PV’s dose of double trouble
- Updated: March 18, 2015
Lady Raiders’ duo taking their impact from basketball court to softball field
A lot of people say Pleasant Valley’s Atleigh Brannon (L) and Tiffany Williams look alike. They certainly play with the same intensity. (Photo by Brant Locklier)
By Brant Locklier
For East Alabama Sports Today
It was just a few weeks ago when Pleasant Valley’s guard duo of senior Tiffany Williams and sophomore Atleigh Brannon put on a show for the ages in a Calhoun County Girls Basketball Tournament upset of Ohatchee in overtime.
It was hard to tell them apart as they raced up and down the court leading fast breaks and helping the Lady Raiders to victories on the hard court.
These two inseparable friends are now doing the same on the softball field. They bat first and second in the lineup and wreak havoc at the plate and on the base paths, usually getting on base to score on hits by McKinley Parris and Kara Perry.
They only have a few weeks left together on the athletic field as Williams will be graduating in May — heading to Gadsden State to play softball — leaving Brannon for her last two years. The Pleasant Valley fans are a close-knit group and they are soaking it all in as the Lady Raiders head down the second half of the season.
Williams has been playing basketball and softball since the second grade and loves both sports. She has played all three outfield positions, but loves centerfield best, where she’s been playing since ninth grade.
Brannon got involved in ball at a young age also.
“I have always played, it seems like,” she said. “My dad was very athletic and got me started in tee ball at 3 and I have been playing ever since.”
She has mostly played middle infield and pitched. And she’s tough as nails as she has broken her arms six times.
“I broke my right arm four times and my left arm two times,” Brannon said. “I have had to play games where I could only swing the bat with one hand because my arm was broken.”
Williams has broken her arm twice, so she is just as tough. The similarities between the two have just gotten them closer.
They met when Brannon moved to Pleasant Valley from Jacksonville Christian in the seventh grade and they were both moved up to varsity softball team at the same time. They became instant friends.
“We have a good chemistry and I know where she is on the field or court all the time and she knows where I am at,” Brannon said.
Williams added, “People say we look like twins.”
East Alabama Sports Today made a point of saying it when reporting the Lady Raiders’ opening-round County Tournament win over Sacred Heart. The website wrote “the backcourt twins were at it again” after the two combined for 30 of PV’s 62 points in the game.
Both share the same favorite moment, which was the big win in the County Basketball Tournament over Ohatchee.
Their goals are the same for this year. They both want to go to state. Williams knows this is her last shot at it and Brannon wants it just as badly for her friend.
”I want us to go to state and have fun because this is Tiffany’s last year,” Brannon said.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login