Schools
Brown's 21 Points Not Enough for Pope in Loss to Alexander
The Greyhounds led by 14 points in the first half, but couldn't hold on for the win.
The Pope Greyhounds suffered their first region loss, and just their third defeat of the season Thursday with a disheartening home loss to Alexander. Pope led by as many as 14 points in the first half, but the lead evaporated in the third quarter and Alexander held on for a 52-48 win.
Pope guard Garrett Brown owned the first two quarters as he hit three 3-pointers and poured in 16 of his game high 21 points. But Alexander locked down on him and the rest of the Greyhounds as they managed just two field goals in the third quarter.
“They did a great job defensively. He (Alexander head coach David Cottrell) had a great game plan and they executed their game plan pretty well,” said Pope head coach Pat Abney. “But it was a combination. We didn’t shoot the ball well, but that had a lot to do with their defense.”
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The game was tied after three quarters, but Pope briefly righted the ship to take a 46-42 lead with 3:24 left in the game. But Alexander scored the game’s next eight points, including two clutch free throws by guard Avery Patterson with seven seconds remaining.
“Alexander took it. They won the game. They played better than we did in the second half for sure,” Abney said. “We typically play hard and out-hustle people, but they out-hustled us in the second half. To their credit they made the shots down the stretch and we didn’t. They deserved to win. We didn’t play well enough to win.”
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Alexander’s Deandre Harper was a force on the offensive and defensive interior as he posted 20 points and 19 rebounds for the Cougars.
Austin Card was the only other Greyhound in double figures. He finished with 11 points.
Abney tried to keep the loss in perspective.
“This is our first region loss. I tried to make sure our guys understood we’re not going to allow one poor, really the second half to affect what we’ve done so far,” he said. “I don’t think any of us expected to go undefeated in the region. That wasn’t one of our goals. One of our goals was to win the region regular-season title, and that’s still out there.”
Pope will be back in action Saturday when the Greyhounds travel to Walton. That game is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.