Tres bon

By EASportsToday.com
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Updated: December 1, 2015

New-look Jacksonville girls hand revenge-minded Weaver first loss; Ohatchee wins, Oxford falls

Tuesday’s Girls Scores
Jacksonville 59, Weaver 29
Ohatchee 52, Coosa Christian 45
Briarwood Christian 47, Oxford 35

By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today

JACKSONVILLE — First-year Jacksonville girls coach Tres Buzan knew his team was facing a squad that was gunning for it Tuesday night, but his focus was all about the way his team would play.

A year ago, the Golden Eagles scored nearly 100 points in pinning a 77-point loss on Weaver and the result has been etched on the Lady Bearcats’ psyche from that day forward.

This by all measure was a different Jacksonville team than the high-scoring, tight-pressing juggernaut that eventually would play for the state championship and it definitely was a different Weaver team from the past.

It was that combination that gave they Lady Bearcats hope of exacting some revenge, but in the end Jacksonville put it to them — not as badly as last year, of course — but 59-29 in their home opener.

“I know what happened last year,” said Buzan, who was the Golden Eagles’ junior high coach the last two seasons. “But I tell the girls all the time this is a new team, a new season, whatever we did last year doesn’t matter; you’ve got to work hard every day because you’ve got a bull’s eye on your back. You’ve been the team in this county for five, six years and you’ve got a target on your back so you’ve got to come to work.

“It’s not so much did we prepare for Weaver for a payback game; that’s just kind of how we practice. We know everybody’s coming for us and the girls work hard every day and they put in the work that hopefully no matter who we’re facing it gives us a chance at the end of the day.”

It was Weaver’s first loss of the season after a 5-0 start. Of course, the Lady Bearcats were missing an important weapon — Mariah Thompson hurt her ankle Monday at Lincoln and is expected to be out the rest of the week — and it impacted their play on the boards.

Jacksonville outrebounded Weaver 37-31 and scored 10 more second-chance points.

Rayne Beck led Weaver with 13 and was the only Lady Bearcat to score in double figures. Jacksonville, meanwhile, got 16 from Dasia Kirksey, 14 from Krya Williams and 10 from Ataliya Morgan. Williams also had seven rebounds, seven assists and four steals.

“They still have a couple of those girls off those state championship (contending) teams that hurt me a little bit,” Weaver coach Gary Atchley said. “We’re going to get better because of this game, I promise you, just like we did last year.

“I’m hoping this is a turning point like it was last year, except we didn’t lose by 80. We’re getting closer. We’re okay.”

The Lady Bearcats came out looking like they might pull it off. They were aggressive out of the gate and scored the first two baskets of the game, but Jacksonville (2-2) was able to make the best of choppy remainder of the quarter and wound up leading by quarter’s end.

The Golden Eagles pulled away with a 14-4 second quarter and steadily extended the lead. The game played under a running clock for the final 3:20.

“We knew they were going to come in and try to get us back from the last time,” Kirksey said. “We just had to play our game and play as a team. As long as we did that we’d win.”

In not so many words Buzan said it was tres bon — French for very good. He called it the “best we’ve looked as a team” of the four games it has played this season.

“We’re still climbing the ladder,” Buzan said. “We’re not even close to where we need to be or where we will be … but definitely the best game of the season for us so far.”

GIRLS BOXSCORES

Jacksonville 59, Weaver 29
WEAVER (5-1) – Rayne Beck 5-13 2-4 13, Caleigh Cortez 2-9 1-2 5, Emily Reed 2-5 0-0 4, Hannah Roberts 1-5 0-2 3, Ciera Hardy 1-4 0-1 2, Tayanna Perry 1-2 0-0 2, Anna Howell 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 12-38 3-9 29.

JACKSONVILLE (2-2) – Dasia Kirksey 7-13 1-2 16, Kyra Williams 5-12 5-6 14, Ataliya Morgan 3-9 1-2 10, Aniyah Robinson 3-5 3-6 9, Aniya Jefferson 3-8 0-0 6, Destoni Edwards 1-1 1-2 3, Kesley Ervin 0-0 1-2 1, Malieah Patterson 0-2 0-0 0, Kianna Guidry 0-0 0-0 0, Essence Hutchinson 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 21-52 12-20 59

Weaver 8 4 10 7 — 29
Jacksonville 11 14 17 17 — 59

3-point goals: Weaver 2-10 (Beck 1-3, Reed 0-1, Roberts 1-4, Hardy 0-2); Jacksonville 5-19 (Kirksey 1-4, Williams 1-5, Morgan 3-9, Patterson 0-1, Hutchinson 0-2). Rebounds: Weaver 31 (Beck 8, Cortez 7); Jacksonville 37 (Jefferson, Williams 7). Fouled out: Cortez. Total fouls: Weaver 17, Jacksonville 11. Officials: Kelley, Davis, Hayes.

Briarwood Christian 47, Oxford 35
OXFORD – Anna Bolton 0-1 0-0 0, Makayla Kidd 1-5 2-2 4, Winter Taylor 2-9 6-7 10, Kayla Lowery 0-2 1-2 1, Acacia Kidd 0-0 0-0 0, Tremaria Britt 2-4 0-0 5, Ebony Kelley 2-6 6-9 10, Jordan Smith 2-11 1-4 5, Grace Mitchell 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 9-38 16-24 35.

BRIARWOOD CHRISTIAN — Ellie Tarence 0-6 7-10 7, Molly McKenzie 4-9 1-3 11, Shelly Grace Proctor 3-7 2-2 9, Amelia Moore 0-2 0-0 0, Jennie Reese 2-3 0-0 4, Others 6-18 4-4 16. Totals 15-45 14-19 47.

Oxford 5 5 15 10 — 35
Briarwood 8 12 15 12 — 47

3-point goals: Briarwood 3 (McKenzie 2, Proctor); Oxford 1 (Britt). Total fouls: Briarwood 17, Oxford 13.

Notes: Jordan Smith had nine rebounds, Winter Taylor had eight rebounds.

Ohatchee 52, Coosa Christian 45
COOSA CHRISTIAN – Natalee Davidson 4 1-2 9, Lauryn Noojin 1 0-0 2, Lauren Reeves 0 0-0 0, Ashton Mills 0 1-2 1, Georgia Mills 1 0-0 2, Hailey Myrick 3 0-0 6, Neely Evetts 1 0-0 3, Mary Williamson 2 0-2 5, Maggie Grizzard 0 2-2 2, Morgan Delp 0 1-3 1, Samara Brewster 7 0-0 14. Totals 19 5-11 45.

OHATCHEE – Taylor Hamm 0 0-0 0, Courtney Poole 0 0-0 0, Hannah Howell 4 2-6 10, Shelby Crump 0 0-0 0, Ally McCoy 3 6-9 13, Kourtney Shuler 0 0-0 0, Kacie Cooper 0 0-0 0, Maggie Phillips 3 0-0 6, Mack Hanks 3 1-2 10, Madison Hanks 2 1-2 5, Cheyenne McCarter 2 4-6 8. Totals 17 8-25 52.

Coosa 12 13 11 9 — 45
Ohatchee 17 17 8 10 — 52

3-point goals: Coosa 2 (Evetts, Williamson); Ohatchee 4 (McCoy, Mc. Hanks 3). Fouled out: Davidson. Total fouls: Coosa 20, Ohatchee 11. Officials: Strott, Hollingsworth, Beard.

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