Photo: Gadsden City’s Devin Barksdale (4) leans into a jump shot as Huffman’s Timothy Austin (12) and Antonio Hill (10) look on during the Titans’ 60-46 victory in the Northeast Regional Tournament basketball semifinals on Monday, Feb. 17 at Jacksonville State. (Chris McCarthy/Messenger)
By Chris McCarthy/Publisher
Whatever else is in store for Gadsden City
this postseason, the Titans proved on Monday, Feb. 17 that they are among the cream of the crop in Class 6A basketball.
Facing a Huffman squad that ended the regular season as the No.1 ranked team in the state and beat GCHS by 15 points earlier this season, Gadsden City (21-11) took the Viking best shot and delivered a knockout blow on the way to a 60-46 victory in the Northeast Regional Tournament semifinals at Jacksonville State.
The Titans will play for their region championship since 2016 against Oxford on Thursday, Feb. 20.
“We were prepared for this atmosphere, and I thought we played extremely well,” said GCHS head coach Raphael Graves. “We knew it was going to be a packed house, and I though our kids kept their poise under the circumstances. We got to play Huffman twice earlier in the season, which paid dividends because we got to see what tendencies they had and how we could possibly exploit them. 6A is the deepest classification in all of AHSAA basketball, and you have to be mentally prepared to play in that environment.”
The score was tied seven time and the lead changed hands five times before Gadsden City began to pull away in the early stages of the fourth quarter. After Peyton Wiggins’ basket pulled the Vikings within 44-42 with 4:34 remaining, the Titans put together a 14 to 4 run that was capped by Jakobi Sharp’s jump shot with less than two minutes to play. The key part of that stretch was when Devin Barksdale was fouled while attempting a three-point basket. The senior point guard sank all three foul shots to provide the Titans with their first double digit lead of the game at 52-42.
“When Devin made those free throws right there, it gave us some separation and made Huffman play more desperate,” said Graves.
Huffman managed only one field goal the rest of the game. Sharpe iced the win by going 4-for-4 at the free throw line over the final 90 seconds. GCHS shot 82 percent at the foul line in the second half.
Barksdale paced the Titans with 18 points, followed by Sharp with 17 and Franklin with 13. Sharp pulled down 10 rebounds, followed by Keshawn Curry with six and Barksdale with five. Sharp and Barksdale both had two blocks.
Wiggins led Huffman with 14 points, while Kevon Walker added 13.
The teams traded baskets for the better part of the first half, with neither squad leading by more than five points. Gadsden City led 12-11 after one quarter. The Titans went ahead 18-13 at one point during the second period before a foul shot by Antonio Hill closed the gap to one point. Kai Franklin’s basket with five second remaining provided GCHS with a 24-21 advantage at the half.
Franklin netted seven points during the third quarter to help extend Gadsden City’s lead to eight, but the Vikings finished off the period with a 9 to 4 stretch that narrowed the gap to 38-37 heading into the fourth quarter.
“We started back in February and March on putting a plan in of getting back here,” said Graves. “Our kids brought into it, and here we are. When you get to this point, you’re able to see how the other players and coaches react under this kind of pressure.”
Gadsden City and Oxford did not play each other in the regular season.
“With Oxford, we know all of them and they know all of us, so it will be a fun matchup to see who gets to go to Birmingham,” said Graves.
