Tigres stays one game away from Birmingham in the subregional
Posted 10:45 am Tuesday, February 14, 2023
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Chilton County High School’s Iasia Anderson shoots a jump shot over a Briarwood Christian School defender. (CAREY REEDER | ANNOUNCER)
Trinity Pulliam of the Tigers scrambles for space looking for a rebound. (CAREY REEDER | ANNOUNCER)
Ivyonna Varner closely defends a Briarwood guard. (CAREY REEDER | ANNOUNCER)
By Carey Reeder | staff writer
Chilton County High School’s varsity girls’ basketball came within one game of Birmingham falling 56-44 to Briarwood Christian School at home on February 13. Trinity Pulliam posted a near triple-double in the final game of her high school career with 18 points, 15 rebounds and nine blocks.
Briarwood jumped out to an early 5-0 lead and didn’t look back in a string-to-string victory.
CCHS finishes the season with a 23-9 record and an AHSAA Class 6A Area 5 title on their resume.
“This meant a lot, and no one knows how hard this team worked from the beginning of June until the end of the season,” CCHS coach Rickey Pulliam said. “Everything I asked them to do they stepped in and did… No team deserves their record more. Tonight didn’t go the way we wanted, but there isn’t a group of girls I’d rather coach those girls.”
The Tigers’ Iasia Anderson hit a jumper to cut the lead to 13-8 in the first quarter, but Briarwood’s 3-pointer as time expired gave them an eight-point lead.
Anderson and Ivyonna Varner hit 3-pointers early in the second quarter to cut the lead to three points. Anderson had 15 points, 10 rebounds and three assists. Varner had seven points and three rebounds and assists.
However, Briarwood managed the rest of the quarter, extending their lead to 13 before holding a 29-20 lead at halftime.
“We knew they could shoot all three, come out and run the ball and pick up the pace,” Rickey Pulliam said. “We were trying to wear them down with our pressure, but things didn’t go as we expected.”
Briarwood kept their foot on the gas in the third and fourth quarters taking their biggest lead of the game at 50-30 with six minutes left in the game.
“We just never got over that lead,” Rickey Pulliam said.
Trinity Pulliam was hampered by foul trouble at certain points in the game, and Briarwood was also able to put double team pressure on Anderson.
The Tigers found their position offensively the best late in the fourth quarter cutting the lead to 12 points, but the lead built throughout the game proved too much to overcome.
The loss snapped an 11-game winning streak for CCHS and its first loss of the calendar year.
“It says a lot about their work ethic, and I’m proud of them, they gave it all up,” said Rickey Pulliam. “I think they brought the community together and the community support was great. I want to thank everyone in the Clanton community… I think this girl’s team is the best in (program) history, and that’s a lot to be proud of.”