Lorenzo Smothers leads Marion County to Shaw Christmas championship for Group B

It was as if a page had been taken right out of the Marion County football team's playbook.

With under 20 seconds remaining and the Eagles holding a six-point lead over Russell County, sophomore Quentez Battle, who also plays quarterback in the fall, took the ball out of bounds for Marion County. After lulling the Russell County defenders, who were in a full-court press, closer to the ball, Lorenzo Smothers took off down the court on a go-route. Battle lobbed a perfect pass to Smothers, who caught the ball in stride and laid it in to seal the Eagles' 68-60 victory in the boys Group B championship game of the Shaw Christmas Tournament at the Lumpkin Center.

It was the last of a series of plays by Smothers late in the game to help give Marion County a victory. There were the 11 points he scored in the third to turn a four-point deficit at halftime into a six-point lead going into the fourth. Then there was the three-point play he completed to make it 66-60 after Russell County had cut the Eagles' lead from 12 to three with just 32 seconds remaining.

"He means so much, I'll tell you," Marion County coach Wayne Johnson said after the game. "That's the key thing, making sure he gets the ball, and we know he can make things happen when he does. He's an outstanding player."

Smothers finished with 34 points in the game. He got help from Hykeem Waltons' 14 points and Josh Rodgers' 11. Jalen Tullis, who finished with five, hit a big three-pointer to make it a 12-point lead with 1:35 remaining in the game, as well.

"We always want Lorenzo to penetrate, but if it's not there, he knows he can kick it to those other guys and they'll get their shots off."

Russell County was led in the loss by Dequel Jones' 16 points and Damon Lloyd's 15.

Johnson said the tournament victory would be a huge boost for Marion County as it begins its region schedule after the holidays.

"It's a big lift," he said. "We're going to start region play next week, and these kids are going to have a lot of confidence going into that. We're looking forward to the rest of the year."

LANETT 45, SPENCER 19: It wasn't the result Spencer coach Zen McGill nor her players were looking for in the championship game of the girls Group B tournament. The team had played impressively in its first two games of the tournament, but made just six total field goals in a 45-19 loss to Lanett in the championship game.

"I don't know if it was nerves or what, we just weren't executing," McGill said. "We just need to go back to the film and watch to see what went wrong."

Despite the loss, she said she thought the experience of making it to the championship game would prove to be a big moment for her team.

"It means a lot to us because we haven't had a lot of chances like this," she said. "To just be here on the court today was a great experience for the girls."

J'Kierreia Garrett led Spencer with 10 points. Ataiya Bridges, who connected on three first-quarter 3-pointers, led all scorers with 21 points for Lanett.

Wednesday at the Lumpkin Center

BoysRussell County 19 8 9 24--60

Marion County 10 13 19 26--68

Russell County (60)

Dequel Jones 16, Damon Lloyd 15, Barnes 6, Thomas 6, Randolph 5, Puckett 4, Trawick 4, Hicks 2.

Marion County (68)

Lorenzo Smothers 34, Hykeem Walton 14, Josh Rodgers 11, Tullis 5, Battle 4.

GirlsSpencer 1 7 5 6--19

Lanett 11 8 18 8--45

Spencer (19)

J'Kierreia Garrett 10, Khora George 4, Coleman 4, Simmons 1.

Lanett (45)

Ataiya Bridges 21, Sharpe 6, Coty 4, Broughton 4, Hutchinson 4, Martin 2, Sprayberry 2, Jordan 2.

This story was originally published December 23, 2015 at 7:26 PM with the headline "Lorenzo Smothers leads Marion County to Shaw Christmas championship for Group B ."