PREP HOOPS: Auburn High wins with dominant second half

Auburn High head coach Frank Tolbert wouldn’t say what he told his team at halftime.

Maybe he didn’t feel the need to give such secrets away.

Whatever he said to them, however, worked, as the Tigers stormed out of the locker room, holding Benjamin Russell scoreless for the first half of the third quarter. The Tigers went on a 19-2 run, punctuated by a dunk by center Tony Holland as they coasted to a 69-34 win over Benjamin Russell.

“We came out hard and played tough defense at the beginning of the game,” Tolbert said. “But then we kind of got lazy. We made mistakes that we shouldn’t be making at this time of year. Some of these things you can’t see from the stands, but the coaches can.”

Auburn High’s first half was not bad, mind you. The Tigers’ defensive pressure caused turnover after turnover.

Auburn built an early 10-point lead midway through the first quarter. Even as Tolbert and assistant head coach Chris Brandt substituted freely, the pressure continued.

The Tigers built on their lead behind the hot shooting of Jason Webb, who finished with 13 points, and the rebounding of Holland.

Defensively, Jeremy Nolen and Holland controlled the paint and allowed the guards, whether it was A.J. Jackson, Calvin Jenkins or Webb, to play aggressive and pressure the Wildcats into turnovers. Auburn led 38-22 at the half.

Then came the halftime talk.

Auburn outscored Benjamin Russell, 31-12, in the second half, with Auburn emptying the bench at the start of the fourth quarter.

“We didn’t want to run the score up,” Tolbert said. “That’s not what we do.”

Benjamin Russell’s Darice McElrath led the Wildcats with 9 points.

Auburn will face Wetumpka for the area championship Monday at the Fieldhouse.

Wetumpka defeated Stanhope Elmore, 65-57, in the first game of the night. Wetumpka trailed at half by 5, but used their bigger size on the boards to take the victory.

Wetumpka was led in scoring by Demario Bell with 13 points and Jamal Golden with 12.

Turmonte Ragland chipped in 17 for Stanhope Elmore.

“We expect a tough game with Wetumpka,” Tolbert said. “We have to get ready for that now. We have to play our best, play our game. Sometimes it seems like we play to the level of our competition, and we can’t be doing that now.”