Wallace State Lady Lions continue postseason surge into ACCC title game; top-seeded WSCC men upset in closing seconds

HANCEVILLE, ALA. – A familiar sight will take place Friday afternoon in the women’s Alabama Community College Conference (ACCC)/Region 22 tournament championship game.
The Wallace State Lady Lions (14-19) prolonged their impressive tournament run on Thursday, reeling off their third consecutive postseason win with a 56-47 victory over division foe Snead State.
Wallace State freshman guard Kelsey Houston continued her strong postseason with 10 points, Jemaiya Lee also added 10, and the Lady Lions punched their ticket to their second straight ACCC/Region 22 tournament championship game and fourth in five seasons under coach Ron Burdette.
Wallace State, the No. 6 seed, will play top-seeded and 5^th-ranked Shelton State on Friday at 4 p.m. It will mark the third time since 2012 the rivals have met in the ACCC tournament final. Shelton State (30-1) was a 111-49 winner over Wallace-Selma in Thursday’s other semifinal game.
“To see our team in the championship game is really gratifying. They know this thing is not over, but to see them so excited is wonderful. They’ve accomplished a lot this tournament. The reward in coaching is to see the excitement on their faces and to see them succeed and excel. I couldn’t be prouder of them,” said Burdette, whose team has matched its longest winning streak of the season. “We have a taste of what March basketball is about and seem to like it. We are going to go round three with Shelton State in the finals like we usually seem to do.”
Wallace State and Snead State were tied three times in the first quarter on Thursday, including being notched at 10-all after the opening 10 minutes.
The teams were also tied at 12-12 with 8:57 remaining in second quarter before Wallace State put together the most significant run of the first half. The Lady Lions scored six consecutive points to grab an 18-12 lead with 4:45 to go before the half. Morgan Higgins hit a pair of layups and Lee added a jumper during the stretch.
Snead State answered back with a 9-3 run, tying the game at 21-all with 1:41 left before intermission.
Wallace State’s Alex Lowery made a baseline jumper with 40 seconds remaining to regain a 23-21 edge for the Lady Lions. Wallace State carried that lead into the locker room at the half.
Wallace State sustained its momentum in the third quarter. Houston drained a 3-pointer for Wallace State with a little more than three minutes to go, extending the Lady Lions’ cushion to 32-24, and D’Andrea Smith followed with a 3-pointer from the right corner, pushing the advantage to double digits at 35-24.
Wallace State led 39-32 after three quarters and never relinquished it the rest of the way. The Lady Lions maintained as much as an eight-point lead in the fourth quarter. Snead State rallied to within three points with 1:28 remaining, but Wallace State’s Lee drained a pair of free throws two seconds later to eliminate any additional Lady Parsons’ threats.
Houston has now nailed 15 3-pointers in three postseason games for the Lady Lions. Higgins finished with nine points and seven rebounds for Wallace State and Alex Lowery added seven.
“We had to call upon some people today who don’t normally log a lot of minutes. They all stepped up,” Burdette. “I’m especially happy for Hannah Vest. She’s the lone sophomore on the team and wants to win as much as anyone.”
Wallace State opened the postseason last Friday with a play-in victory at Chattahoochee Valley, and the Lady Lions knocked off Southern Union in Tuesday’s quarterfinal round.
Snead State (21-12) was led by Danielle Jordan’s 20 points in the loss.
Men’s Basketball
Shelton State 58, No. 19 Wallace State 57
Jarin Hilson’s layup with 47.5 seconds remaining was the eventual game-winner for Shelton State, sending the third-seeded Bucs to a 58-57 upset over top-seeded Wallace State in the ACCC/Region 22 tournament semis on Thursday night at Tom Drake Coliseum.
Wallace State, which overcame as much as a 14-point deficit in the first half, seized a 57-56 edge with 3:06 remaining in the game on an Xavier Mills’ 3-pointer. Hilson’s layup was the lone basket for the rest of the game, however, as Shelton State escaped to Friday’s ACCC title game after a Mills’ 3-point attempt rimmed out for Wallace State as time expired.
Wallace State had an impressive season come to an end earlier than planned. The Lions (26-6) were the ACCC regular season champions and were seeking their third conference title in the past five seasons under coach John Meeks. Thursday marked only the team’s second loss at home this season.
Mills led Wallace State in the loss with 17 points. The sophomore point guard from North Carolina scored 14 of his 17 points in the second half. Derylton Hill added 11 points for the Lions, Kylen Butler had eight and Marcus Barham scored seven.
Hilson led all scorers with 18 points, hitting three 3-pointers for Shelton State (23-10) in the first half. Chris Dudley added 11.
Shelton State (23-10) charged out to a 14-4 advantage less than four minutes into the game and led 28-14 with 9:14 remaining in the first half.
Wallace State kept the Bucs scoreless over the next seven minutes, cutting its deficit to four points with 2:43 to go before the half. Shelton State’s Luke Musselwhite hit a 3-pointer with 1:56 left to end the scoring drought, and the Bucs led 31-24 at the half.
Wallace State chipped away and chipped away some more at its deficit in the second half. Mills scored five consecutive points during a late stretch, handing
Wallace State its lone lead of the game with 3:06 remaining.
Hilson answered with the final bucket of the contest.
It was the final game at Wallace State for the following sophomores: Mills, Barham, Hill, Butler, Immanuel King, Darren Williams and Tyrell Clary.
Shelton State plays Marion Military Institute for the men’s championship at 6:30 p.m. on Friday. It will be the third meeting between the teams this season.
For more information on the tournament, visit www.wallacestate.edu/accctourney or www.acccathletics.com.
For more information about Wallace State athletics, visit http://athletics.wallacestate.edu/