FAIRHOPE, Alabama – The Gulf Shores Dolphins trailed at the half but came back for a 48-39 win over the Fairhope Pirates on Tuesday in a game that head coach Clint Wigley called “a tale of two halves.”
The Dolphins (3-6) fell behind 8-7 …
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FAIRHOPE, Alabama – The Gulf Shores Dolphins trailed at the half but came back for a 48-39 win over the Fairhope Pirates on Tuesday in a game that head coach Clint Wigley called “a tale of two halves.”
The Dolphins (3-6) fell behind 8-7 after one period and trailed 22-17 at the half.
“It really was a tale of two halves. In the first we played hard, but we didn’t play well,” Wigley said. “Luckily our defense was good enough. Fairhope is a good team. I was really proud of our effort in the second half, when we finally got some buckets to go down. That was the difference in the game.”
In the third period, Gulf Shores outscored the Pirates 12-5 and built a 40-30 lead halfway through the fourth period. Daniel Laborde hit four-of-five free throws in the final minute to close out the win.
“We talked about slowing down on offense a little bit," Wigley said. "It was almost like we were in a hurry, like we had a shot clock running in our heads. We talked about stepping back and trying to get the looks that we wanted, and that seemed to work. We got some good lucks, got some back door cuts and things like that. We got some easy buckets and that helped us out.”
Laborde finished with a game-high 24 points.
“Daniel has been a leader for us all year,” Wigley said. “He has got to be tired because I am having to play him a bunch of minutes. We are riding him pretty hard and he is stepping up to the challenge. I really appreciate his effort. He is a really good leader for us. He does everything that we ask him to do.”
Jeffrey Ybarra added 11 points for Gulf Shores in the win. Rushing Watson led Fairhope with 10 points, and Britton Flowers and Davis Watson scored eight points apiece for the Pirates (1-5).
Gulf Shores will visit area rival Spanish Fort on Friday at 7:30 p.m. The Toros are ranked No. 4 in Class 5A with an unbeaten record.
“They are a goliath, but we are going to go in there and try to play as hard as we can,” Wigley said. “Hopefully we can come out of there with a win.”
Fairhope will host Tate (Fla.) on Friday at 7:30 p.m.
