A 3 for the win
- Updated: November 18, 2015
Girls basketball: Hanks’ late 3-pointer lifts Ohatchee over Faith Christian; Oxford falls in OT, Lincoln’s Carmichael has big debut, JCA wins big
MAK HANKS
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
OHATCHEE – The way the night started it looked as if Ohatchee’s girls were going to shoot Faith Christian right out of the gym, but by the time the game reached crunch time the Lady Indians found themselves in a fight for their basketball lives.
The home-standing Tribe had what appeared to be comfortable leads at various points of the second half Tuesday night, but ultimately they needed Mak Hanks’ 3-pointer with 10 seconds left to escape with their first win of the season, 46-44.
“It was two totally different basketball games,” Hanks said. “As they kept getting closer to the score we had to change the way we were playing and we had to start fighting for the win. We just had to keep fighting the whole entire game.”
The Lady Indians (1-1) led by 13 early in the second half and eight early in the fourth quarter. But Faith kept chipping away and finally took a 44-42 lead on Madison Stephens’ 3-pointer with 61 seconds to play.
A free throw by Ally McCoy drew the Lady Indians a point closer. They got the ball back to set up Hanks’ heroics through a turnover with 29 seconds left. Her shot rattled out of the cylinder and up towards the ceiling, then gravity took over and it dropped back through.
“I knew we had to score,” Hanks said. “When I took it, it was a really scary shot because I didn’t think it was going to go in and I knew my team was counting on me to get it because we had to have points and the time was running out.
“It was just a shock, because I really didn’t think it was going to go in.”
Before Stephens’ go-ahead 3-pointer on the cusp of the final minute Faith came up empty on five straight possessions that could have given it the lead. That hurt, but the Hanks trey was the dagger.
“The thing I was disappointed with was we let the best shooter on the team get a wide-open 3 to win the game,” Faith coach Bradley Dawson said. “You can’t win when you do that.”
The 3-pointer to win seemed appropriate considering the way Ohatchee started the game. The Lady Indians’ first five baskets were from long range as as the Lady Lions were content to set up inside the arc.
McCoy hit three of her five 3-pointers during the run and Hanks had the other two. McCoy was 5 of 9 from beyond the arc in the game, while Hanks went 3 of 7.
“Our 3-point shooting tonight was on fire,” Ohatchee coach Bryant Ginn said. “We were pretty cold last night (Monday at Pleasant Valley), so it’s about time we got a few to drop.”
McCoy finished with 16 points. Stephens led all scorers with 19.
Yellow Jackets fall in overtime
OXFORD – Hunter Ashcraft and Kelsey Patterson combined for 16 points in the fourth quarter and overtime as Southside rallied to spoil Oxford’s season opener 61-52.
The Yellow Jackets led 44-40 with 2:27 left in regulation, but suffered through four straight empty possessions that allowed Southside to take the lead.
Acacia Kidd’s bucket drew Oxford even with 45 seconds left. Southside had a chance to win it in regulation but missed two free throws with 3.6 seconds to play.
Southside never trailed in overtime. Ashcraft’s 3-pointer put the Lady Panthers ahead 52-49. Ebony Kelley’s basket made it 52-51, but Mallory Smith, Ashcraft and Patterson scored the next six points as Southside started pulling away.
Winter Taylor led Oxford with 19 points and eight rebounds. Kelley scored 10 points on 5-of-8 shooting and also grabbed eight rebounds. Tremeria Britt scored 10 points and dealt four assists.
Amaz-ing: Lincoln’s Carmichael goes for 42
SYLACAUGA – Lincoln coach Shea Monroe has been waiting for this since the day Amaz Carmichael arrived on campus.
The 6-foot-3 sophomore sat out last season after transferring from Oxford, but in her first game since the eighth grade she scored 42 points and grabbed 15 rebounds to lead Lincoln over B.B. Comer 52-27.
Carmichael was 20 of 35 from the field. She also blocked six shots. It wasn’t immediately known if her debut broke the girls’ single-game school scoring record. Lincoln has been playing girls basketball only since 1998.
“We’ve been talking about (having her available) all off-season,” Monroe said. “Hopefully she’ll give a lot of people fits. I’m just looking forward to seeing if she can continue to take steps to move forward. (but) I don’t want her to feel she’s got to press and score 40 every night.”
Carmichael’s presence in the lineup gives the Lady Bears a chance to compete. They won only three games last year – two over B.B. Comer – but they didn’t win their first game until the Talladega County Tournament.
Crook leads strong JCA effort
TALLADEGA — Sarah Crook led a balanced JCA scoring attack with a double-double as the Thunder trounced Alabama School for the Deaf, 58-32.
Crook had 13 points and 19 rebounds. Kayla Barnes led all JCA scorers with 15 points, while Briah Cupp added 14 points ASD’s Techana Dunlin led all scorers with 19 points.
Ohatchee 46, Faith Christian 44
FAITH CHRISTIAN (0-1) – Emily Sills 2 0-0 5, Madison Stephens 6 5-7 19, Sarah Jessica Christjohn 1 0-0 2, Sydnee Johnson 3 2-2 8, Zana Christjohn 0 0-0 0, Logan Boyd 4 2-4 10, Regan Crosby 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 9-13 44.
OHATCHEE (1-1) – Taylor Hamm 0 0-0 0, Courtney Poole 0 0-2 0, Hannah Howell 2 0-1 4, Shelby Crump 0 0-0 0, Ally McCoy 5 1-3 16, Kourtney Shuler 0 0-0 0, Kacie Cooper 1 0-0 2, Makenzie Hanks 3 0-0 9, Madison Hanks 4 1-2 9, Shay Clements 0 0-0 0, Cheyenne McCarter 3 0-0 6. Totals 18 2-8 46.
Faith Christian 9 10 12 13 — 44
Ohatchee 19 9 9 9 — 46
3-point goals: Faith 3 (Sills, Stephens 2); Ohatchee 8 (McCoy 5, Mk Hanks 3). Total fouls: Faith 13, Ohatchee 19. Officials: Wright, House, Stubbs.
Southside 61, Oxford 52
SOUTHSIDE (2-0) – Emily Coker 3 2-2 8, Mallory Smith 2 3-7 8, Blakely Alfred 4 0-0 9, Hunter Ashcraft 2 3-4 8, Kelsey Patterson 10 4-8 24, McKenzie Rodooker 0 0-2 0, Lauren Hunt 1 0-0 3, Alexis Thompson 0 1-3 1. Totals 22 13-26 61.
OXFORD (0-1) — Anna Bolton 1 0-0 2, Makayla Kidd 0 0-0 0, Winter Taylor 7 1-2 19, Makayla Lowery 2 0-3 4, Acacia Judd 2 1-2 5, Tremeria Britt 4 0-0 10, Ebony Kelley 5 0-1 10, Alexis Davis 1 0-0 2. Totals 22 2-8 52.
Southside 9 8 17 12 15 — 61
Oxford 7 10 15 14 6 — 52
3-point goals: Southside 4 (Smith, Alfred, Ashcraft, Hurt); Oxford 6 (Taylor 4, Britt 2). Fouled out: Kelley. Total fouls: Southside 10, Oxford 20. Officials: Scott Watson, Robert Howell, Jeff Winn.
Lincoln 53, B.B. Comer 27
LINCOLN (1-0) — Jasmina Miller 1 0-0 2, Jayla Morris 2 0-0 4, Katelynn Harmon 1 1-6 3, Taylor Conway 1 0-2 2, Amaz Carmichael 20 2-10 42, Jessie Edge 0 0-0 0, Courtney Edwards 0 0-0 0. Totals 25 3-18 53.
B.B. COMER (0-1) — Raven McCain 0 0-1 0, Tykea Wells 9 4-14 25, Destiny Lawler 0 0-2 0, Mekiah Taylor 0 0-0 0, Sarah Hodges 0 0-0 0, Makayla Harris 1 0-0 2, Tashaya Hamilton 0 0-0 0, Jahfinia Peterson 0 0-0 0. Totals 10 4-17 27.
Lincoln 10 12 11 20 — 53
B.B. Comer 0 7 8 12 — 27
3-point goals: B.B. Comer 3 (Wells). Fouled out: Harmon, Harris. Total fouls: Lincoln 17, B.B. Comer 16. Officials: Hinton, Williams, Caldwell.
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