Anniston tops Spring Garden
- Updated: November 25, 2015
Girls Roundup: Lady Dawgs use big second half to win the battle between two of last year’s Final 4 combatants; PV rules Creekbank
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
Nine months ago this would have been a dream matchup between two girls basketball teams that reached the Final Four in their respective classifications. Now it was a game between two teams trying to find themselves.
Anniston beat Spring Garden Tuesday night 49-39. The Lady Dawgs (2-0) lost in the Class 5A semifinals to Brewbaker Tech, while Spring Garden (1-2) lost in the Class 1A title game to Keith.
Both teams return virtually their entire Final Four squads in tact, but they’re both going through some growing pains in the new season.
“I really think both teams have potential, but I still think it’s early,” Spring Garden coach Ricky Austin said. “You saw two teams tonight still trying to find themselves.
“We haven’t quite got our balance on both ends of the court that we need. We’re begging, we’re pleading for some of the role players to step up; that’s what we’ve got to have.
“This was a great game for us, this matchup. We need to play them once a week the rest of the year; we can really get a lot out of playing them. I hope we helped Coach (Eddie) Bullock get something out of it, but we left here tonight exposing what we needed to be exposed to.”
On this night, Anniston broke open a low-scoring game with its most productive quarter of the young season — 22 points.
The Lady Dawgs scored the first eight points of the second half to take the lead – the front and back ends of it on putbacks by J’Kyra Clemons — and never trailed again. They scored the last seven of the quarter to forge the 10-point lead they maintained throughout the fourth quarter.
They outscored Spring Garden in the second half 37-23 after both teams combined for just 28 points in the first.
Miajah Bullock led Anniston with 13 points and seven rebounds. Teammates Raven Cooley and Davia Palmer had 12 points apiece.
Spring Garden’s Tykeah Rogers led all scorers with 17 points; she also grabbed 11 rebounds.
Rogers scored all eight of the Lady Panthers’ points in the third quarter — six from the foul line — and had 14 of their 15 points in the second and third quarters.
“I told my team they would be smart and they would be disciplined,” Bullock said. “I don’t ever worry about ability, speed and hustle and all that, but we have to match their smarts. If we match their smarts we’re going to be all right, and that’s what we did.
“They outsmarted us the first half, we got them the second half. Any win is a good win and you move on from there and see what you can do better.”
Both teams figure to become a lot sharper as the season wears on, so by the time they meet again it could be a real classic.
By then, Spring Garden’s players will become confident in their assigned roles and Anniston will have found the pieces to replace what it has lost on the inside.
“Everybody around here needs to circle the date when they come to our place (Jan. 7) because that will be two teams that will be much more defined,” Austin said. “It could be a really good game for high school girls basketball in this area. I would think that would have to be an exciting game to see.”
Creekbank Invitational
Pleasant Valley 63, Lincoln 17
OHATCHEE — The Pleasant Valley girls basketball team won the Creekbank Invitational with a lop-sided win over Lincoln, but don’t expect the Lady Raiders to rest on that laurel.
There’s still plenty of work to do.
“I put the trophy on the floor, told them practice was at 7:30 in the morning and left the room,” PV coach Brad Hood said. “I want us to be a great team, not a good team.”
The Lady Raiders (6-0) were focused on fundamentals in this one that wasn’t expected to be close.
Eleven of their 12 players scored and the starters were out early. Kara Perry led the attack with 13 points.
The Lady Raiders made things tough on 6-3 Lincoln sophomore Amaz Carmichael, too. They held Carmichael to nine points, one in the second half — the only point the Lady Bears scored in the third quarter.
Three of her four baskets were putbacks. She hadn’t scored fewer than 20 in any of her previous three games.
“We used this as a chance to get better,” Hood said.
Ohatchee 36, Cleburne County 28
The Lady Indians finished second in their own tournament by taking out Cleburne County in their final game. Mak Hanks and Cheyenne Carter led the Lady Indians with nine points each.
Coosa Christian 53, Donoho 40
Coosa’s Natlie Davidson scored 13 of her game-high 20 points a 25-point second quarter that broke open a close game.
TUESDAY NIGHT BOXSCORES
Anniston 49, Spring Garden 39
SPRING GARDEN (1-2) – A.J. Broome 2 1-4 5, Kerstin Bryant 2 0-0 5, Madison Sides 3 0-0 8, Savannah Dempsey 1 0-0 3, Payton McGinnis 0 1-2 1, Tyanna Rogers 0 0-0 0, Tykeah Rogers 3 11-12 17. Totals 11 13-18 39.
ANNISTON (2-0) – Miajah Bullock 52-2 13, Raven Cooley 4 2-2 12, Carlina Welch 0 0-0 0, Davia Palmer 4 4-8 12, Keandra Finley 0 0-0 0, Carsheuna Curry 1 0-0 2, J’Kyra Clemons 3 0-0 6, Jemya Bullock 2 0-0 4. Totals 19 8-12 49.
Spring Garden 9 7 8 15 — 39
Anniston 8 4 22 15 — 49
3-point goals: Spring Garden 4 (Bryant, Sides 2, Dempsey); Anniston 3 (M. Bullock, Cooley 2). Fouled out: Clemons. Total fouls: Spring Garden 13, Anniston 17. Officials: Warren, Lemon, Bradford.
CREEKBANK INVITATIONAL
Pleasant Valley 63, Lincoln 17
PLEASANT VALLEY (6-0) – Kara Perry 6 1-2 13, Lindsey Pritchett 2 0-0 4, Mac Parris 3 2-4 8, Atleigh Brannon 2 0-2 4, Alyssa Cash 2 2-2 6, Kaylee Lawler 2 1-2 5, Kendall Johnson 0 0-0 0, Rachel Faucett 1 0-0 2, Taylor Barthel 2 0-0 5, Mikala Simpson 4 0-0 8, Emily Cochran 2 2-4 6, Courtney Upton 1 0-0 2. Totals 27 8-16 63.
LINCOLN (1-3) – Courtney Edwards 0 0-2 0, Amaz Carmichael 4 1-2 9, Jayla Morris 2 0-0 4, Jasmine Miller 0 0-0 0, Taylor Conway 0 0-0 0, Jessie Edge 1 0-0 2, Bailey Gowers 1 0-0 2. Totals 8 1-4 17.
Pleasant Valley 15 21 12 15 — 63
Lincoln 6 6 1 4 — 17
3-point goals: Pleasant Valley 1 (Barthel). Fouled out: Carmichael. Technical fouls: Carmichael. Total fouls: Pleasant Valley 4, Lincoln 15. Officials: Strott, Burroughs, Hayes.
Ohatchee 36, Cleburne County 28
CLEBURNE COUNTY – Shauntavia Boyd 1 0-0 2, Erykah Ware 2 1-2 5, Chelsea Parker 2 2-6 6, Lauren Brown 1 1-3 3, Madison Jones 0 0-1 0, A Lee 1 0-0 2, Alex Casey 3 0-1 6, Tatiana Ervin 0 0-0 0. Totals 10 4-13 28.
OHATCHEE – Taylor Hamm 0 0-0 0, Courtney Poole 1 1-2 4, Hannah Howell 3 0-0 6, Shelby Crump 0 0-0 0, Ally McCoy 1 3-6 6, Kourtney Shuler 0 0-0 0, Kacie Cooper 0 0-0 0, Maggie Phillips 0 0-0 0, Mak Hanks 3 0-0 9, Madison Hanks 0 0-2 0, Cheyenne McCarter 3 3-6 9. Totals 11 7-12 36.
Cleburne County 12 8 6 2 — 28
Ohatchee 7 6 12 11 — 36
3-point goals: Ohatchee 5 (Poole, McCoy, Mk. Hanks 3).
Total fouls: Cleburne County 15, Ohatchee 19. Officials: Strott, Pratt, Miller.
Coosa Christian 53, Donoho 40
COOSA CHRISTIAN — Natalie Davidson 7 5-7 20, Lauryn Noojin 1 0-0 2, Lauren Reeves 1 1-2 4, Ashton Mills 1 3-4 5, Georgia Mills 1 0-1 2, Hailey Myrick 0 2-4 2, Neely Evetts 1 0-1 3, M.B. Williamson 1 0-0 2, Mary Garrett 0 0-2 0, Maggie Grizzard 1 0-0 2, Morgan Delp 1 0-2 2, Samara Brewster 4 1-2 9. Totals 19 12-24 53.
DONOHO – Astral Heathcock 3 1-4 7, Alysse Lalonde 3 1-2 9, Haile Frickey 2 0-1 4, Meghana Giri 0 0-0 0, Kelsey Jackson 3 0-0 8, Constance Hodges 1 0-2 2, Carley Hughes 0 2-5 2, Lauren Holbrook 2 4-6 8. Totals 14 8-20 40.
Coosa Christian 8 25 8 12 — 53
Donoho 8 8 8 16 — 40
3-point goals: Coosa Christian 3 (Davidson, Reeves, Evetts); Donoho 4 (Lalonde 2, Jackson 2). Fouled out: Jackson. Total fouls: Coosa Christian 21, Donoho 21. Officials: Pratt, Hayes, Miller.
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