SPORTS LEDGER March 2024 Read Free Online at www.TheSportsLedger.com Page 6 The
STATE CHAMPIONS Ider Girls Win Class 2A State Title
By Brandon K. Pierce The Sports Ledger The Ider Lady Hornets are the 2024 Class 2A State Champions. The Ider varsity girls basketball team buzzed past Luverne 69-32 in the state semifinals and earned a 64-58 victory over Mars Hill in the state championship to earn the program's first state title since 1985. Class 2A State MVP MaKinley Traylor was on point when it mattered the most. She made 6 of 8 free throws in the final 1:46 against Mars Hill to help the Lady Hornets seal the win. Overall, Traylor was 14 of 19 from the foul line with 22 points and five assists. “When you step up to the free-throw line, you’ve got to put it down,” said Traylor. "You win with free throws.” As a team, Ider was 27 of 35 at the foul line. Mars Hill finished 16-of-20 from charity strip. Ider's Kennzie Smith scored 14 points and Cambree Chapman had 11 points in the win. All five Ider starters scored at least seven points and played at least 25 minutes. The 2024 state crown
By Brandon K. Pierce The Sports Ledger The Auburn Tigers had not won the SEC tournament since 2019 and the program had claimed the runner-up spot in 1984 and 2000. However, runner-up was not good enough and the Tiger’s believed it was time to reclaim the SEC Crown. Auburn did just that with an 86-67 victory over Florida in the championship game of the 2024 Men’s Tournament on Sunday, March 17 in Nashville. The Tigers are now 10-6 all-time in the SEC Tournament under head coach Bruce Pearl including winning four games in four days at the 2019 SEC Tournament to claim the program’s second-ever tournament title and first since 1985. Pearl’s ten tournament wins puts him only one behind Sonny Smith, who won 11 tournament games in 11 appearances from 1979-89. Auburn Junior All-American Johni Broome is currently on a 25-game double-digit scoring streak. Broome recorded a double-double of 19 points and 11 rebounds in the championship game against Florida. His performance helped him win this year’ tournament MVP award. Two other Auburn players also reached double digits in the win. Denver Jones scored 11 points, while Chad Baker-Mazara added 10 points for the Tigers. Tre Donaldson scored eight points, while Aden Holloway, Chris Moore, Dylan Cardwell, and Chaney Johnson all contributed seven points. Jayline Williams added six points and K.D. Johnson chipped in four points for Auburn. Florida had four players finish with double figures. Zyon Pullin paced the Gators with 15 points and seven rounds. Walter Clayton Jr. had 13 points, Tyrese Samual scored 12 points and Thomas Haugh added 11 points. Alex Condon and Danzel Aberdeen scored six points each and Will Richard chipped in four points for the Gators. Auburn’s Broome and Baker-Mezara were named to the SEC All-tournament team, along with Florida’s Clayton Jr. Mississippi State's Josh Hubbard and Texas A&M’s Wade Taylor IV also received All-tournament honors. To reach the championship game, Auburn defeated South Carolina 86-55 and Mississippi State 73-66. Florida saw action on four consecutive days in the 2024 tournament. The Gators defeated Georgia 86-67 and rolled past the Alabama Crimson Tide 102-88. Florida then picked up a 95-90 semi-final victory over Texas A&M. Following the SEC Tournament, Auburn earned a No. 4 seed in the 2024 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship when the field of 68 was announced. The Tigers (27-7) earned an automatic bid as the Southeastern Conference Tournament champion and will make their 13th all-time NCAA Tournament appearance next to 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1999, 2000, 2003, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023 and 2024. It was also the program’s fifth berth in the last six tournaments. This is the fourth time in Auburn’s 13 NCAA trips to head out West next to the 1986 first and second rounds in Long Beach, Calif., 2018 first and second rounds in San Diego, Calif., and 2019 first and second rounds in Salt Lake City, Utah. Auburn is No. 4 seed in the East Region and will play 13th-seeded Yale (22-9) on Friday, March 22, at Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena in Spokane, WA. The winner will advance to face either fifth-seeded San Diego State (24-10) or 12th-seeded UAB (23-11) in the second round on Sunday, March 24. The Tigers are 19-12 (.613) all-time in NCAA Tournament games and 7-4 under Pearl. Auburn Wins SEC Tournament Photo By Brandon K. Pierce, The Sports Ledger Auburn's Johni Broome (#4) was named the 2024 Men's SEC Tournament MVP.
Photo By Brandon K. Pierce, The Sports Ledger
Ider's Makinley Traylor attempts a layup during the 2024 Class 2A state semi-final match-up against Luverne. In the state championship game against Mars Hill Bible, MaKinley scored 22 points. For her efforts she was named the Class 2A Varsity Girls MVP. Ider teammates Addisyn Heard and Kennzie Smith joined MaKinley on the All-tournament team. Class 2A Girls MVP Honors Alabama Falls in SEC Quarterfinals win was "very special" for veteran coach Jamie Pruett, who led Ider to a runner-up finish in Class 2A in 2009. “This is a dream come true,” Pruett said. “I’ve always dreamed of winning one of these things."
The No. 19 Alabama men’s basketball team fell to Florida, 102-88, in the 2024 SEC Tournament quarterfinals. “This certainly was not the outcome we were expecting or hoping for. You have to give Florida a lot of credit, they played us very well in two games during the regular season. I thought we had a good start to the game, then they adjusted, and we lost the mentality to put them away early," commented Alabama Head Coach Nate Oats. The loss marked head coach Oats’ first loss in the city of Nashville since arriving in Tuscaloosa. Previously, Oats was 6-0 at the SEC Tournament in Nashville and is 4-0 when his teams have played at Vanderbilt. Overall, the Crimson Tide is now 6-2 (.750) in SEC Tournament contests under Coach Oats. Alabama got off to a fast start, scoring the game’s first eight points to force an early Florida timeout at the 18:06 mark. After trading baskets, the Gators broke the stalemate with a 10-0 run to take their first lead of the game at the under four-minute media timeout. Florida continued its run by scoring 11 of the next 13 points, making it a 21-2 run that turned a 31-27 Alabama lead into a 48-33 halftime deficit. In the second half, Florida extended the lead to as many as 24 points on several occasions. Alabama attempted a late rally and was able to cut the lead to 12 points, 96-84, with just under a minute remaining. However, the Crimson Tide could not get any closer as Florida held on for the SEC Tournament victory. Mark Sears paced the Crimson Tide (21-11) with 22 points, while teammate Nick Pringle earned his second consecutive double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Florida was held to just 24 percent (6-25) from three- point range, making it the sixth time this season, and third time overall that has happened against the Gators. Walter Clayton Jr. paced the Gators (23-10) with 23 points. It was Florida highest-scoring SEC Tournament game in program history. "Alabama is a great team, but we beat them pretty comfortably," said Florida Coach Todd Golden. "I thought it was a great effort from our group."
Photo Courtesy of Alabama Athletics Alabama's Sam Walters attempts a jump shot during the 2024 SEC tournament game against Florida.
Made with FlippingBook interactive PDF creator