the Pillow Academy Mustangs made their first-ever trip to semifinals of the Overall Tournament. And this year they're hoping for another first - an appearance in the championship game.
Only Madison-Ridgeland Academy stands between the Mustangs and history. The two AAA rivals clash at 6 p.m. Friday, with the winner advancing to Saturday's 3 p.m. championship contest.
"This year we feel like we're much more experienced with it and have a group of seniors who have played a lot of basketball together. So we feel better about our chances this go-around," said third-year PA coach Steven Makamson. "It's real exciting having a chance to do something that's never been done at your school."
MRA (31-9), which lost by 12 to Pillow last week in the semifinals of the State AAA Tournament, blasted Brookhaven Wednesday night 66-37 after trailing by one at the half. MRA beat the Mustangs by 13 at Pillow during the regular-season finale for both squads.
"Both teams are familiar with one another. It's going to come down to aggressive defense and hitting the boards," Makamson said. "If we play hard and play together, I like our chances."
The Mustangs (25-7), the AAA runners-up, defeated Class A No. 2 seed West Memphis 52-37 Wednesday to earn a spot in the semifinals.
Pillow led from start to finish, taking control early with an 11-0 run to open the contest.
Matt Taylor's 3-pointer from the other side of half court at the buzzer put PA up 18-9 at the end of the first.
The Black Knights cut the lead to three, 18-15, after Tommy Bond hit back-to-back 3-pointers to open the second period.
But the Mustangs responded with a 7-0 run started by a 3-pointer from Michael Gant - who scored 19 points in the fourth period of his team's 69-61 comeback win over Bowling Green in Tuesday's quarterfinal contest.
Pillow led 34-25 at the half. The Black Knights scored the first two points of the second half, but that was as close as they would get.
The Mustangs used an 11-2 run to make sure of that, grabbing a 45-29 advantage with three minutes left in the third period.
Senior guard Pate Shackelford scored five of his nine points during that run.
Gant finished with a team-high 10 points.
Taylor, a junior guard, had nine points and a team-high 11 rebounds. Senior center Bo Craig chipped in with seven points and nine rebounds.
Senior point guard Chase King had six points.
Senior big man Markus Thomas helped the Mustangs dominate the boards with six rebounds to go with four points.
Pillow outrebounded West Memphis 43-24.
"We knew they had two big guys, both about 6-3, 200 pounds, inside. Our post players did a great job of blocking out and crashing the boards," Makamson said.
