Back-to-back: EHS wins Thanksgiving Tournament

For the second year in a row the Enterprise Wildcats basketball team traveled to Alabaster and captured the championship at the Thompson Thanksgiving Tournament.

Enterprise defeated host school Thompson in the championship game by a score of 54-49 in overtime. After jumping out to a 20-11 lead in the first quarter, Thompson came roaring back to outscore EHS 15-8 in the second quarter to cut the Wildcat lead to 28-26 at halftime. Thompson managed to take a 42-38 lead into the fourth quarter but Enterprise bounced back to outscore Thompson 9-5 in the final period to force overtime with both teams knotted at 47-47. In overtime, Enterprise controlled the game and outscored the Warriors 7-2 to capture the gold.

Enterprise shot 54 percent from the field in the win, while Thompson shot 50 percent. Both schools also shot over 60 percent at the free throw line, with the big difference coming in the paint. While Enterprise just narrowly outrebounded Thompson 26-23, Enterprise outscored Thompson 26-18 in the paint.

Enterprise senior Elijah Terry secured another double-double in the win as he scored 17 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, while Tomar Hobdy added 12 points, five rebounds and a season-high six assists. Both Ken Mitchell and Dylan Baldwin scored seven points each.

Terry averaged 17 points and 10 rebounds as he earned tournament MVP and All-Tournament honors. Mitchell also captured All-Tournament honors.

In the opening round of the tournament, Enterprise thumped Calera 67-40. After taking a 19-16 lead in the first quarter, Enterprise stretched the lead to 28-21 at halftime but took control of the game in the second half. The Wildcats outscored Calera 23-11 in the third quarter to take a 51-32 lead into the final period. Enterprise again outscored Calera 16-8 in the final quarter to advance to the semifinals.

Against Calera, Enterprise shot 50 percent from the field and held Calera to just 28 percent shooting, while Enterprise outrebounded Calera 38-25 and scored 42 points in the paint compared to just 12 points for Calera.

Terry had a double-double as he scored 21 points and grabbed 13 rebounds along with blocking three shots and dishing three assists. Jordan Hines added 14 points, six rebounds and two steals, while Mitchell scored 10 points, had three assists, blocked two shots and earned two steals.

The Wildcats knocked off Northridge in the semifinals by a score of 51-47. The Wildcats controlled the game for the most part in the first half, taking a 30-19 lead into halftime, but Northridge bounced back to outscore Enterprise 14-6 in the third quarter to cut the lead to 36-33. Enterprise outscore Northridge 15-14 in the final period to hang on for the four-point win.

Enterprise shot 50 percent from the field against Northridge, while holding Northridge to 37 percent shooting. The Wildcats were outrebounded for the first time this season 28-27 but also forced 14 turnovers.

Terry again led the way for Enterprise with 14 points and seven rebounds, while Quentin Hayes scored seven points and grabbed four rebounds. Hobdy added six points, seven rebounds and six assists.