Photo: Gadsden City’s Quinton Densmore (13) and Etowah’s Ollie Finch (23) battles for a rebound during the Titans’ 77-65 victory in the Gadsden Area Christmas Classic championship game last Monday (Dec. 30). (Gary Wells)
By Chris McCarthy, Publisher/Editor
For the second year in a row, the Gadsden City High boys basketball team defending its home court in the Gadsden Area Christmas Classic.
Sparked by a potent perimeter game, the Titans took control midway through the first quarter on the way to a 77-65 victory over Etowah in the tournament championship game last Monday (Dec. 30) at GCHS.
Gadsden City (13-6) knocked down nine three-point baskets in the first half en route to a 52-39 halftime lead. Senior guard Cam Williams canned five of those treys on the way to a team-high 17 points.
The hosts shot 83 per-cent from downtown, a number that head coach Reginald Huff said was not unexpected.
“One thing we do is develop shooters; every year we’re going to have some guys who can put it up. Etowah did an excellent good job of pressuring us and making us get back on defense, but our guys didn’t fold and made some big shots when we needed them.
I thought we played much better this whole tournament in getting up and down the floor and using our quickness and speed to our advantage. I think our guys gained some confidence these last couple of weeks in practice.”
Also for Gadsden City, Trey Woods finished with a double double of 16 points and 10 assists, while DeMarcus Macon contributed 13 points, eight rebounds and five steals.
Tournament MVP Quin-ton Densmore scored all six of his points in the first quarter, during which the lead changed nine times until the hosts put together a 16-5 run that gave GCHS a 28-17 advantage after eight minutes.
A pair of free throws by Trent Davis at the five-minute mark of the second period pulled the Blue Devils within 37-30, but the Titans closed out the first half with a 15-9 stretch that made it 52-39 at intermission.
Respective three-point scores from Brady Troup, Trent Davis and NyNy Davis helped keep the visit-ors within nine points for much of the third quarter, but Williams’ basket in the closing seconds provided GCHS with a double-digit lead that held up the rest of the way.
Trent Davis scored 19 points for Etowah (4-6), followed by Ollie Finch with 15.
Etowah head coach James Graves said that the Titans’ sharpshooting, especially early in the game, hampered his team’s cause.
“Honestly, were didn’t expect them to shoot the ball like they did. It’s hard to beat anybody if they make in 3’s in one half. If we had done that, we would have been up [by] 15 or 20 points. I guarantee you that when I go back and look at the film, we missed at least 10 wide open layups, so that’s 20 points right there. Hats off [to Gadsden City], and we’ll just get back to the drawing board tomorrow and go to work.”
Joining Densmore on the all-tournament team were DeMarcus Macon and Trey Woods from Gadsden City; Trent Davis and Brady Troup from Etowah; Colton Morrison from Southside; Joe Tucker from Westbrook Christian; Eli Pearce from West End; Nick Lewis from Gaston; Evan Delp from Coosa Christian; Caleb Wilson from Glencoe; Caleb McGinnis from Hokes Bluff; and Jay Owens from Sardis.