Horton fast out of the gate
- Updated: December 1, 2015
Jacksonville gunner goes for 36 in his season opener; Ohatchee, Oxford, Lincoln boys also win, Talladega falls
Tuesday’s Boys Scores
Jacksonville 74, Weaver 70
Ohatchee 66, Coosa Christian 37
Lincoln 61, Pell City 37
Oxford 51, Briarwood Christian 33
Ramsay 47, Talladega 39
Sacred Heart at Appalachian
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
JACKSONVILLE — Cam Horton has been waiting for Dec. 1 for weeks.
Jacksonville was one of the last teams in Calhoun County to open its basketball season, but when the ball finally went up for the Golden Eagles Tuesday night, Horton was ready to show he hasn’t lost his touch.
He scored 36 points and was the clear take-charge guy on the floor as the Golden Eagles edged Weaver 74-70.
“If you’re talking about when football ended, those boys have been waiting for two or three weeks; I’ve been waiting six to seven weeks,” Horton said. “I don’t like waiting. I want to play. I tried to get a game early – Nov. 8 – but it wouldn’t work.”
Usually, the Golden Eagles would have a couple games under their belt by now, playing in somebody’s Thanksgiving tournament or just scheduling a few games, but coach Ryan Chambless waited this year to make sure they were ready to answer in the bell.
“The last couple years we started way too early; I just don’t think we were ready to play,” he said. “We’d practiced a couple of times and then we played a game and we never could get the rhythm, so I didn’t want to be in a hurry this year.”
Now, the last teams in the county to put their teams on the floor are the two that stayed the longest in the high school football playoffs – Alexandria and state finalist Piedmont.
Horton was a little antsy to start and admitted taking “a couple bad jumpers” early in the game. At that point he was encouraged to start attacking the basket and that got him to the foul line, where he really started racking up the points.
He was 14 of 19 from the line in the game. He eventually did find his stroke, hitting four 3-pointers — most with his signature hold at the top of his arc – and had seven assists, three steals and three blocks to go with them. He scored 24 points in the second half.
“Cam is so hard to guard; he’s the quickest shot in the county, by far,” Weaver coach Daryl Hamby said. “He reminds me of (former Bearcats star) Tarrance (Landrum), no doubt about it. He’s quicker, he’s explosive; it’s just so tough to guard him.
“We tried to, when he got rid of the ball, not let him get it back, but everything goes through him. He’s just good.”
Jacksonville led this one all the way, but Weaver (0-5) never let it get away. The Bearcats trailed by 12 late in the third quarter, but got it back to a one-point game with less than a minute to play before Horton and Taye Ackles locked it down with free throws. Six of Ackles’ 11 points were second-half free throws.
The Bearcats stayed in the game through equal parts Malik Arnold and Delo Forbes. Arnold pounded the post and had 24 points. Forbes was doing it inside and out and finished with 18 (17 in the second half). Jalen Heath added 13 for Weaver.
BOYS BOXSCORES
Jacksonville 74, Weaver 70
WEAVER (0-5) – Malik Arnold 9-14 6-6 24, Delo Forbes 4-8 8-10 18, Jalen Heath 5-11 2-6 13, Craig Copeland 3-4 2-7 8, Paul Hubbard 2-6 0-1 4, Giovanni Mosley 0-2 1-5 1, Maurice Goodman 0-1 1-2 1, R.J. Wooden 0-2 1-1 1, Ducky Morris 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-48 21-38 70.
JACKSONVILLE (1-0) – Cam Horton 9-22 14-19 36, Taye Ackles 2-8 6-11 11, Rivan Hill 4-10 0-0 9, Martavious Long 2-2 0-0 6, Casey Trull 1-2 3-5 5, Tahj Kirkland 1-5 0-0 3, Blake Morris 1-1 0-1 2, Alex Gilbert 1-2 0-0 2, Will Fuller 0-2 0-0 0, K.J. Satcher 0-0 0-0 0, Aaron Bragg 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-54 23-36 74.
Weaver 11 15 19 25 — 70
Jacksonville 17 12 24 21 — 74
3-point goals: Weaver 3-7 (Forbes 2-3, Heath 1-3, Wooden 0-1); Jacksonville 9-20 (Horton 4-7, Ackles 1-3, Hill 1-5, Long 2-2, Kirkland 1-2, Gilbert 0-1). Rebounds: Weaver 39 (Arnold 9, Heath 6); Jacksonville 34 (Long 8). Technical fouls: Horton. Fouled out: Hubbard, Satcher. Total fouls: Weaver 25, Jacksonville 32. Officials: Ortiz, Davis, Kelley.
Oxford 51, Briarwood Christian 33
OXFORD — Torry Robertson 0-4 0-0 0, Jalen Moore 5-8 2-2 13, Querriun Mason 5-11 0-1 10, Jacob Baker 1-2 0-0 2, Eugene Leonard 2-5 1-2 5, Andrew Pratt 0-0 0-0 0, Jordan Swain 2-4 1-2 5, Braden Jones 6-9 3-6 15, Zachary Lackey 0-3 1-2 2. Totals 21-46 8-15 51.
BRIARWOOD – David Corbin 3-7 2-4 9, Jeffrey Travis 3-6 0-0 8, Carson Donnelly 3-6 0-0 6, Brayden Blythe 0-3 0-0 0, Thomas Collier 2-5 4-6 8, Others 0-3 2-2 2. Totals 11-30 8-12 33.
Oxford 14 12 18 7 — 51
Briarwood 9 12 5 7 — 33
3-point goals: Briarwood 3-12 (Corbin, Travis 2); Oxford 1-7 (Moore). Rebounds: Briarwood 22 (Collier 6), Oxford 22 (Jones 5). Total fouls: Oxford 10.
Notes: Mason gave Oxford control of the game when he scored the first six points of the second half. Moore led a strong defensive effort with six steals.
Ohatchee 66, Coosa Christian 37
COOSA CHRISTIAN – Mikey Leek 0 0-0 0, Alex Holmen 1 1-2 4, Will Foster 0 0-0 0, Caleb Sanderson 1 1-2 4, Jackson Justus 1 1-2 3, Wesley Grizzard 3 1-2 9, Jace Mills 1 0-0 2, Kyle Cunningham 1 0-0 2, Caleb Garrett 2 1-7 6, Caden Davidson 3 1-2 7. Totals 13 6-17 37.
OHATCHEE – Ben Glass 5 2-4 16, Kevin Williamson 3 0-0 8, Micah Lee 4 2-4 10, Jon Noel 1 0-0 2, Bryant Dunaway 1 0-0 2, Brennan Wink 1 1-2 3, Austin Tucker 6 5-5 17, Blaine Cole 2 0-0 4, Brian Jennings 1 0-0 2, Tristan Woodall 1 0-0 2, Sean Barnett 0 0-0 0. Totals 25 10-15 66.
Coosa Christian 8 11 11 7 — 37
Ohatchee 17 27 15 7 — 66
3-point goals: Coosa Christian 5 (Holmen, Sanderson, Grizzard 2, Garrett); Ohatchee 6 (Glass 4, Williamson 2). Total fouls: Coosa Christian 15, Ohatchee 15. Officials: Strott, Hollingsworth, Beard.
Notes: Glass hit all four of his 3-pointers and scored 14 of his 16 points in the first half.
Lincoln 61, Pell City 37
PELL CITY — Noah Kennedy 0 0-0 0, Luke Daniels 5 2-2 12, Griffian Wright 2 2-4 6, Hudson Hughes 1 2-2 4, Brendan Satterwhite 0 1-2 1, Jamichael Lipscomb 4 0-0 9, Jarrell Estell 1 2-4 4, Javion Johnson 0 1-2 1. Totals 13 10-16 37.
LINCOLN – Isaac Davis 3 0-0 6, Zay Caldwell 2 2-2 7, Tyler Hemphill 8 3-3 20, Malik Weed 1 0-0 2, Tarez Ellis 1 0-0 2, Quin Carmichael 0 0-4 0, Dee Whiteside 5 1-2 11, L.J. Carmichael 2 1-4 5, Chris Prince 2 0-0 5, Brikeal Truss 0 2-2 2, Savion Wood 0 1-2 1. Totals 24 10-19 61.
Pell City 9 5 12 11 — 37
Lincoln 16 18 9 18 — 61
3-point goals: Pell City 1 (Lipscomb); Lincoln 3 (Caldwell, Hemphill, Prince). Total fouls: Pell City 15, Lincoln 12. Officials: Howell, Batey, Hollingsworth.
Ramsay 47, Talladega 39
RAMSAY – Tyree Blair 2 0-0 6, Justin Wiley 1 2-2 4, Ronald Youngblood 0 0-0 0, Jacorie Gray 0 0-0 0, Brian Sims 1 2-5 4, Brandon Wright 7 3-3 14, Kobe McClain 2 1-4 5, Brandon Houston 0 0-0 0, A.J. Luke 3 5-5 11. Totals 16 13-20 47.
TALLADEGA – D’Juante Dickerson 2 1-2 6, Tyrese Scales 0 3-5 6, Jay Smoot 5 4-10 15, Jarvis McKenzie 0 0-3 0, Ashton Duncan 1 5-10 7, Jamontae Twymon 1 0-1 2, Damarco Truss 1 0-0 2, Waderrius Tuck 0 0-1 0, Robert Houston 0 2-2 2, Jaelyn Russ 1 0-0 2. Totals 11 15-34 39.
Ramsay 10 17 10 12 — 47
Talladega 10 13 2 14 — 39
3-point goals: Ramsay 2 (Blair 2); Talladega 2 (Dickerson, Smoot). Fouled out: Russ. Total fouls: Ramsay 23, Talladega 18. Officials: Baker, Warren, Oden.
Notes: The Tigers were held to only two free throws in the third quarter … Talladega cut its deficit to two with three minutes to play, but couldn’t pull it out … Dickerson had four steals … Wright scored 13 in the first half for Ramsay and Blair had both of his 3-pointers in the third quarter.
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