Ohatchee goes old-school
- Updated: December 2, 2015
‘Old-school post’ Jennings leads Ohatchee boys to third straight victory; Hanks sisters help send Weaver to second straight loss
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
OHATCHEE – Brian Jennings is an “old-school post player” who was in his element Tuesday.
The Ohatchee senior planted his 6-foot-3 frame under the basket on both ends of the floor, scored a career-high 21 points and fouled out his opposite number to make the job easier as the Indians beat Weaver 76-69.
It was the Indians’ third straight victory, their longest winning streak in at least three seasons. The loss kept Weaver winless at 0-6.
“Brian is an old-school post player; he gets in here and he works his moves, which you don’t see out of a lot of big men,” Indians coach Bryant Ginn said. “He works relentlessly at that and that makes him a tough player, especially to guard. Today I thought it was huge he got both of their guys in foul trouble for us.”
Jennings was a factor in every quarter. He scored 13 in the second half, including six in the 14-1 run that spanned the third and fourth quarters that gave the Indians ultimate control.
“I knew I had to come in here and get after it,” Jennings said. “I had to work extra hard. That No. 24 (Malik Arnold) was a heck of a player. I knew if we got him out of the game we’d be OK.”
Arnold, the Bearcats’ most physical post player who had 24 against Jacksonville the night before, picked up his third foul midway through the second quarter. Two minutes later the Bearcats were playing without a true post as Ducky Morris also was out of the game.
Arnold eventually fouled out with 5:20 to play and the Bearcats down six. He picked up his fifth personal going over the back trying to steal it from Jennings.
Still, the Bearcats had several chances to shake their losing streak. They had it tied midway through the first quarter, got within one in the second and led by five in the third, but every time they seemed on cusp of making something happen some loose play set them back. The same thing happened to them Monday night at Jacksonville.
They were leading 46-41 when Ohatchee started its key 14-1 run.
“We are not disciplined; we are a very undisciplined team,” Weaver coach Daryl Hamby lamented. “I get a lot of ‘yes sir, yes sir’ and then they do the exact opposite, so we’re either dyslexic or we’re just undisciplined, one of the two.
“We’ve just got to get more disciplined and believe in each other. We’re still a bunch of individuals doing our own thing. We’ve just got to get it straightened out.”
In addition to Jennings’ 21 points, the Indians got 17 from Austin Tucker and 16 from Micah Lee.
Giovanni Mosley led Weaver with 16 points. Arnold had 13 and Paul Hubbard had 14.
Sisters Madison (22) and Makenzie Hanks.
GIRLS GAME: Hanks for the memories
Sisters Makenzie and Madison Hanks have been playing basketball together from the time they learned to make a bounce pass, but they likely never had a game together like they did Tuesday.
Madison, a junior, and Makenzie, a senior, combined for 33 points as Ohatchee handed Weaver its second loss in less than 24 hours, 53-43.
Madison scored 20 points and Makenzie added 13. They combined for 24 of the Lady Indians’ first 36 points.
“I don’t know if that’s ever happened before,” Madison said. “She has her nights and I have my nights. It’s pretty neat to have a big night with my sister.”
The most points they combined for in a game previously this season was 21 against Donoho. Madison entered the game with a 6.0 scoring average and never scored more than nine in any of the previous six games. Makenzie averaged 8.0.
“We’ve been playing together since we were little,” Makenzie said. “It’s fun that I get to play with her my senior year after playing with her all these years and we get to be on the same team and work together.”
Madison scored 14 in the third quarter when the Lady Indians (5-2) opened their biggest lead of the game, 36-18. Weaver cut its deficit to seven in the fourth quarter before Ohatchee scored 11 straight points to put it away.
The Lady Bearcats (5-2), playing their second straight game without injured Mariah Thompson, got most of their scoring from Rayne Beck (15), Caleigh Cortez (14) and Emily Reed (11).
BOYS GAME
Ohatchee 76, Weaver 69
WEAVER (0-6) – Delo Forbes 4 0-0 9, Jalen Heath 3 2-4 8, Craig Copeland 3 1-2 8, Paul Hubbard 6 2-6 14, Maurice Goodman 0 1-2 1, Giovanni Mosley 6 2-4 16, Malik Arnold 5 3-4 13, Ducky Morris 0 0-1 0. Totals 27 11-23 69.
OHATCHEE (3-1) – Ben Glass 3 0-0 7, Kevin Williamson 1 0-0 2, Micah Lee 7 2-2 16, Jon Noel 0 0-0 0, Brennan Wink 2 2-2 6, Austin Tucker 4 9-12 17, Blaine Cole 0 0-0 0, Brian Jennings 9 3-5 21, Tristan Woodall 3 0-0 7, Sean Barnett 0 0-0 0. Totals 29 16-21 76.
Weaver 13 18 16 22 — 69
Ohatchee 21 14 14 27 — 76
3-point goals: Weaver 4 (Forbes, Copeland, Mosley 2); Ohatchee 2 (Glass, Woodall). Fouled out: Forbes, Mosley, Arnold, Wink. Total fouls: Weaver 23, Ohatchee 20. Officials: Burroughs, Allen, Battles.
GIRLS GAME
Ohatchee 53, Weaver 43
WEAVER (5-2) – Ciera Hardy 0 0-0 0, Caleigh Cortez 3 8-14 14, Tayanna Perry 1 1-4 3, Rayne Beck 6 3-8 15, Emily Reed 5 1-2 11, Anna Howell 0 0-0 0, Morgan Wigley 0 0-0 0, Hannah Roberts 0 0-0 0, Skylar Watson 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 13-28 43.
OHATCHEE (5-2) – Taylor Hamm 0 0-0 0, Courtney Poole 0 0-0 0, Hannah Howell 0 0-2 0, Shelby Crump 0 0-0 0, Ally McCoy 2 0-1 5, Kourtney Shuler 0 0-0 0, Kacie Cooper 0 0-0 0, Maggie Phillips 2 1-6 5, Makenzie Hanks 5 0-0 13, Madison Hanks 8 4-4 20, Shey Clements 0 1-2 1, Cheyenne McCarter 4 1-4 9. Totals 21 7-19 53.
Weaver 5 11 17 10 — 43
Ohatchee 9 14 19 11 — 53
3-point goals: Ohatchee 4 (Mak. Hanks 3, McCoy). Fouled out: Beck, Poole. Total fouls: Weaver 15, Ohatchee 25. Officials: Burroughs, Battles, Maske.
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