Pickett comes alive in second half as Nelson tops Gretna in Dogwood boys tourney

Pick your poison. That’s what Nelson County dared Gretna to do throughout the team’s Dogwood District tournament quarterfinal matchup Saturday evening and it seemed that whatever the Hawks threw at the Governors, Nelson had a response.

The biggest poison to counter the Hawks man-to-man defense in the second half was Nelson sophomore guard Adam Pickett, who sliced and diced the Gretna defense for 10 huge fourth-quarter points in Nelson’s 56-53 victory over the home-standing Hawks.

Nelson (9-13), the district tournament’s No. 5 seed, will play at top-seeded Dan River (20-0) at 6 p.m. Tuesday.

“It’s just the greatest feeling that anybody can have,” Pickett said. “Having a bad start in the first half and coming back in the second half to win the game, it’s the greatest feeling.”

Pickett finished with a game-high 22 points and also added nine rebounds, seven assists, three blocks and two steals. The guard scored 15 second-half points against the Gretna (7-12) man-to-man defense after the Hawks had mixed results with a first-half 2-3 zone.

Tyler Vest hit five 3-pointers in the first half and was the reason the Governors trailed Gretna by only one point (28-27) entering the third quarter. Nelson made eight field goals in the first half and Vest hit six of them (17 of his 19 points were scored in the first half).

Gretna overcame a slow start to tally the final six points of the first half to take the halftime lead. The Hawks had balanced scoring throughout its lineup.

“I always tell my guys at halftime that the first 3 or 4 minutes of the third quarter are very important because if we’re up going into the half, then we know the other team is going to make a run coming in,” Gretna coach Dalric Beard said. “Whatever, they throw at us, we have to withstand and hopefully keep it even. We didn’t do that tonight.”

While both teams were stagnant to open the third quarter, the Governors were able to hang around and not allow Gretna to blow the game open.

Jerome Glover had the same success as Pickett in the second half, scoring 10 of his 13 points in the final 16 minutes and getting several of the same easy looks his fellow guard got at the rim.

“We just didn’t stop the ball in transition tonight,” Beard said. “We let one player go the full length of the court — we didn’t stop him and we didn’t make him change direction. We didn’t play good team defense tonight.”

Gretna took a 47-41 lead on Rashad Pannell’s jumper with 5:18 left in the fourth, but Nelson responded on a 14-2 run to take a 55-49 lead with 1:01 left following a pair of Glover free throws.

Pickett scored eight of his fourth-quarter points during that span and Glover added the other six points during the rally.

“We were playing small games there in the fourth quarter,” Nelson County coach Brandon Garrett said. “Goal 1 was just getting it tied up and then we’re up four points and it’s a different situation. We’re looking at playing in small intervals and playing situational basketball.”

Dip Pannell led Gretna with 19 points, four assists and three steals. Tony Miller added seven points and 11 rebounds, while Javon Bennett finished with nine points and seven rebounds.

Dogwood District girls tournament quarterfinals

Jessica Myers scored a game-high 22 points as Gretna built on a first-half lead to roll to a 50-30 victory over Appomattox on Saturday afternoon.

Gretna (10-11), the tournament’s No. 4 seed and defending Dogwood District tournament champion, plays at top-seed Chatham (18-3) at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the semifinals.

“Chatham’s on a hot streak right now, so any time that you can get a good win like we did over Appomattox, it gives us momentum going into the next game,” Gretna coach Herb Daniel said. “Also, any time you can get a win at home, it solidifies yourself as being a legitimate contender.”

Ebony Calloway and Monique Miller scored eight points each for the Hawks.

Heather Mayberry led the Raiders (8-15) with 12 points and E.V. Davis finished with 10 points.