Parrots Unravel Like Polyester at Birmingham

Fueled by a rebounding binge and an opportunistic defense in the second half, Birmingham High turned a nail-biter into a laugher in the fourth quarter and defeated Poly, 59-43, Wednesday night in a City Section 3-A quarterfinal playoff at Birmingham.

“This is the best game we played all year,” Birmingham Coach Al Bennett said. “We just kept coming at them.”

Birmingham (19-7), which will face top-seeded Bell in a semifinal Friday, trailed only once--on the opening basket of the second half, 26-25.

After Fahim Hassankhail made a three-point basket from the top of the key on the next possession, it was all Birmingham.

Trailing, 44-38, after three quarters, Poly was within striking distance, but was scoreless for the first 6:35 of the fourth quarter.

The Braves reeled off 12 unanswered points to claim a 56-38 lead and the game was all but over.

Birmingham’s big men, Raymond Kizzee and Emmanuel Evans, dominated the inside game in the second half, when the Braves outrebounded Poly, 22-9.

Kizzee, a 6-foot-3 senior center who picked up his third foul at the end of the second quarter, grabbed nine of his 10 rebounds in the second half. Evans, a 6-3 junior forward, had 17 points and 11 rebounds.

“Evans was everywhere,” Bennett said.

Birmingham’s Stanley Fletcher had 13 points, including three three-pointers.

Poly committed six turnovers in the fourth quarter and made just two of 14 shots (14%).

“[Poly] seemed to have a problem getting good shots the whole game,” Bennett said. “I think we just wore them down [in the second half].”

Birmingham shot 48% (13 of 27) in the second half, Poly just 33% (eight of 24).

Eric Owens scored 10 points for Poly.

Poly’s Ellis Richardson, a junior swingman who transferred from Birmingham in the fall because of problems with Bennett, played just 14 minutes because of an ankle injury. Richardson, who averages 18.3 points a game, had six points and was booed every time he stepped on the court.