McGill-Toolen 64, Fairhope 52: Dozier, Cooney lead Yellow Jackets to Area 2 final

Deion Dozier and Logan Cooney each had 18 points as No. 6 Class 7A ranked McGill-Toolenovercame an early deficit to bounce back and defeat Fairhope, 64-52, Wednesday evening in the Class 7A Area 2 tournament semifinals.

 

Paris Chambers and Rene Scott added 10 points apiece for the Yellow Jackets (26-4).

 

Things didn't look good initially as McGill fell behind early 7-0 to start the game. The Yellow Jackets quickly rallied however, going up 18-15 over the Pirates at the end of the first quarter .

 

"They're a great team," said McGill coach Philip Murphy of Fairhope. "We fell behind early 7-0 but then we responded well. We kind of settled in a little bit and made the adjustments that we needed to make. We were able to get the ball inside and (that was a big key for us)."

 

By halftime, the Yellow Jackets had jumped ahead 40-24.

 

For Fairhope (18-10), Tevin Brown had a game-high 26 points, including six three-pointers while Philip Martin had 15.

 

"He's only a sophomore," said Murphy of Brown. "He made those six 3-pointers and I don't think any of them were uncontested. He had a hand in his face every time that he shot the ball. Fairhope just has a solid team. I was nervous about them. This was a big win for us."

 

McGill now moves on to the championship game against Murphy Saturday night at 7:30 p.m.

 

"Murphy has a great team too," said Murphy. "Coach (Tim) Waller does a great job with them. We're just going to have to match their intensity. Anytime Murphy and McGill-Toolen play with anything riding on it, then it's extra special. We've got our work cut out for us on Saturday against Murphy."