Florence Falcons Basketball vs. Buckhorn 11/18/25

[0:00] It's time for Florence Falcons Basketball on Sports Radio 93.9 The Score. Florence Falcons Basketball on 93.9 The Score is brought to you by Florence Utilities, Florence City Schools, the law firm of Johnson Pasture, Medley and Birchall, Lost Pizza, North Alabama Bone and Joint Clinic, TNT Fireworks, Yogurt Mountain, Whataburger, Singing River Dentistry, Bank Independent, Irons Electric, Cypress Creek Indoor Range and Hinegar Johnson and Layton Insurance. Now let's go live to Courtside. Here's the voice of the Falcons, Kevin Johnson. And good evening today. We welcome you here from the coffee gym on the home opener for the Florence Falcons as they get ready to take on the Bucs of Buckhorn High School. Looking forward to that one today.

Getting ready to be joined now by the head coach of the Florence Falcons, Coach Dylan Burkson, getting the headset here. We got him all lined up as he comes courtside. Coach, welcome home. Welcome back to the coffee gym season over. It's got to be fun tonight. It's a great night. Back in coffee gymnasium, back in Florence. Guys are excited. We're excited. We're ready to compete. It is a time to compete. You talk about competition. You started out the early year with the toughest competition around. Huntsville, then Albertville, now Buckhorn. That's a good way to find out where your team is. Definitely. And, you know, we knew going into the season, you know, we wanted to be in some spots where we might be exposed a little bit, stuff that we've got to work on. You know, tonight I think it's one of those games where we don't have to necessarily reinvent the wheel.

We've got to go play better. We've got to have some guys step up. So another good opportunity, another good opponent. Buckhorn's 2-0. We haven't lost, we've only lost two home games here in two years. So something's going to give tonight. So we're excited. What do you like about your team that you've seen early on? Really like the way that we've been able to come out in the first quarter and set the tone. We were up 16-11 against Albertville. We're only down two against Huntsville. Got to continue to sustain the second quarter. Let's sustain runs if we can put a complete four-quarter game. Like where we're at. Coach, best of luck tonight, okay? Appreciate it. The head coach of the Florence Falcons. You're listening to the TNT fireworks pregame show. Falcon basketball returns in one minute.

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This is Miranda Haddock with the Florence Education Foundation. We invite you to support our friends of the foundation campaign. As a friend of the foundation, you can contribute any amount to help fund classroom needs in Florence city schools. Please visit our website at FlorenceEducationFoundation.org to explore our new giving levels and the added perks available. We want to wish Coach Burleson and the entire Falcon basketball team good luck this season. Welcome back to the TNT Fireworks pregame show. Florence Falcons basketball. Kevin Johnson, glad to be with you here courtside at the coffee gym for Florence and Buckhorn tonight. What a great matchup this will be for high school basketball just getting underway in the first week of the season. It'll be a lot of fun and joined now by our color analyst good friend Mike Albertson. Mike, a long football season. Now we turn our attention to round ball and we're coming off a great season last year. That is something you have to at least mention. I didn't say it to the coach. I know he's already turned the page, but you and I can talk about it a minute. What a season that turns it into this next season.

It was a phenomenal season, a season to remember for sure that, you know, the foundation's been set and where the Falcons go from here, you know, time will tell. However, you know, I mean, it was just a few short months ago. It felt like that we were sitting there and it was the first time that we were fans. Yeah. And that was a different feeling. We had nerves. We had, there was more, there was more to it than usual. So just being able to sit back and watch as a fan, watching these young men really compete in that final four situation was something that I'll remember forever.

And let's say this, getting to the state championship game, that's the smallest school in 7A last year. If nothing else, it puts your program on the map statewide that this team can play. And I think that's what Dylan Burleson's done. Oh, absolutely. You know, and coach Mullen said it, you know, in the off season, he's like, look, this, this is a, you know, this is the, this is the rewind. We're, we're trying to do this again and show everybody it's not a fluke because this program is for real. And they've really turned some, some corners and taking steps forward. You know, we don't, we may not have the personnel that we have last year, but these, these players in this program are feeling very comfortable and confident in what they're able to do on the court.

[5:05] Jayshod Pearson, JC I'm paying two guys returning from last season's team. They gave a lot of minutes to that team from the 2024, 20 or 25 team. Now in the 25, 26 season, they're going to have to be leaders. Oh, absolutely. And you know, we've, we've seen Jayshod grow as a leader, as the, as the, as the season has gone on during the basketball season last year. And then football this year, you know, he took another step forward. This is, this is really his team, you know, really and truly as the point guard, it's, it's time. And, and I remember that, you know, he struggled at one point in the, in the final four and he really stepped it up in that final game and did quite well. And, you know, he, he took it, he took it to heart. He's a young man, he's a competitor. And, uh, you know, and then you had JC on pain who really came off the bench and did a great job here for the Falcons. Having him as having those quality minutes, knowing what it's like when the lights are the brightest is definitely huge.

I agree with that. Totally. And the Falcons warming up to my left, but going to our right, let's sneak in one, a one minute break. You're listening to the TNT fireworks pregame show. We're back in one minute. Hello, my name is Deborah Bell Passuer and I'm an attorney with the law firm of Johnson, Passuer, Medley and Burchill. Please don't call an out of town lawyer when you can call our law firm, which has over 100 years of combined experience in all areas of the law. Check us out first. Please call me, Leslie Johnson, Keith Medley, Adam Burchill at 256-766-3131. We are proud to be a sponsor of Florence High School Athletics. No representation is made that the quality of legal services to be performed is greater than the quality of legal services performed by other lawyers. At North Alabama Bone and Joint Clinic, our shoals roots run deep. We provide quick access and familiar, friendly faces so you never have to feel just like a number. From sports medicine to joint replacement, expert care happens right here at home. As UNA Athletics' choice for orthopedics and the trusted orthopedic team of the show's families for over 30 years, North Alabama Bone and Joint Clinic is here for you. Learn more at nabjc.com.

Back at the coffee gym here, Florence, Alabama, campus of Florence Middle School. Kevin Johnson, Mike Albertson with you on the TNT fireworks pregame show. Florence hosting Buckhorn in the season opener at home. Florence 0-2 coming into this game with losses to Huntsville and Alperville on the road last week. And then Buckhorn 2-0 with wins over Grissom and also a win over Ramsey. Buckhorn's a very good team and led by Lee Garcia, who Mike, honestly, already a UAH commitment. Where's number 23? He can shoot it from anywhere in the gym. He is a very prolific score. And you already have a commitment to a place like UAH. You've got to be pretty good on the offensive end. Oh, absolutely. You know, and when you see players like that that already have commitments to the next level, you know, early on in the season, I mean, you can almost tell right away just by looking at him, you can tell a ball player right there. And so just watching him move around the court and everything, you know, the Falcons, the Falcons have their hands full with that, with that young man for sure. And one thing about it tonight, Florence playing a little shorthanded. Three players not dressed out tonight. Jaden White, Kevante Green, Bo Burski. That's three big guys from football that are still recovering from some injuries and some things. So they're not back yet.

They're here, but they're going to be on the team. But this Lawrence team is not the same as last year, not as tall, maybe 6'2", 6'3", without those guys. So size will be a difference if we've gone up against two taller teams than we will again tonight. You know, that's the name of the game is matchups, right? So, you know, yeah, we don't match up well as far as height and all that other stuff, but it's doing the little things. It's that blue collar work that that coaches is forever talking about that the Falcons really got to get down and get the best out of themselves. And that's doing all the little things right. You know, you may be outsized, but you can do a lot of things skill-wise on the court that'll mitigate a lot of that. Both teams returning to the bench. We're getting close for starting lineups to be introduced here at courtside here at the coffee gym. It's going to be a good crowd on hand tonight. Florence will be on the road Thursday night at Spartan. Our next broadcast will be a week from tonight, if I'm not mistaken. We'll have that one for you, but I won't be able to do the Thursday night game. So we'll try to get one more in before the Thanksgiving break. If I'm not mistaken, we're going to have that. We'll make sure of that. We'll keep you updated on that as well here at the coffee. Everybody getting ready for the national anthem. We'll do the same. Looking forward to a great game tonight. The TNT fireworks pregame show comes to close. Now we'll be back after this three minute timeout.

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Back at the coffee gym, Kevin Johnson and Mike Albertson for Florence and Buckhorn. Starting lineup is being introduced by the Bucks right now. Drake Allen will get the start. You'll be one of the guards along with Caden Cantrell, a great shooter from outside, the big man inside, one of the big men inside, Bryson Spencer. He's a power forward. You'll be joined along with Parker Melton and then their prolific scorer, Lee Garcia, averaging about 14 a game, already a commit to UAH. So it'll be Allen Cantrell, Spencer, Melton, and Garcia for Coach Cody Martin and his Buckhorn Bucks.

Now, the starting lineup will be introduced here courtside for the Florence Falcons. Ty Jones will get the start. Taylin will come in and wear number zero, six foot two. Jayceon Payne will get the start. Had great minutes last season. We expect him to do that again. He goes right at six foot tall. Only a junior. The point guard, Jayshod Pearson, one of the best in the state. He proved it last year. He'll do the same this year. Averaging in double figures in the first two games for Florence, five, nine, and a senior.

Cooper Fulmer will get the start, the senior. A shooter from outside. He'll wear number five. And Jayden Irons will play the post. About six foot two, playing the post today. He'll have the guards, six, five, and six, eight. Florence going a little undersized tonight. So Jayden Irons, though, will do it. So it'll be Irons, Fulmer, Pearson Payne, and Jones for Coach Dylan Burleson in his third season at the Florence Falcons. And what a career he's had already for Florence. And he's looking forward to this as well.

Florence will be wearing the home white, blue numerals, blue checks going down the side. Dylan Burleson in his coaching attire. As for the rest of the coaches, gray pants, black with a Falcon emblem. He doesn't have a sports coat yet. That's later in the year. That's when we get that stretch run. Buck Horn will be in the Navy with gold and white trim, white numbers. Florence going right to left. It'll be Jones jumping center against Garcia. And the six-foot-eight Garcia, or six-five Garcia, will get the tap for the Bucks.

And Florence opens man-to-man. Top of the key, driving in the lane, and a quick whistle right there. A handshake called on Fulmer. And that was the right call. Fulmer got beat off the dribble there. He was fighting to get back in the position and bumped him with the body. It was an easy call. Allen to Garcia. Garcia comes all the way up top, gets a double screen. That's a moving screen. They got Melton there for coming around with the right elbow. He looked like a Texas A&M policeman there for a minute.

[15:44] You know what? That's a great analogy right there. That's a great analogy right there. That's sort of what it was. Excuse me. No offense to that, but that was sort of an ironic thing this week in football. Here comes Pearson. Front court. Threw it away almost, but retrieved by Payne. Payne to Irons. Back to Payne. Three. On the way, no in and out won't go. Fulmer fought for the rebound. Couldn't get it. Saved in bounds. Buckhorn will have it. Garcia will get it. Get it to his point guard here.

Bringing up the floor is Cantrell. Cantrell's a scorer, too. You got to know where he is at all times. Now Garcia got a lane. In the lane. Floater up. Bouncing. It wouldn't go. Tipped around. Nice job by Lawrence, but it goes right back to Garcia. And pickpocket by Pearson. Here comes Jayshod with him. Weaving through traffic. Right hand. Teardrop up. Floater. Good. Boy, he is so good at that. He really understands his game and understands his role. Doesn't he like? He certainly does. And just the way he's able to move his body and use it to his advantage is great.

Garcia shows why he's so good. Gets the one-on-one move. Ties it up at two. Florence goes the other way. Goes up with irons. Run out. No good. But the ball is tapped out of bounds. Last touch by the Bucs. It'll stay with Florence. Fast action. Both teams will want to run when they can. It's tied at two. 6.48 to go here in the first quarter. Looking to get in bounds. Lobbed in. Irons. Irons to the basket. Blocked by Garcia. It's too much size. Here comes Cantrell with it for the Bucs.

Payne picks him up there. Actually, that's going to be Jones who picked him up. Cantrell lost it and decided him. Jones got the steal for Florence. Left sideline. Gets it to Payne. Got a step. Goes up. Left hand. Left. Good. Boy, he exploded to the lane right there and puts it in. Florence leads it 4-2. That was a great job, J.C., to use his body to shield that defender to give him an easy lane to the basket. Drake Allen with it for the Bucs. Guarded by Payne.

Back door cut. Got a great pass there. And layup. Put it up and in. Good to basket. To Melton. Florence nearly got the steal, but just missed it. Here's J.C. Pearson with it for Florence. Drives. Picks it up. Faves. Had it blocked. Knocked out of bounds. It'll stay with Florence. Rarely do you see J.C. get caught in no man's land. Sort of did right there, but he took advantage of it and still get the ball. Well, you saw him after that play redirecting his players because he knew somebody was out of position there.

That was when he left his feet. There was a guy that was supposed to be there that just wasn't. Pearson lobs it up to Jones, and Jones wisely lets that go to the backcourt before he retrieves it and brings it back up to Pearson. Pearson picked up Cantrell at the top of the key. Cantrell about 6-3. J. shot. 5-9 to 5-10. Right corner, J.C. on Payne has it. On the right wing. Goes to the left side. Free throw line. Goes in the middle. Put it up.

Put it in. Boy, when he gets to that left hand, he's pretty good. He has four. The Falcons 6. Lawrence leads at 6-4. 5-42 and counting here in the first. Cantrell quickly down the floor in the corner. Jumper put up. Roll up in the end. Melton gets the basket. He has four points. And here come the Falcons the other way. Tied at 6. Pace is good. Pace is picked up. Pearson in the lane. Floater up high. No good. Looking for the foul. Couldn't get the call. Rebound taken by the Bucks.

Garcia between the legs dribble. Iron stays with him. Makes him turn left. Makes him turn right. Finally comes across the big court strike. Got a step. Goes in the lane. Left hand left. Scoot. No good. And we're going to get a foul. I think they're going to get Jones. Got the hip check there. Yeah, he, you know, Coach Mullins is telling him, just put your hand straight up there. He was fading away from the basket. Don't jump towards him. The second you jump towards him, if there's any contact whatsoever, it's always going to go to the offensive side.

And a great shooter going to the free throw line. Scouting report says he can shoot it from anywhere. And a guy that can shoot it from anywhere especially can shoot it from the free throw line. First one on the way. I jinxed him. It worked. No good. I did that one on purpose. Substitutions coming in for Florence. JV and Lewis will come into the game along with Cage Roy to join Jones, Pearson, and Payne. 5'13 to go here in the first. Tied at six. Still no good.

But rebound. Tap back out. Garcia gets a second chance. Goes right back to the paint. 15-footer up. He missed it again. Rebound by Jayshod Pearson. Long outlet to Payne. He's by himself. Goes up. Laid it up. And he's fouled. How did Jayshod Pearson seem? I'll never know. But he gets it to Payne. And Payne will go to the line and shoot too. Jayshod knows where his guys are at all times. You can see early on he's directing traffic and doing all the things. You want to talk about the court general.

We're going to see that all year from Jayshod. The lefty, Jayshod Payne, free throw, nets. He has five. One of the problems with this Florence team, though, there's been two of the leading scores. That's Payne and Pearson. Right now, they're the only one with the points. Florence leads at seven, six. Got to find more scores. That one in and out, rolled out. Garcia owning the glass right now for the Bucs and for both teams. And he looks off the floor. Got a man wide open lady.

And Florence went to sleep. And Spencer leaked out behind everyone. And the Bucs take an 8-7 lead. Pearson front court. Man-to-man pressure. They're going to get a foul on Jones. That's number two. Jones just picked up his second. Yeah, you could tell early on the point of emphasis is going to be the screens. You know, he really wasn't set on that one. Stuck his leg out and really leaned into it. The official did a great job of calling that one. Jones will come out. Skipworth will come in.

[21:11] Ball near the stolen way by Roy, but taken right back by the Bucs. On the corner. Step back. Couldn't get the three off. They swing it around. Three on the way by the lefty. Up and good. And that's Cantrell who drains the three. The Bucs have their largest lead at 11-7. 430 and counting. Pearson double team. Picks it back out. Deep three by Payne on the way. Rolled out. No good. And again, Garcia owning the glass at six foot five. And he'll bring it up the floor.

Looking for traffic. Goes left. Spins right. Lays it up. Put it in. That's a good play right there by Garcia. Time out by Dylan Burleson. We'll do the same. Florence trails at 13-7. 411 going to first. Falcon basketball back in 30. Hey, Falcon fans. This is Keith at Cypress Creek Indoor Range. At Cypress Creek Indoor Range, we prepare you to provide your own safety. Cypress Creek Indoor Range team provides you with the knowledge and the right equipment to defend yourself and family. And our state-of-the-art indoor shooting range gives you the perfect place to practice.

You can take your skills to the next level through our extensive training classes or private lessons. At Cypress Creek Indoor Range, your safety is our number one priority. 50-60, Highway 157, or on the web at cypresscreekrange.com. 411 to go here in the first quarter. Buckhorn leaks out to a 13-7 lead. Kevin Johnson, Mike Albertson on the call. On this Tuesday night from Florence, Alabama. Hard to believe we're just nine days away from Thanksgiving. So let me say a happy Thanksgiving to everyone early on. J-shot Pearson going right to the left.

We'll come across the midcourt stripe in a whistle and a foul. And again, a moving screen. They're consistent with it. That was Lewis that picked up the foul. I'll say this. They've called it two on Florence, one on Buckhorn, but they've been consistently calling it. Absolutely. You've got to establish position and stay there. You can't lean into guys. You can't anticipate, you know, the contact there. And that's exactly what happened with the Falcons. Allen brings up the floor for the Bucs. Guarded closely by Cage Roy.

Finally gets rid of it. Pearson now will guard the big man, Garcia. Going inside, Cantrell. No, check that layup. No good. Rebound taken. That's melted. Couldn't make it. Here comes Payne with it up the floor for Florence. He'll pull up in the step in three. Won't go. Rebound taken down by Garcia again. He's already approaching a half a dozen rebounds in the first four minutes of this game. Garcia. Crossover dribble into the paint. Kicks it in the corner. Swing the ball. Good ball. Boom. Allen drives, laid it up.

Wouldn't go, but he's fouled. Body's on the floor, and Allen will go to shoot two. Roy picked up the foul, I believe. Fifth team foul on Florence. Here with 324 to go in the quarter. And Drake Allen to the line to shoot two. First free throw, no good. Mike, with the team fouls at five with 324 to go, that tells you a little bit about your defense still learning where they're at. They're still learning where they're at. They seem to be thinking a little bit too much and drifting with the offense, not establishing position or beating people to the spot.

As the season progresses, look for the Falcons to improve in that area. Allen makes one of two. Substitutes come in. Marvin Petty will come in at guard. And Isaiah Fields at 6'8", will come in at center for the last 323 for the Bucks, it looks like. And now the press, a 1-2-2 press by the Bucks. Payne to Skipworth, back to Payne. Payne in the paint, looking out to Pearson. Pearson free throw line, right back inside. The irons laid it in. Great assist there by Pearson. Full court press by Florence.

They're going to try to turn it up a little bit and make Garcia go full court against Payne. High in the back dribble, gets a step. Florence does a good job of hedging off right there against Garcia. You've got to help a hedge and build a wall with him. Cantrell's a great shooter as well. He goes other side, melting, drives baseline floater, too strong. Rebound, great box out, but it went right to the Bucks and it goes up in the end. Again, that is going to be melting with six points.

Falcons want to push it down the floor and throw it away. So a little out of sync right now, trailing it by a score of 16-9. Let's see what the Falcons can do with this Buckhorn-Buck team that's come out pretty hot early on. Break the press to the Bucks. Good defense for Roy and forces a turnover. Cage Roy stayed with him all the way. You don't have to reach sometimes, Mike. Sometimes you've just got to stay with him a step ahead. Yeah, you've got to stay a step ahead and continue to move your feet, continue to work.

You've got to make these offensive guys do the extra things. And that extra dribble right there just knocked it off his knee and went out of bounds. Jones, Skipworth, Irons, Pearson, and Payne on the floor for Florence. Wearing the home white. Pearson has it in his hands. Yo-yo in the lane. Floater, no good. That was a tough shot. Irons fought for the rebound, but couldn't bring it in. Taken down by the Bucks. The big man there, Isaiah Fields at 6'8". Gets it to the 6'5", Garcia.

[26:17] Garcia can handle it like a guard. He is really impressive. NBA 3 on the way. No good. Rebound, out of bounds. It'll stay with Florence. Or go to Florence. That was a good switch there by Irons and Jones right there. There was a screen, and they did a great job. That was one of those things that you could see some of those plays. These guys are starting to get in sync a little bit. Pearson to Irons at the free throw line. In the corner now, Payne can't get the shot off there.

Payne keeps the dribble alive. Comes all the way back up top. Bounce pass, cross court. Swing it in the corner. Deep 3 on the way by Skipworth. By Jones, excuse me, no good. Jones got the rebound. Back to Skipworth for 3. That one won't go. Rebound taken by the Bucks. Garcia, I guarantee you, has double figures in rebounds already. Melton on the corner. Allen, cross court pass. That's Cantrell. Had it blocked. Tremendous job by the Falcons. And saved in bounds as Jones blocked the 3-pointer. Here comes the Falcons with it across midcourt.

Jay Shod. Bodied up. Gets by his defender. In the lane. Puts it up. No call. Looking for the whistle. Can't get it. Rebound taken by guess who? Garcia. 16-9. Bucks with a lead. Coach Cody Martin says, let's play a little slower here. They floated up to the big man inside fields. He didn't know what to do with it. Might have got away with the travel. Missed it. No good. Rebound tipped out by Jones. And Florence has it. Here comes Payne with it. Payne gets rid of it.

Knocked away. Right here. Courtside. Saved in bounds unbelievably by the Bucks. Now down the floor. Cantrell. Reverse layup. Wild. No good. Melton got it back. And a foul will be called on Florence. And let's be honest with you. The loose ball is starting to go to the Bucks a lot. Faster movement. Down 16-9 is Florence. And to the free throw line again will go the Bucks. We almost had a buck into the table here. Mike, I know you have about 30 that live at your house every night.

We almost had one staying with us. That's a fact. Parker Melton with a free throw. It was a good hustle play along the baseline. But our table got hit and kind of swung out a little bit. And so we were able to mitigate some damage here. But first free throw good there by the Bucks. 17-9. Bucking with the lead. They're 2-0 in the season and playing like it. Free throw again. Good by Melton. That's eight for the night for Melton. And he's not the leading scorer, but he's a double-figure scorer.

He averages 10 a game. So you try to take away Garcia and Cantrell. And Melton lights you up for eight. But he is aggressive with it. And that's where Florence is trying to find that third score to be that guy that takes some pressure off Payne and Pearson. Down by nine with 40 seconds to go. Pearson across midcourt strike to Payne. Against a man-to-man pressure from the Bucks. Bounce pass left side. Irons back to Payne. Thought he could get the shot off. Couldn't do it. Now a deep three on the way by Skipworth.

Missed everything. And it'll go back to Buckhorn. Offense takes a while to get there. We know that. And defense for offense and offense for defense now for the Bucks. They'll bring Melton back in. Florence will pick up full court. And Payne almost stole it. Knocked it off of Buck player and stole it back a second time. Jayceon got it back to Lewis. Back out to Payne. Three on the way. Back rim wouldn't go. And a whistle, a foul. And I think they're finally going to get the Bucks going over the top.

That one will be called against Crutcher. Team's third. That was a good job by JV and Lewis to really be boxing out there. That's how you wound up getting that call. It was just good work underneath on the boards. So far side to inbound. It was 17 seconds to go in the quarter. Down by nine. Jones has to throw it all the way back and backcourt again to Payne. Payne picked up there at midcourt. Goes right. Rejects the screen. Goes baseline. Threw it back out. That's to Jones.

He goes hard to the basket. Blocks. Out of bounds. It'll stay with Florence with 4.4. Fields at 6'8". Not a great offensive player, but he knows how to block shots. Yeah, that kind of length, that ability to redirect shots is so valuable on the defensive end. Jones to inbound. It has a man open the corner. Payne for three. They're going to call an offensive foul. And he's going to wipe off the three-pointer. Lewis once again got it on the moving screen. That's two on him with 3.2 on the clock.

And the Bucs will just hold it, and that'll be the end of one. After one corner, the Bucs on the road lead the Falcons 18-9. This is Talkin' Basketball. We're back in one minute. Getting the kids to practice on time. Remembering if it's your day to bring snacks. Making it to the game with a clean jersey. Why are simple things sometimes so complicated? Thankfully, with auto owners, insurance doesn't have to be one of them. Auto owners works with independent agents who answer when you call, so you can worry about more important things, like whether your kid is going to run toward first or third base.

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For more information. Back at the coffee gym on campus of Florence Middle School. Florence and Buckhorn battling here in varsity boys basketball. The Bucs lead it 18-9, and Mike Albertson could have been 18-12, and it's just little things matter when you're down by nine like that. It certainly does, and, you know, this Falcon team early on, you could see they're figuring some stuff out and really working on some things, but finding those extra scores and working on defense is going to be one of those points of emphasis.

Payne in the corner. Fulmer had a chance to put it up. Can't do it. Got it to Pearson. Pearson lost it. Got it back. Double team. Back to Fulmer. Fulmer lost it. Going off to the left side. Ball tipped around and taken away by the Bucs and a whistle, and they call a foul on Florence. I think they did. I think they're getting five. Fulmer reached in. He lost it and went for the foul. Sometimes when you chase after that ball that you just threw away, you wind up getting a little aggressive trying to get it back, and that's ultimately what was called there.

Petty with it. Gets rid of it now. To Spencer for Buckhorn. Trying to spin against the defender there. Good job by Skipper, actually, by Jones. Jones is showing himself to be a really good defender. Into the lane. El Petty lays it up. Missed it. No good. Tip. No good. Rebound on the floor. Fault for it. Out of bounds. Last touch by the Bucs. I think it'll go back to Florence. Let's see. Irons will come into the game. Roy will come into the game. And for the first time, also tonight, Gabe Johnson went into the game.

And I actually stayed with the Bucs and said it was last touch by Florence. Right now, Dylan Burleson is just looking for something to spark his team. Down by nine. Against a really good Buckhorn team. Quickly Petty to the basket. They're going to call a reaching foul. It's the right call. Roy. Got him on the arm. Mike, let's be honest about this. This Buckhorn team is quick, well coached, and got some size, too. They certainly are. They have a quick first step. The defense, it looks like they're a step behind.

You know, as they're shuffling their feet, you know, early on, Buckhorn has all the advantages. Petty up top. Guarded there by Roy. Petty goes to the right side. Nobody comes to help. Now he goes into the lane, put it up, laid it in. There was no help there. That was one of the keys. And a double-digit lead for the first time tonight for Buckhorn. Roy hands it off to Payne. Back to Roy. Thought about it. Couldn't get the shot off. Hands it off to Pearson. Pearson back to Roy.

Goes baseline. Jump stop. Got it to irons. Good ball movement now. Pearson for three. No good. Rebound. Goes long, but it goes to one Buck player who was sitting there in bunch three. And a whistle and a foul. Maybe a turnover there. Turned over. Goes back to Florence. Give Buckhorn credit, Mike. Loose balls. They've been winning the battle on that, too. That's a big thing when you're down. You've got to win those battles like that. Pearson almost got traveled as well. Gets it to Johnson. To Payne.

Payne open for three. That one's on the way. Back around with go. Rebound. Thought forward taken by Irons. These fouls. He goes up to get it. Fields may have got him. That was quite the collision. Yeah, they were both going for the loose ball. Nice hard play. You know, and it looked like Fields came in just a step late. Irons came in and really had position on that ball. Remember, Florence playing without three post players tonight that will give some minutes. White, green, and Burski. Here's Payne for Florence.

Three on the way. Back room won't go. Nothing falling for Florence. Payne got the rebound back. Goes up. Lays it in. Needed that one there. Desperately to Florence. Break a drought. Cut the lead to 9. 20 to 11. Full court pressure by Florence. Picking up full court man to man. Roy now will pick up Garcia. Garcia with those orange shoestrings on those navy blue uniforms and gold trim. Gets right up to the right side to go into Garcia. He can't get the shot off because Roy stayed with him.

Good defense by Roy right there. Trying to post him up. Pushed off. Didn't get no call. Has to get rid of him. They go inside, though. Lay up, put in. And a nice play right there by Melton. Timeout on the floor. We'll do the same. Florence trails, Buckhorn, 22-11. We're back with Florence Falcon basketball in 30 seconds. This is Miranda Haddock with the Florence Education Foundation. We invite you to support our Friends of the Foundation campaign. As a friend of the Foundation, you can contribute any amount to help fund classroom needs in Florence City schools.

[36:42] Please visit our website at FlorenceEducationFoundation.org to explore our new giving levels and the added perks available. We want to wish Coach Burleson and the entire Falcon basketball team good luck this season. Back at the coffee gym where Florence and Buckhorn battling right now. It's all Bucks who have their antlers going. They lead Florence 22-11. Kevin Johnson, Mike Albertson, and Mike. Early assessments of what's going on in this game when you see it. Florence struggling on the offensive end and not really getting a lot of boards.

Right, and we knew going in, Payne and Pearson are the two main guys that have been able to score early on. But, you know, you're seeing this Falcon defense, you know, really playing at this level, playing really tough teams. And, you know, a lot of these guys weren't at the varsity level last year. We only have a few returning guys. So, they've worked really hard, but now they're getting the game speed down. And you're seeing, like, Buckhorn is really quick, and we feel like we're about a half step slow.

So, as the season goes on, you're going to see a lot of that progression. But early on, you know, this Falcon team, they have all the parts. They just got to be able to put it together. And we saw Coach Burleson do that last year, trying to mix and match and figure out the right lineup. And by the time the game's counted, they did. Pearson to Payne. Back up top to Pearson. Man to man. Got it to Irons. The free throw line. Back to Pearson. He's open for three.

Short. No good. Rush for the tad. Rebound tipped around. Pearson goes for it on the floor. And then they call a foul against, and then they get J-shot. They're getting J-shot on that one. Whoa. It's going against Melt. All right. Melt and push J-shot. They both dove for the ball. So, you know, I don't know how that, I don't know how that worked. But, Buckhorn thought it was against, thought it was against Florence. I'll be honest with you. That was a foul on J-shot. We wound up getting the call early on.

But, you know, it hasn't affected the score much. You know, Buckhorn's up 11 at this point. Cantrell checks back in for the Bucks. Florence will have Irons, Roy, Skipworth, Pearson, and Payne on the floor for the Falcons. Like I said, shorthanded a little bit. Not a big team anyway. But two of your big post players out there. Payne open for three. That one goes. J-shot now unofficially in double figures with 10. Or the Falcons at 14. Garcia at the top of the key. Florence has trimmed it to eight.

Garcia behind the bank dribble, free throw line. Pretty good defense there. Goes inside, lay up, nothing no good. Took around. It's Irons getting the rebound. Look at Jaden Irons using his big body. Gets it to Pearson. Pearson, right side with it. Has to get rid of it. Goes back to the left side. Lost out of bounds and saved the bounds by the Bucks. They'll keep it there. Bucks look to push it up the floor. Garcia in traffic. Picked up again. By Skipworth. He's done a pretty good job against Garcia.

Garcia loves to go left. He makes him go right. Goes back to the right side. Had to put up the shot. Missed it. No good. And, oh, that's a late whistle. And they're going to call that one on Skipworth. Is that on the shot or after? No, they're going to get down on the shot. Oof. Veteran official called that. And he might have been the hand check again. That's that small thing. I don't know. You don't know about that one. That was a four shot at best.

And that has not been called. That four shot. Pearson had done that a couple times early on. That he did not get the call. I mean, tough one. Lewis and Dylan Burleson asking the explanation. It's a veteran crew. Officials made this call going into his 16th season. Another official 37th season. They know what they're doing. I always tip the hat to them. Garcia's free throw is good. 23-14. He goes one of two. You said that he was. He's been such a great shooter. He could shoot it from anywhere.

And once you said that, he missed three of the last four free throws. I'm telling you, he is an unbelievable shooter. I'm going to keep saying it. Florence in front court. Lewis gets it to Payne. Florence down by nine. Jay Sheehan goes inside. Bounce pass to Lewis. His shot blocked from behind. Lost it out of bounds, though, due to the Bucs. That was a great look by Payne underneath. And, you know, Lewis took it up strong. Wound up getting blocked. But that was just a beautiful play by the Falcons.

The unselfishness is there. The understanding of the game is there. It's just right now a little bit of the size. And still learning each other. In the corner. Fulmer for three. Got it. Cooper Fulmer. Open for three. Needed that one for his confidence as well. And a steal in back court nearly by Florence. Taken back by the Bucs. And they get out of it. Coming down the sideline. Cantrell picked up by Jones. Florence has cut the lead to six. 23-17. And pressure picking up. Fulmer will pick up against Allen.

[41:51] Allen drives. Kicks in the corner. Cantrell drives. Layup too strong. Tipped up. A field's no good. And they're going to bail him out with a whistle. Probably the right call. And that was going to be Fulmer. Going to get the 6'8 player pushed him as he was going to tip it in. Two free throws. That was the right call. You know, when you don't box somebody out and they're one of them grabbing a rebound and you just show that for them in their ribs. I mean, you're going to get that call every time.

Two free throws coming from Fields. A 6'8 post player. First one on the way. Will not go. Cage Roy will come into the game. Fulmer will come out. I mean, I know he's a tall guy, but he did not have much arc on that shot. That was about a line drive. Better box out. That's for sure. Second free throw. No good. Rebound taken by Florence is Jones. Jones to Pearson. Cantrell will pick him up in the backcourt. Cantrell's a fine-looking player. Got it back to Jayshod.

Jayshod in the corner. Need a little help here. Comes back up top with it. Sets the offense. Left corner now. A skip worth. Jones lost it actually now, but he's fouled. Reach-in foul called there. That one will be against Allen. Florence will inbound it. That's the 13th foul against Buckhorn. Florence has 14 fouls with 2.57 to go in the half. Florence inbound. Knocked away. Picked out of bounds. Last stretch by Florence. Jayshod had to poke it out of bounds. He didn't have anything else to do. Florence has had trouble inbounding the basketball against this taller team.

He certainly has. And, you know, he's got a guy with a very large wingspan. We're going to have to look for more set pieces instead of just trying to chuck it up to half court. Fields up top. He don't want it there. Gets rid of it quickly to Allen. Allen gets the screen. That's going to be a moving screen. They've been consistent. And I think we've seen a new emphasis this year maybe that's going to be called in high school basketball. Right. You saw Cage Roy did a great job of shuffling his feet and really working through that screen there.

And the offensive player continued with the screen and really shuffled his feet. I mean, that was pretty much on Cage Roy, working hard to get that call. Florence only down by six. They've trailed by his minutes to 11. They have the basketball. Lewis on the right wing with it. Picks up the dribble. Inside goes for Roy. His shot up and good. He had to wait for the defender to go by him. That's a great job of hanging in the air. Down the floor. Inside knocked away. Florence gets it.

Lewis has it. Lewis to Pearson. Florence quickly down the floor to Payne. Payne, left-hand layup. Blocked by Garcia. Gorgeous play. Rebound taken by the Bucs. Bucs weaving through traffic. Can't trail. They hedge him off. Make him pick up his dribble. Cross court pass. He gets the lane of the lane. Allen floater. Won't go. Rebound by Florence. Falcons have it. Pearson will come up the floor. After Jones got the rebound. Down the floor looking. Pearson got the screen up top. Lobs it inside to Lewis. He had knocked away.

It'll stay with Florence. Action's picked up. Florence has cut it to four. JV and Lewis is getting some really quality minutes and really having an impact on this floor right now. Timeout taken by Florence. Will do the same. 1.50 to go. Falcons trail. 319. This is Falcon Basketball. We're back in 30. Hello. My name is Keith Medley and I'm an attorney with the law firm of Johnson, Passeur, Medley, and Burchill. Why call an out-of-town lawyer when you can call our law firm which has over 100 years of combined experience in all areas of the law.

If you have a legal matter, please call me or Leslie Johnson, Debra Bell, Passeur, Adam Burchill at 256-766-3131. We're proud to be a sponsor of Florence High School Athletics. No representation is made that the quality of legal services to be performed is greater than the quality of legal services performed by other lawyers. The voice of the Florence High School Falcons. W-Y-T-K-F-M. W-Y-T-K-F-M. W-Y-T-K-F-M. Athens, Decatur, the Shoals, 93-9, the score. Florence trails, Buckhorn, 23-19 with a minute 50 to go in the first half. Kevin Johnson, Mike Albertson, courtside, Blair Krieger in the 93-9 score studios, our engineer tonight.

Hope you're enjoying this one on this Tuesday night. We try to bring you 15 to 16 or 17 broadcasts a year and hope to do the same this year as well. Florence wearing the home white. We'll have the basketball training by four. Once was down 11 and made a run here in the second quarter. An emphasis that Coach Dylan Brooks and Wunden was to play better in quarter number two. Florence has to inbound it all the way back to the top of the key and all the way to the half court line where Pearson catches it there.

Now he gets it to Irons, back to Pearson in the lane with a left hand, put it up, put it in. How he made that, I'll never know. But J-Shot uses the left hand in his body, puts it off the glass, and Falcons have cut it to two. Here come the Bucs with it to our right. Cantrell picked up by Roy, gets rid of the Garcia, Payne stays on him. Garcia goes to the right, into the lane, kicked it in the corner, saved by the Bucs.

[47:10] Slow it the other way and stolen away. That's Jones with it, behind the back dribble. Jones now slows it down, gets the hand of the ball, playmaker, the general, Pearson. Pearson, top of the key, three, on the way. Oh, in and out, wouldn't go. Irons fights with a rebound, got it, and he's fouled. Look at Jaden Irons go up there and grab the basketball. They call a jump ball on that? They call a possession jump ball on that. He got mauled on that, and he had sole possession of the ball, so that's a tough call there for the Falcons.

That's why the Florence bench was going crazy. They thought it should have gone the other way. But Errol go to Bucs. They'll bring it up the floor. Garcia quickly down the floor, gets the lane, left and layup, good. You can't let him get a running start like that. He will light you up. He has seven on the day. Here come the Falcons with it. Trailing now, 25-21. Jones has it at the elbow, in the corner. Payne, step back, can't get the three off. Keeps the dribble alive, though.

Comes back to the top. 40 seconds to go here. Florence down by four. Roy has it. You know, trying to get in. They're going to call a jump ball now. The possession there will stay with Florence. And that's the right call. Petty got his hands in there and put his hands on it and got the tie up. That's the tough part. That's why you don't pick up your dribble. You know, you keep your dribble. There's no way for that to happen. He reached his hand in there and, you know, the Falcon picked up the dribble and it was an easy jump ball there.

You can see this Buck team very experienced with players coming back, substituting defense for offense. Petty back in the game. Here comes Florence with it now. Pearson has it in his hands with 27 seconds go. Behind the back dribble, breaks the count, goes to his left, pulls back, left-handed ball knocked away, but Roy gets it inside. Irons kicks it. Payne for three. That one's too strong. No good. Irons fights with a rebound again to Pearson. Inside to Jones. Left-hand layup. Good. Boy, the Falcons starting to play really good right now.

Six seconds to go quickly down the floor. Cantrell has it. Pretty good defense. He turned around, put up a three. No good. Rebound by Florence. And Florence will go to the halftime locker room. Trailing by two. 25-23 after a furious comeback. After trailing in the first quarter, 18-9, they hold the Bucs to seven points. And the Falcons have cut this lead to two. This is Falcon Basketball. We're back in two minutes. At North Alabama Bone and Joint Clinic, our Shoals roots run deep. We provide quick access and familiar, friendly faces so you never have to feel just like a number.

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Bank Independent. We're invested in your future. Member FDIC. Back here at Coffee Gym. Devin Johnson, Mike Albertson with you at the half. Where Florence trails Buckhorn 25-23. In a seesaw affair a little bit, but then Buckhorn took control in the first quarter and led it 18-9. And the next thing you know, we look up and Florence trimmed it to eight. Florence trimmed it to six. And lo and behold, they've held Buckhorn to seven points in the second quarter. They trimmed the lead to 25-23. And one of the things we know, Mike, is that Dylan Burleson said in pregame, we've got to do a better job in quarter number two.

[52:22] Well, in quarter number two, they did a better job. And they did a better job defensively and started spreading the ball around a little bit. They certainly did. You know, the defense, you started seeing the defense click a little bit. And then defense turned to offense. We were able to get some things going. We were really unselfish in being able to move the ball around. So that was great. But this Falcon team really grinded that one out. You know, early on, before this order started in our break, you know, somebody turned to me and said, well, let's hope that they didn't have the second quarter that they've had so far.

Because their second quarter, they've struggled. Well, quite the opposite, actually. You know, they did a great job of doing the little things, winning those possessions. And continuing to fight and grind. So, you know, being able to bring it back to two points after that first quarter has been remarkable. And now they're primed and ready to go for this second half. There's a lot of positive momentum going in there. Florence trails at 25-23. I'll let you get our stats for Florence here in the first half leading scores.

All right. So, for Buckhorn leading the way is Parker Melton with 10 points. You had Marvin Petty with two. Drake Allen had one. Kendall Cottrell had three points. Bryson Spencer with two. And Lee Garcia with seven points. For the Falcons leading the way, Jason Payne with 10 points. Taylor Jones with four points. Jay Shaw Pearson with four points. Cooper Fulmer with three. And we have Jaden Irons with two points. Florence at the half. Trails, Buckhorn, 25-23. More from the TNT Fireworks Halftime Show to continue after this one-minute timeout.

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Kevin Johnson and Mike Albertson with you. Mike, you know, before we keep moving forward, we're already in basketball season, but let's just reflect real quick. What a nice job by Kenny Morrison and his Falcons coaching staff and that Falcons football team to flip a season around, get into the playoffs. As I like what Coach Morrison said, we're region champs. I still will say that too, the way everything fell, it should have been, in the tiebreaker system. But it's just a great, great season for them, the way they responded in adversity.

You know, I think you said it best there. You know, when this Falcon team started out the season, they played a great Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa team. Very tough, had athletes all over the field. Really, really struggled that first game. Second game versus Muscle Shoals, well, obviously Muscle Shoals is as advertised because we have, you know, they're still in the playoffs. They're doing a great job. So, you know, those first two games, we could have very easily folded, but they continue to grind, continue to fight and really work hard.

They won some games that they possibly shouldn't have won. And that's what good teams do. You know, they believed in each other. They rallied and really continued on to have just a fantastic season. I mean, start to finish, you had 24 seniors on that team, you know, and a whole bunch of other players along the way that just really fought all year. And it was just great to see. The coaching staff did a phenomenal job. Coach Morrison, through and through, believed in this team so much. And the lights came on at the right time.

The Falcons got on a nice run. And as you said, you know, they had the best, you know, tied for the best in the region as far as their record was concerned. Really and truly just a phenomenal way to go. They had a wonderful experience down at Baker. Yeah, treated like a bowl game. And treated like a bowl game. I mean, that was a full-on college experience, you know, and they had it. And, you know, they stayed at the Renaissance. They had buses down there. They had walk-throughs and team meetings like the next level.

And that's an experience that those players are going to take on forever. They will remember that forever. And that's just a beautiful thing to be able to give these kids that experience. Competed well in that game as well. Falling short to Baker, but a great season for Kenny Morrison and the Florence Falcons football team. And this Florence basketball team, Dylan Burleson did not hold back in scheduling. He opened up with Huntsville in a Veterans Day Classic over at May. Jemison Huntsville wins that one. Went on the road to Alperville.

[57:47] That's one of the top teams in 7A as well. Alperville's a great program. And Alperville pulls out a win late. And then tonight, take it on Buckhorn. Thursday night, we go over to Spartan. So, three of the first four on the road. And, oh, by the way, Thanksgiving week, let's go ahead and play in that Into Hoops Thanksgiving tournament over November 24th or 26th at Bob Jones. If I'm not mistaken, I'll have to double-check. I'm probably saying this wrong, but I think we may open up with Auburn High School in that one.

So, scheduling is not going to be a problem for Dylan Burleson. He knows after his team made that run last season, he said, hey, we're going to play the best. We're going to learn how to play the best. And we're going to be going up against the best. Let's go ahead and do it season around. You know, that's the way you build a program. You don't build a program off of one season. You build it off of playing the best competition year in and year out.

You know, you look at the Hoovers and the Thompsons and what have you. That's what they do. They don't play the cupcake schedule. They don't play the teams that are closest to them. They'll have people that they'll travel and they'll have people come travel in. And we're building for the future here. This isn't, you know, just a one-year deal. At the half, Florence Trails-Buckhorn, 25-23. Second half action coming your way after this 30-second timeout. This is the TNT Fireworks Halftime Report. Hey, Falcon fans, this is Keith at Cypress Creek Indoor Range.

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Florence Trails-Bucks by two, 25-23. If you're Dylan Burleson, what do you say your team is going to have? I mean, continue with that defensive tenacity of the second quarter. Continue to work your cuts towards the basket when you're patting. And once you pass, you're continuing to move the movement. And really continue to move your feet on defense. It's going to be huge. They did a great job of getting back in this game on the defensive side. And they're going to have to continue that to win this one.

Cantrell gets it to the other side. Garcia inside. Turnaround jumper put up and in. Give that one again to the youngster, Melton, who continues to light it up. Falcons in front court. Irons has it. Knocked away. Hands it off to Payne. Payne gets the screen up top. Picks up the dribble and now gets it around to Skipworth. Skipworth gets it off to Pearson. Against the man-to-man pressure from the Bucks, who lead it now by six. Or two more by four, 27-23. Pearson tires. Back to Pearson.

Step back three. Too strong. No good. Rebound taken by Garcia and a whistle. And a foul called, I think, against the Bucks for holding. So, they get the Bucks. Spencer for pulling him down on Irons. So, Florence will inbound it there. Pearson looked to get inbounds. Lodges it up to Irons. Goes in the lane. Put it up. Put it in. Nice job and nice set play right there. Florence will pick up full court. Cuts the lead down to two. Garcia picked up by Pearson. Pearson at 5'9".

Garcia at 6'5". Jayshod step-for-step with him. He's trying to post him up inside. Goes back, lays it up, put it in. That's a great play by Garcia. He had to work to get it. Florence out the pass to Jones. Lay up in. Answer on the other end. Florence running the floor a little bit. Action picking up. Whistle and a timeout taken by Buckhorn. We'll do the same. Florence trails the Bucks by two. 6.43 to go. Falcon basketball back in 30 seconds. Getting the kids to practice on time.

Remembering if it's your day to bring snacks. Making it to the game with a clean jersey. Why are simple things sometimes so complicated? Thankfully, with auto owners, insurance doesn't have to be one of them. Auto owners works with independent agents who answer when you call. So you can worry about more important things. Like whether your kid is going to run toward first or third base. That's simple human sense. In Florence, see Luke Brown at Hinderger Johnson & Layton Insurance. Call 256-764-8682. 6.43 to go in the third.

We've got a good one going on now. Florence trails Buckhorn 29-27. Kevin Johnson, Mike Albertson with the court side. And a nice crowd on hand. You'd expect that after the great run last season. Really good crowd here. Good student section as well. Cantrell gets across the mid-court strike. Gets it off to his teammate there, Spencer. Spencer can't do a whole lot with it. Puts up a wild shot and it goes in. He just flings that one up and it found the basket. That happens sometimes. Pearson to Payne in the left corner.

[1:02:48] Back to Payne. Payne. Three on the way. Got it. All of a sudden, Florence playing with some rhythm. Lead cut down to one. 31-30. Garcia. Picked up by Jones. Trying to spin inside. Kent has to bring it all the way back up top. Three-lock point line. Great job by Jones on defense. Left wing with it. Melton. Good defense there by Skipworth. He has to get rid of it. Petty going to try to drive inside. Layup with the left hand is good. Give him credit. Petty is a slick player.

Coming off the bench. Puts up the left-handed layup. Lead back up to three. 5.48 to go in the third. Payne across the mid-court strike for Florence. Goes to the left. Keeps the dribble alive. Gets it in the corner. Baseline. Nothing there for Jones. Jones gets it to Irons. Ironhead poked away. Picked it back up. Cross court to Pearson. Pearson can't get the shot off there. He says, let's reset. Pearson goes baseline underneath. Put up a wild shot and drew the contact. He got there. Beat him to the spot.

And that time, Jay-Shot said, send me to the free throw line. Yeah, Jay-Shot did a great job of moving along that baseline. And once he was able to get up off the ground, he got hip-checked as he went up. And, you know, put it up off the rim, but didn't go. He's going to be shooting two here. Number two. The floor general. We'll shoot two. Having to clean up on aisle one. A lot of moisture on the floor there from the player sliding around. Going for the loose balls.

That one is good by Pearson. Fields, the 6'8 post player will come in. Cody Martins. Buckhorn Bucks. Second free throw. Back rim. That wouldn't go. Good box out there. Spencer quickly up the floor. They push the ball deep three from the corner. Short. No good. The rebound, no. Knocked away and taken by Florence. Good job there. Getting out is Jones. Gets it to Payne. Payne. Corner. Pearson. Three. Way. Won't go. Rebound taken by Fields. The 6'8 post player. That would have been a good look to take the lead, but couldn't do it.

Florence still trails by two. 33-31. We're at the five-minute mark here in quarter number three. Garcia spinning free throw line. Having to do everything he can to get the shot up. Can't make it. Tremendous defense by Jones. Rebound by Pearson. He weaves through traffic. He surveys traffic. He kicks it in the corner. Payne for three. Went and go. Jones with a rebound. Back door cut. Knocked away. Last touch by the Bucks, I believe. No, it's going to be last touch by Florence. That's the right call.

Went off two white jerseys. That's a great job by Jones there on defense. Being able to work on Garcia like that. Getting some misdirection and really having him force up some shots. He's really played great defensively the last two quarters. Cantrell off the floor. Goes quickly. Lobs it to Fields. Fields couldn't catch it. Had to go back and retrieve it. Now he gets rid of it. Underneath. Kick it back over to Fields. He's underneath. Goes up. Lays it in. That time he did use the size and got caught underneath.

And Florence had no answer for him there. 35-31. Bucks with the lead. Pearson in the lane. Kicks it in the corner. Tame couldn't get the shot off there. Garcia will bring it way back up top. Tame gets it over to Skipworth. Back to Tame. Got the string from Irons. Puts up the three. In and out. Will not fall. Garcia had it knocked away. Got it back though. Garcia double-teamed in the backcourt. Dribbles out of it. Garcia will bring it up the floor. You got to keep an eye on him.

Bounce pass. Down the lane. Layup. Put up and good. That's Spencer. Timeout taken by Dylan Burleson. As the Bucks go on a little run. They lead it by 6-37-31 with four minutes to go. This is Falcon Basketball. Come back and see us in 30. Florence Utilities offers several ways to view and pay your utility bill. Log into your account to sign up for paperless. Auto pay. Text pay. To make your life easier. When you go green and go paperless, you will no longer have paper bills to fill up your mailbox and you'll be helping the environment.

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That's a lot of hoops I've seen over the years. And I love it. Glad to bring it to you here on your home for Falcon Athletics. 93-9 to score. J-Shot Pearson now will look and say, hey, they're in the zone. They'll bring fields up top. So it's a 3-2 matchup zone. Pearson recognized it. Said, let's reset. No shot clock. So here come the Falcons with it. Pearson at 5-9. Yo-yos with the basketball. Directing traffic. Now goes to Lewis on the left wing. Back to Pearson, top of the key.

[1:08:05] Directing traffic. Pearson picks up the basketball. Got it to Pang. Kickball. It'll stay with Florence. And Florence will have to inbound it. They'll stay in the matchup zone. So coming out of the timeout. A little change on the defensive side by the Bucs. Florence recognizes it. Here we go. Pearson. Top of the key. Gets it to Payne. Payne now goes down to the baseline pass. Gets it to Lewis. Back to Payne for three. Good. Give Lewis credit for handoff and holding this position. And Florence trims the lead down to three.

Cuts it in half. Garcia had it knocked away. Kicked it. Went right to a teammate. Shot up. No good. Rebound by Florence. Is Pearson. He's fouled from behind. Jayshod saying now you can't do it. Jayshod. That's maturity. He wanted to. Because that other player grabbed it. And he said, no, no. He caught himself. And he passed him on the back. He said, all right. That's the type of stuff that you see out of Jayshod. You see, he's growing up before your eyes. You know, it's just that's coaching on the football and basketball side.

Proud papa moment for a couple of coaches right now. Watch Jayshod handle that adversity there. He said, nope. Caught himself. He said, let's not go there. That matchup zone is still here. Payne. Pearson has it. Pearson to Fulmer. Now he's in the game. A great shooter. Fulmer back out to Pearson. Pearson couldn't get the shot off with a 6'8". Great length field. Bounce pass in. Got it to Fulmer. He'll take the three. Oh, it wouldn't go. Rebound. Fought for it. Lewis saved it. No whistle. Oh, they're going to get Lewis over to the back.

He said he grabbed the arm, pulled it down. Dylan Burleson didn't like that one. So it'll bring up. So Dylan Burleson rarely shows any demonstrable talk that time. He said, hey, that one was out on us. Better go back to the Bucs. When two guys are battling underneath like that, you got to let them battle it out. You can't. Oh, pick no pocket there. Payne gets it. Payne goes all the way to the basket. Can he get it to go? He couldn't. He lost his balance.

And a rebound taken by the Bucs. Spencer has it in backcourt. Nearly lost. I'm going to call Payne for a reach in. So the foul will be on Jayceon, who really did a great job of picking the pocket, but he got called sort of off-step. The defense was there. He was a little off-step. He was kind of looking in his periphery, trying to find the defender that's closing in on him, and got caught a little bit too far underneath the basket there. Roy will come in, Cage Roy.

Jones will come out at the 207 mark. Falcons full-court press, and almost got a five count. Here come the Bucs with it. Up the floor, and they're going to call a hand check on Fulmer. They were jockeying for position the entire way down. It was almost like they were fighting with their elbows like chicken wings a little bit. Yeah, absolutely. So he was just beat, and he was trying to fight back defensively and just couldn't do it. Skipworth will come in for Fulmer. He picked up his third of the league.

Yeah, that's three on five. Bucs will have to end that all the way to backcourt. They'll swing it back there to Allen, and Jayshod will pick him up two versus two. Allen's got a lot of quickness, too. Spins on Jayshod, picked up the dribble, gets it to Petty. Petty drives in the lane, got a step, put up the shot, missed it. No good. Rebound taken by Fields, put in. Fields, that's not going over the back. He's a 6'8". The length is there. Roy for three for Florence.

Good. In rhythm. That's what you need out of Cage Roy. 39-37, Bucs with a two-point lead. And a foul called on Lewis, and he may have picked up his third or fourth. And that is four on Javion. Mike, can you tell there's a lot of these players played football for Florence? Yeah, yes, you absolutely can. Javion Lewis is quite the big fella. He's big and thick, but he was able to work down there. That was the right play right there. He was moving his feet and shuffling, and that was good defense.

He just picked up the foul. Inside the Fields, Fields double-teamed, kicked it back out. Deep three on the way. Slung, no good. And look at the rebound taken down by Florence. And that's a foul called on the Bucs. A skip worth went up and yanked it down. I'm starting to like what I see, Mike. I am as well. Right there, we had Jones working on the big man underneath, boxing him out there. And then we had a great rebound that we were able to pick up the foul.

These guys are doing the little dirty work underneath to give them an opportunity to win this one. A chance to tie it up here for Florence at the 115 mark against this 3-2 zone. And Dylan Morrison could even play for the last shot. We'll just see what he wants to do. Pearson will dribble. And that picks up dribble. Gets it to Skipworth. Skipworth back to Pearson. Pearson has the free throw line. Pulls it back out. Oh, they left him alone. Three on the way. Oh, back rim.

No good. Rebound chased by Florence and saved. Back to Pearson. Now a three on the way. Up and good. Give that one to Skipworth. And Florence takes the lead. Skipworth's first. Florence takes a one-point lead. We're under a minute and a third. Bucs tripped up going to the basket. It's the right call. And that was against Roy. They're talking to see if this one was a flagrant one. I didn't see anything on that. I didn't think so. Yeah. They called it an intentional foul. They called it an intentional foul.

[1:13:37] And I see what they have. It was a hand check that extended. It looked like he shoved him out of bounds. It was a little acting after the fact. He kind of rolled around on the ground. But, yeah, that was up for referee interpretation. The ball doesn't last sometimes, too. The free throw is no good. But I agree. I think the referee and the veteran crew, they're like, hey, we saw this. And they got together and they said, did you see it, too? And they've all agreed.

Once you extend the arm like that, it looks flavorful. Yeah. Second free throw. No good. A little aided by the student section there. Not going to say any names down there. But there's a couple of guys that are in their bibs and coveralls. And maybe not covering at all. They can get away with that. I can't. How about that? Florence leaves at 40 to 39 with 40 seconds to go in the third. Bucks to inbound it after missing two free throws. They finally get it in. Petty has it.

He's really quick. Lost it off the foot. They're going to call a foul. The fist come up on the outside. It's going to be against Roy. And that may be three or four on him now. Now, foul trouble for Florence because you're shorthanded. You've got several guys in there. Now, Irons is going to have to come back in. As Roy just picked up his four. Free throw on the way. Got that one. Petty makes one. Tied up at 40. Roy did a good job. Got the three-pointer.

But he just picked up his four. So, he has four. Former has four. Lewis with four. Lewis with four. Second free throw up. Good. Florence will have it down by one with 30 seconds to go here in the third quarter. Jayshod against the 3-2 zone says, you know what? I'll dribble it out here. I don't think anyone wants to come and try to take it from Jayshod. They sort of act like they do. But, he may handle the basketball as well as any point guard in the state right now.

He really knows what he's doing, Mike. He certainly does. He has great handle. But, his ability to shield the ball with his body, he gets the most out of it than any player that I've seen. Payne's three. No good. Tip by Skipworth. No good. Rebound taken by the Bucs. And, end of three. Buckhorns lead, trim to one. Florence trails, 41-40. This is Falcon basketball. Don't go away. We're back in 60. This is Miranda Haddock with the Florence Education Foundation. We invite you to support our Friends of the Foundation campaign.

As a friend of the Foundation, you can contribute any amount to help fund classroom needs in Florence City Schools. Please visit our website at FlorenceEducationFoundation.org to explore our new giving levels and the added perks available. We want to wish Coach Burleson and the entire Falcon basketball team good luck this season. Hello, my name is Debra Bell Passour, and I'm an attorney with the law firm of Johnson, Passour, Medley, and Burchill. Please don't call an out-of-town lawyer when you can call our law firm, which has over 100 years of combined experience in all areas of the law.

Check us out first. Please call me, Leslie Johnson, Keith Medley, Adam Burchill at 256-766-3131. We are proud to be a sponsor of Florence High School Athletics. No representation is made that the quality of legal services to be performed is greater than the quality of legal services performed by other lawyers. One quarter left in this one, and it's a good one. Buckhorn 2-0 in the season, Florence 0-2, but the Falcons and the Bucks going at it. Florence trails at 41-40. The Falcons trail by as many as 11 in this game.

Took the lead there in the third quarter, and now we've got one that may go down to the wire. Payne will inbound it for Florence, going left to right, wearing the home white uniforms, the Bucks and the Navy. Jones has it. Back to Payne. Florence has some foul trouble, so they'll have to go with Jones, Payne, Skipworth, and Irons, and Pearson on the floor. Now they get it to Pearson in the baseline. Got it in to Irons, and he's fouled. He'll shoot two. What a pass by Pearson.

That was a great job by Pearson to see Irons streaking through the middle. Beautiful bounce pass. Irons was ready for it. As he was coming up with the ball, he got hit, and he's going to be shooting two. Win or lose, I really like what I see out of this Falcons team. You can see the parts are starting to come together. Irons free throw. Got it. Got to realize, I think maybe three of these players played on last season's varsity team. I'll have to double check that.

Maybe four. Free throw by Irons. Back rim no good. Rebound by Fields. He'll give it off to the speedy Allen, who will come up left side and got away with a big-time carry, but it's stolen by Florence. Florence gets it with Irons away, gets it to Pearson. Pearson across the midcourt strike. Tied at 41, a chance to take the lead. Pearson goes against the man-to-man defense, gets it to Payne at the top. Now they drop back in the 3-2 zone again, so they're back in that matchup zone.

[1:18:57] Jones has it at the top of the key. Still keeps his dribble alive. Stolen away. Threw it right away. He's got a run out the other side. Lay up, put up, and in. That was Crutcher, who read the passing lane. Credit buckling with that. 53-51. Payne, top of the key, in the corner now, on the right side in front of the Florence bench is Pearson. Pulls it back out, looks back into the corner, go inside the irons, kicks it out to the top of the key to Payne, who finds the lane, kicks it in the corner to Jones, drives, knocked out of bounds, so he'll stay with Florence.

The ball movement's pretty crisp against the zone, though, and the Falcons are really understanding the passing lanes, Mike. They really are, and they do a great job of really cutting to the basket without the ball. Timeout on the floor, we'll do the same. Florence trails up by 2, 6.53 to go, we're back at 30. At North Alabama Bone and Joint Clinic, our Shoals roots run deep. We provide quick access and familiar, friendly faces, so you never have to feel just like a number. From sports medicine to joint replacement, expert care happens right here at home.

As UNA Athletics' choice for orthopedics and the trusted orthopedic team of the Shoals' families for over 30 years, North Alabama Bone and Joint Clinic is here for you. Learn more at nabjc.com. Back here at Coffee Gym, Florence trails by 2, 43-41. Falcons are inbounded underneath their basket. They'll have Jones to inbound it, looking. Close it all the way back and back court. Payne has to catch it there. You've got to do what you've got to do to get in the bounds. Sometimes they look for the set, couldn't get it in.

It's just 3-2 zone and threw it away. Jones was coming out. Payne thought he was going the other way. Turnover in a 3-2 zone in the link, playing a little factors and a quick inbound pass. And here come the Bucks with it, leading it by two. And a whistle and a foul. And they're going to get Skipworth on the reach-in. That was about as little contact as I've seen yet tonight. That was a quick whistle on that one. Allen is a quick guard. He does have a lot of quickness about him.

Second foul on Florence's Skipworth. Donaldson in the game. Picks up the dribble. Hounded there by Pearson. Gets rid of it. In the lane. Heist. Teardrop up and good. That one hit all over the rim but fell through for Drake Allen. And the lead grows to four for the Bucks. Payne. Jones to Pearson. Pearson top of the cue with a 6'8 post player on top of him. Can't do anything with it. Now to Payne on the left wing. He cross-court pass to Jones for three in the corner.

That one wouldn't go. That should have been Skipworth. And the rebound taken by Fields. Fields gets rid of it to Allen. He's double-teamed in backcourt. Pretty good job there of Skipworth staying in front of him. Six minutes to go. Bucks lead it by four. Allen's got a step into the lane in the paint. Laid it up. Missed it. And a whistle on the foul. And Florence gets caught again. That one's on Irons. Couldn't box out Fields. They're going to let Allen shoot to the shooter. In decision time, I think Bill and Russell decided with four fouls.

He's going to have to start rotating some of these kids with four fouls in the game. Right. I think at this stage of the game, you're going for the fresh legs. Allen makes the first. Florence, I don't think, has scored here in one point, maybe one point here in the fourth quarter. I'm not even sure he got the free throw in the fourth quarter. He did. So, 46-41. And the lead up to seven. Excuse me, six, 47-41. Six-point lead. As Allen makes both of them. And this buckhorn team, they go about seven or eight deep.

And they rotate offense and defense a lot. Florence is substituting a lot. Baseball foul trouble. Down by six. Pearson top of the key. Keeps the dribble alive. Looking as the Florence moves against the zone. Lobs it in the corner. Payne's open for three. Needed that one. Got that one. His fourth three of the day. Unofficially. Florence trims the lead to three. And Dylan Burleson gets down to his defense stance. Let's go, boys. Petty almost got away with a push-off there. Between Lake Dribble and Pearson's on him.

Petty goes back to the right side. He pushed off there. And that's an offensive foul. Jashod kept working and working and working and got the call. Jashod works super hard on defense to keep defensive position. And we saw it at the final four. We saw it all over the place. These guards get frustrated, and they just push him right off him. He's in front of them at all times. Three-point lead for the Bucs. And the Bucs now go back man-to-man pressure as Garcia come back to the game.

[1:24:07] Pearson goes to the right. In the lane. Floater. Teardrop up. No good. He was fouled. He'll go to the line to shoot two. Petty got him from behind on the back. And a technical foul on Petty. He kept running them out. And that's the fifth on Petty because he just fouled out with a technical foul. The coach said, what did he say? And the official comes over and whispers to him. And the official says, yep, that's what he said. And the coach said, I'll give the coach credit.

He said, okay, I deserve the technical. I'll give coach Martin credit for Buckhorn for asking. Find it out. Said, yep, okay. Pearson missed the first free throw though. He'll have two more. Sacklin on the way. Got that one. And Florence will get the ball back too. 47-45. This to cut it to one. Got him Buck two to three. Oh, as he shoots two free throws for a technical. Yes. So, that one, two for four. Oh, J-Shot's like, are you kidding me? But Florence will have the basketball.

Tied at 47. 46-47. 47-46. Buckhorn leads Florence. One-point lead. Pearson, though, will have it for Florence at the five-minute mark. Set up against this 3-2 zone again. Says, okay, let's reset. They go back to zone. Got the screen up top. Keeps the dribble alive. Bounced over to the left side to Payne. Back to Pearson. They leave him alone. Three on the way. Knocked it down. J-Shot. He missed two free throws, but he didn't miss the three. And Florence leads it by two. 49-47. Garcia in front court.

Picked up by Roy. Looks for the screen. The defense champ coming from the student section. Just a high pick. Gets it to the left side. Deep three on the way. No good. Rebound taken down by Florence. Pearson. What a bounce pass. Gets it to Payne. Lost it. Couldn't pick it up. Lost it out of bounds. Back to Buckhorn. That pile seemed like it was the one who bounced up, and it didn't come up for him. He had a little bit too much front spin on it.

It didn't bounce up high enough. Garcia picked up by Jones. Goes left. Boy, he's a good ball handler at 6'5". Jones has done a pretty good job against him. Jones goes right. Got the step in the lane. He's fouled by Jones, and that's the right call. Absolutely was the right call. Jones leaned in with the chest and knocked it with the body. Fourth team foul on Florence. And for Jones, his third foul. A lobbing up top and almost knocked it away, but taken there by Spencer.

Spencer guarded by Roy. Turns on Roy, and he got away with a walk. No, he didn't. Traveling. He kept spinning. He has one black shoe and one peach-colored shoe, and the peach-colored shoe moved a little too much, and that's a travel going the other way. Florence leads it by two with 4.16 to go. Here comes Pearson with it. Man-to-man pressure now by the Bucks. Goes right. Comes back top of the key. Keeps the dribble in his hand. Yo-yos against Allen. Breaks the count. Lobs it up to Irons at the free-throw line.

Irons hands it off to Payne. Payne lost it. Knocked away. Great steal. Out it. Bucks have a run-out. Going down the floor. Layup. No good. Foul call, though, on Florence's Jones. That'll be his fourth. All right. 3.56 to go, and free-throw's coming the rest of the way for both teams. Jay Shaw Pearson, the field general, pulls his team together and said, you've got four, and you've got four, and you've got four. I think that's basically what he was saying. Telling them, hey, know your fouls. Know your situation.

Let's keep playing. Florence leads it by two, but two free-throws coming from a tremendous shooter here in Caden Cantrell. Cantrell wears number three. The lefty. First free-throw on the way. Rattled out. No good. A little jinx on that Florence student section. Jay Shaw Pearson steps in and says, you box out him, and you box out him. Second free-throw coming on the way. One of two. Falcons lead it by one with a basketballer hand. 3.53 to go. Man-to-man pressure. Bounce pass. Payne nearly lost it. Gets it back.

Hands it off now to Irons. Irons cross court. Got it to Payne. Payne up and under. Lost it. Stolen away. That one just rolled off the foot. Taken by Garcia. Garcia up the floor. Hard to the basket. Double-team, triple-team. Goes back to the right. Layup. Good. Tremendous play by Garcia. Tip of the hat to the big one. Come in there. And this yo-yo affair goes back to Buckhorn. Leading 50-49. Pearson. Right wing with it. Got a step in the lane. Teardrop up. Good. Jay Shaw. Answering on the other side.

[1:29:28] The lead at one. 51-50. The Bucs will get across midcourt. We're at three minutes to go as the Bucs will have this possession. Spencer wants to go against Irons. Can't go to Cantrell. Melton now back to Cantrell. Three on the way. No good. Rebound. Tipped around. Taken by Garcia. Lost the steps. Put it up. Put it in. Timeout taken by the Bucs. We'll do the same. Catch your breath. 2-54 to go. Florence trails at 52-51. Falcon basketball is back in 30 seconds. When you're in the mood for a sweet treat just the way you like it, Yogurt Mountain on Cox Creek Parkway has you covered.

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It's got a good atmosphere. Great basketball, hard fall battle back and forth. It's just really great competition, and I'm excited. This is a really good buckhorn team. I mean, they're talented. They've got Division I players, Division II players. They're really good, and Florence has played toe-to-toe with them. Yeah, they certainly have. And, you know, watching this young team, you know, when I say young, I mean, they've got some juniors and a couple of seniors that they're getting their first varsity experience here. This is that varsity experience, especially in these close games at home.

Being able to pull this one out is going to be huge for this team's confidence. Full-court pressure picked up. Payne will have it in back court. And when Pearson has it, here he goes. Pearson bounce pass inside. Shot up. Will it go? It will. And he is fouled. Jones, with a weight-lifting shot right there, powers it up, powers it in, gets the basket, and will go to the line to shoot the end one. Great job by Jay Shaw to get the defense on the backswing. They were really rushing back, and Jones did a great job of cutting to that low block and having a nice, strong move to the basket to get that contact.

The free throw would not fall. It rolled in and out, 53-52, one-point lead. Garcia on the other side, tough shot, and he puts it in. Hands all in his face, and he's starting to take over for the Bucs. A one-point lead for the Bucs. Roy had to pick up his dribble, got it to Pearson in the corner. Jay Shaw trapped a little bit, brings it back out, picks up the dribble, lobs it up to Irons, who came to his relief. Irons looks to hand it off, got it to Payne.

Payne into the lane, got a step, put it up, blocked, got it back. Payne looking, back out. He says, I'm going to shoot it there. Gets it to Pearson. Look at the wisdom there by those two. Knew where he was, said, let's reset it. Pearson got the high screen, got it to Irons. Irons in the lane, cross court to Roy for three. That one's up, won't go. Rebound taken by Roy, tipped to Pearson. Pearson fouled. He'll go to the line to shoot two. Jay Shaw is so slick with the ball.

He's been slick his entire time here. He's the most undersized guy on the court almost at all times. And just what he's able to do at this level is nothing short of phenomenal. It is. Free throw on the way by Jay Shaw. Back rim won't go. He's missed three in the past a little bit. Not bad shots. It just didn't go. Fields, the big 6'8 player will come in with 156 to go. Florence trails by one. 54-53, Jay Shaw with one. Just a reminder for everybody, early in the season, these free throws do not go down.

But later on, down the stretch, that's what these games are made of. That one back rimmed again. He was strong on both of them. Rebound taken by the Bucs. They have the basketball. Jay Shaw picking up Garcia. The 6'5 post player and he's fouled. Garcia is fouled by Pearson. He's ripping on the side and it'll be two free throws with 146 to go. And Garcia will shoot two. Jay Shaw, a little frustrated with that, thought he had got around. Yeah, it wasn't the most contact that we've seen tonight.

That's for sure. One thing about it, with Garcia shooting free throws, he shouldn't be able to get the rebound if he misses one. And he missed one. One point lead still. Again, what a fine player he is. And you know that later on in the season, he's going to be hit. That free throw percentage is going to go way up as the season goes on. Absolutely. Second free throw coming. That one's on the way. That one's good. One of two. A two-point lead. Florence will inbound it.

Payne will bring it up the floor. With 140 to go. Down by two. Man-to-man pressure from the Bucs. Timeout taken by Dylan Burleson. We will do the same. Back after this 30-second timeout. This is basketball. Hi, I'm Dr. Brady Citizen with Treehouse Children's Dentistry. Our teens in Tuscumbia, Killen, and Madison are so excited to welcome you and your family to our treehouse. We know that choosing a dental home can be a stressful experience. That's why at Treehouse Children's Dentistry, we've created an environment that kids and parents love.

[1:34:59] Our team is experienced in caring for every child, from infants to teenagers to children with special needs. Call one of our three locations today or visit our website at treehousedentistry.com. We're so excited to see you soon at Treehouse Children's Dentistry, a branch of Singing River Dentistry. It has been a slugfest as the appropriate bumper music leads us in. With 137 to go, Florence trails Buckhorn 55-53. Mike Albertson, what does this Florence team need to do with the basketball here? On the defensive side, I say you've got to stop Garcia.

He's got seven of their last points. I mean, he's really taken over in this fourth quarter. And then on the offensive side, I'll take this. You don't have to have a three. You've been shooting the ball well. I know it's a large team, but right now you're trying to get to the basket. I know you're playmakers, but watch out for Jones. Jones could be that key guy to get open here. Payne will inbound it from the sideline. The Bucs will go man-to-man. They go large, too.

They have both their 6'5 and 6'8 player in there. Jones will bring it up against Garcia on the left wing. Jones looking to find help here. Gets it to Payne. Knocked away. Jones gets it back. Got to Payne for three from the corner. Good! He drains it. Florence leads by one. Garcia backcourt with 1.22 to go in the game. Swings it back over to Cantrell. Cantrell picked up by Payne. Goes to the right side. In the corner. Melton drives. Floater. Got it. No good. Rebound. No taken.

Shot put up in the travel. Turnover against the Bucs. Out of control. And Florence leads it by one. And will have the basketball with 1.10. And Florence doesn't have to shoot it again. But they have to take care of the basketball. And Pearson in backcourt is fouled immediately. They'll send Pearson from 94 feet away all the way to the other end to shoot free throws. I know the Bucs did not appreciate that call. However, that's not a bad play right there. You're down one. You get them to the line.

You have a minute 10. You know, whether J-shot hits one or two, you know, you'll know what you have. But there's plenty of time left in this game. Great high school game to be so early. Free throw. Good. J-shot had five ahead of him in the first half. Now he's in double figures. This one to make it a three-point lead with 1.10 to go. Eyes it. Tries it. Wouldn't go. Rebound. Chase down and rebound by Jones. He's got to step. Jones goes up. No, won't take it. Knocked away.

Stolen away. Great play by Garcia. Garcia brings it up the right sideline. Garcia slows down the traffic. Looks for a screen. Goes back. Pulls up. Deep three. He's fouled. He'll shoot three. And that's all for Jones. That's the right call. Jones got too close. And that was a veteran player right there just knowing the situation. He was able to, I mean, he forced that shot. There was no way he was making that shot in any world. But he drew enough contact to get that call. So Jones will come out of the game fouled out.

He played a heck of a game right there. Oh, number zero is going to be all right. Skipworth will come in along with Roy. Irons, Pearson, and Payne. Florence a little small. Into the line to shoot three. The UAH commit. Ligocia. First one. Got that one to go. And that first one usually is the toughest one. He's got 10 in the second half and 17 for the game. He's got two more to come. This one is tied up. Nets. It's always that first one. Let's keep an eye on substitutions defense for offense for the Bucs.

Dylan Burleson doesn't have that opportunity right now. He's down to just whoever he's got. Buckhorn just iced their shooter right there. We'll see if it happened. Tie game. He made that one. Three for three. And a one-point lead for the Bucs. Pearson. Front court. Goes to the right side to Irons. Back to Pearson. On the right wing. Got the screen at the top. Elbow. Couldn't get the pass. Now he's going to have to go back up top. Got it to Skipworth. Skipworth into Irons. Irons lost.

It's stolen away. That was knocked away. And Melton in back court. Gets it to Garcia. And now Falcons foul Garcia. And he'll shoot two more. And that's not good. One-point lead. A one-possession game. And Payne will have to get the foul. Nothing Irons did wrong there. Just lost in traffic. He let the moment get a little too big for him. He rushed just a little bit. And just in that brief moment, made a little miscue. Brought the ball down to get it poked away. Garcia, three earlier.

Make it forward. And their star player is starting to take over. He's had five free throws here in this quarter with 33 seconds to go. He makes them both a three-point lead. Timeout on the floor. The last timeout by the Bucs. We'll keep it right here. 33.4 on the clock. The Bucs lead at 60-57 in a game where Florence had the ball and a one-point lead. And a shot got blocked. I really lost it. But something happened where Garcia got the ball, knocked it away. The game and then all of a sudden Garcia takes over.

[1:40:33] Well, we saw that a few years ago. Guys around the basket not taking it to the basket with authority. Being able to try and redirect a shot and everything. Instead of getting up and going hard to the basket and maybe getting a little contact. He tried a little misdirection. As he brought it down and pumped it, he was able to get it blocked. And so that's just a fact of having a young man that's not used to being on that varsity level. You have to be aggressive at this level.

And we saw when Jamari and Reeder, over the years, he would misdirect. He would do all those shots. And then that senior year, what did he do? He just went hard to the basket each and every time. Once you learn that, you gain that presence and authority underneath. That's what it's all about is getting that confidence and just being able to take it hard. Now with a three-point game, the Bucs could foul and send the Falcons to the free throw line. And it's going to get to shoot two.

Let's see what happens. Bucs have no time. Bucs has won, I believe. Pearson will pick it up across the midcourt strike. Pearson looks, gets the high screen. Step back, open, three. Good! We're tied! What a set play. The Bucs will have to inbound it. We have 30 seconds, 20 seconds to go. Garcia will have it. Somebody's got to come up and guard him. Garcia at the three-point line. They're going to play for the last shot. Garcia keeps it in his hands with 12. Payne will guard Garcia. He loves to go to the right.

Goes to the right. Peak three on the way. Good! Drilled it with two seconds. Timeout taken by Florence. Tip of the hat to the 6'5", Garcia. There will be three seconds put on the clock. Timeout on the floor. We'll do the same. We're back in 30. This is Stockton Basketball. Have you ever seen those halftime scholarships where you have to nail a 40-yard field goal? Yeah, this isn't that. I didn't have to write a long essay or audition or make a half-court shot. I just had to open a bank independent account, use my debit card, sign up for online banking, and have a positive balance.

That's it. A 20% scholarship to UNA. When bank independent invests in students like me, they're investing in all of us and the future of our community. Bank independent. We're invested in your future. Member FDIC. Back here at the coffee gym with three seconds to go. Garcia hits a contested three from NBA. The 6'5 post player rises up and drains it. Tip of the hat. He has been the difference in the fourth quarter. Florence still has a chance with three seconds to go. Don't be surprised if you see Payne get a chance here.

They run the circle, looking about it. Irons will throw it. Got it to Roy at midcourt. Lobbed it over and knocked away, and that's it. And it was Garcia, appropriately, who made the steal. And that's the way the ballgame will end. And Florence loses a tough one tonight by a score of 63-60. This is Falcon basketball. We're back in one minute. Getting the kids to practice on time. Remembering if it's your day to bring snacks. Making it to the game with a clean jersey. Why are simple things sometimes so complicated?

Thankfully, with auto owners, insurance doesn't have to be one of them. Auto owners works with independent agents who answer when you call. So you can worry about more important things. Like whether your kid is going to run toward first or third base. That's simple human sense. In Florence, see Luke Brown at Hinderger Johnson & Layton Insurance. Call 256-764-8682. Flavor is calling at Lost Pizza Company Shoals. Introducing the new limited-time-only margarita pizza. Fresh basil, fine-ripened tomatoes, and creamy mozzarella pearls on our homemade crust. Light, bright, and bursting with flavor.

Try our all-new dry-rub wings. Seasoned to perfection with bold, smoky spices. It'll have you coming back for more. Don't forget dessert, cotton, blues, cheesecake slices are here. Creamy, dreamy, and downright legendary. These flavors won't stick around forever. Only at Lost Pizza Company Shoals, where the lost get fed. The TNT Fireworks Post Game Show. Back here at the Coffee Gym. Kevin Johnson, Mike Albertson. If you came out to the Coffee Gym tonight, you got your money's worth on this one. What a game. What a great high school game.

Really, two high-quality teams going at it. And in the end, the Buckhorn Bucks, led by Lee Garcia, win it 63-60 on a last-second three-pointer with three seconds to go. Tremendous, tremendous shot there by Garcia, who in the fourth quarter alone, Garcia unofficially had 14 points in that 22-point quarter for the Buckhorn Bucks. And that's where the final score is. Team on the road knocks off the Falcons 63-60. Falcons go into the locker room now. I know Coach Dillon Burleson wants to get to his young team, talk to them.

[1:45:51] It was a tough, heartbreaking loss, Mike. It certainly was. You know, to really grind it out, have kind of a weak first quarter, if we're being honest. That weak first quarter kind of, we fell behind. It was 18-9. And then we grinded back. We were only down by two at half, down by one in the third, being able to tie it up with 12 seconds to go. You know, just leaving one possession for Buckhorn and Garcia hitting that dagger, dagger of a three. You know, big shot by J-Shob with 12 seconds to go.

And then you have that contested three-pointer. I mean, big players make big plays in big time. So, and Garcia did exactly that, you know, with 15 points in that fourth quarter alone. He just carried his team to victory. You got to realize, this is a Buckhorn team that's already beat Grissom by double digits, Ramsey by double digits. They are legit. They are a really good program and a really good team. And Florence, here at home tonight, took them to the wire. And as Dylan Burleson said, we have not seen this Falcon team lose at home a lot in the past couple of years in fall tonight.

But what a game. What a game all around. And really impressed, I think, by this Falcon team, Mike. I know you don't want moral victories. I know this coaching staff does not believe in that. But what I'm impressed by is I think they might have found something there in this game today, even more so in the first two games. Yes, they really, they've really worked hard early on in this season. And you're starting to see some of those things pay off. You know, the fruits of their labor are definitely showing up on the court.

And they played some tough opponents and tough teams. And this is about as tough of a game as you're going to be able to come by. You know, Division I talent on the court along with, you know, quickness, speed, hard defense, you know, and just a great atmosphere. This was a beautiful high school basketball game. It's just the good guys didn't win this one. Fourth quarter alone, probably six to eight lead changes in the quarter. That tells you what kind of game it was. Back and forth they went blow after blow.

But in the last two and a half minutes, the youngster that's committed to UAH, whoo, he put on his show. And did his stuff. And knocks down shot after shot after shot in tough shots. And the last three, he knocked down with three hands in his face and put it down with three seconds to go. And he makes the steal at the end of the game. And Florence loses to Buckhorn 63-60. Chick-fil-A brings us our stats. Chick-fil-A open all week long. Mike Albertson, take it away.

Thanks, Kevin. As we talked about earlier, for the Buckhorn Bucks, extend their record to 3-0. We have Lee Garcia finished with 24 points. Isaiah Fields with 4. Parker Melton with 12. Chris Crutcher with 2 points. Bryson Spencer with 6 points. Kitten Cottrell, 4 points. Drake Allen, 5 points. And Marvin Petty finished with 6. As for the Falcons leading the way, Jay Sean Payne with 22 points. Jay Sean Pearson with 16. Taylin Jones had 8. It looks like Skip Worth finished with 3. Cage Roy with 3. Cooper Fulmer with 3. And Jaden Irons finished with 5 points. Florence probably will look back and say, where did we lose this game in the first quarter?

They're trailed at 18-9. As Mike said, that first quarter was weak. After that, the Falcons outscored and outplayed the Bucks in many ways. But they were in too deep a hole early on. They trimmed it to 25-23 at the end of the half. One point lead for Buckhorn at the end of three. But where it counts the most, the Bucks win it on a three-pointer late in the game. 63-60. Our next broadcast coming up in December. December along the way as we get ready for a game.

By the way, the coaches' kids are all of the ages of about one year old. They want to come over and talk to the radio crew. Having fun on the court. Good to see them having fun. Our next broadcast, as I said, will be December 2nd here at Coffee Gym when the Muscle Shoals Trojans come to town. In December we'll get active. We also have during that time many area games, three area games. And so a lot of action going on in the month of December.

And we'll have a lot of Falcon broadcasts during that period. Florence will play Thursday night at Spartan. And then next week during Thanksgiving they will play in the end of the hoops tournament over in Bob Jones High School. That's going to do it for us tonight. Florence Falls to Buckhorn 63-60. For our station owner, Mr. Greg Thornton. For our great guy in the booth today at 939 The Score Studios, our engineer Blair Krieger. And my good friend Mike Alberson. I'm Kevin Johnson. Say have a great night.

Falcons fall by three. Folks, have a great night. And as always, I'll see you in church on Sunday. Good night, everyone. You've been listening to Florence Falcons Basketball on Sports Radio 93.9 The Score. Florence Falcons Basketball on 93.9 The Score has been brought to you by Florence Utilities. Florence City Schools. The law firm of Johnson Pasture Medley and Virtual. Lost Pizza. North Alabama Bone and Joint Clinic. T&T Fireworks. Yogurt Mountain. Whataburger. Singing River Dentistry. Bank Independent. Bank Independent. Irons Electric. Cypress Creek Indoor Range. And Hinegar Johnson & Layton Insurance.

[1:51:09] Thanks for listening. And go Falcons!