Tharptown’s boys couldn’t overcome a slow start in Tuesday night’s sub-regional game at Area 12 champion Meek, falling 76-54 and finishing one game shy of Hanceville.
The Wildcats (11-17) trailed 23-8 at the end of one quarter. Meek (25-5) stretched the lead to 27-9 early in the second before Tharptown closed the half on a 16-6 run to get within eight at 33-25.
Meek pushed the lead back into double-digits early in the third quarter and then coasted to the win, earning a date with South Lamar on Friday in the Northwest Regional semifinals.
Senior guard Aaron Creasy led Tharptown on Tuesday with 15 points. Sophomore post player Edward Lopez added 12, and senior forward Cole Daniel had 10. Senior guard Levi McCormack finished with nine points, and senior post player Misael Saldana added eight.
Daniel reached double-figures in 22 of the Wildcats’ 28 games this year and finished the season averaging a team-best 13.0 points per game. McCormack hit a three in Tuesday’s third quarter, giving him at least one three-pointer in every game this season. He made 68 threes on the year and finished second on the team in scoring at 12.9 points per game.
Jacob Woodard led Meek with 16 points.
