Oxford wins in face of adversity

By EASportsToday.com
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Updated: December 19, 2015

Yellow Jackets rout Cleburne County in wake of Mason’s departure; Anniston wins Coosa River Classic, Sacred Heart takes down another 7A

By East Alabama Sports Today

OXFORD – Jakolbie McClendon dropped in 22 points in less than three quarters of playing time Saturday as Oxford evened its record with a 71-31 rout of Cleburne County.

The Yellow Jackets are dealing with some serious issues that go beyond the basketball court. McClendon has scored 50 points in his last two games, picking up the slack left by Querriun Mason’s immediate departure from the team, a situation that is expected to be clarified Monday.

“Jakolbie is asserting himself offensively,” Oxford coach Joel VanMeter said without addressing the Mason situation directly. “He is playing very well.”

Messages left for VanMeter Saturday seeking further comment were not returned.

Reached Sunday he deferred questions on the situation to Oxford athletics director Larry Davidson or schools superintendent Dr. Jeff Goodwin.

The hot-shooting Yellow Jackets (6-6) bolted to a 23-12 first-quarter lead and reeled off 20 straight points to extend it to 43-12.

“We came out with an edge and it showed,” VanMeter said.

All 10 players scored for Oxford. Freshman Eugene Leonard had 11 points.

Anniston wins Coosa River Classic

CHILDERSBURG – Seventh-ranked Anniston ran its winning streak to 10 in a row Saturday with a 57-49 victory over host Childersburg to claim the Coosa River Classic.

Tray Croft and DeQuan Ross both made the all-tournament team. Croft scored 17 points in the final, while Ross scored 11 points and grabbed 12 rebounds.

Willie Thomas added 11 points for the Bulldogs, who haven’t lost since their season opener. Davion Tippins had 10 points.

Sacred Heart 81, Mountain Brook 74

BIRMINGHAM — The top-ranked 1A Cardinals knocked off another ranked 7A opponent, taking out No. 2 Mountain Brook in the Steel City Classic. Earlier this year they routed now-No. 1 Spain Park.

Kevion Nolan had 31 points and seven rebounds. He was 6-of-14 from the field, 3-of-9 from 3-point range, and 16-of-18 from the line. D.J. Heath had 17 points with eight rebounds and Diante Wood had 13 with seven boards.

Next up is 6A No. 3 Homewood in the semifinals Monday.

Altamont 55, Donoho 30

MONTGOMERY – The Falcons fell behind 21-5 in the first quarter and couldn’t recover in the Scholars Four Tournament.

Ross Svensen led Donoho’s offense with 11 points.

The Falcons lost the tournament opener Friday to Montgomery Academy 57-21. Garrett Steed scored all eight of his points in the second quarter.

GIRLS GAME

Oxford 64, Cleburne County 38

OXFORD — Tremeria Britt scored 15 points and 10 players found the scoring column as the Lady Yellow Jackets snapped a two-game losing streak.

Britt scored nine first-quarter points as the pressing Lady Jackets created numerous turnovers in opening a 20-7 lead.

“Our press did well,” Oxford coach Tonya Peoples said. “Their point guard (Erykah Ware) was very good. We had to focus our attention on stopping her and we did a good job on her. We practice on it a lot.”

The Lady Jackets (4-5) increased their lead to 40-13 at halftime using a 13-point run midway through the second quarter. Seven players scored in the quarter.

“We were able to be aggressive in our offense against their man-to-man defense in the second half,” Peoples said. “We work on that in practice also, and we are improving.”

Winter Taylor added 11 points and six rebounds, while Jordan Smith had 11 points and five boards.

Chelsea Parker led the Lady Tigers (5-6) with 14 points. Lauren Brown added 10.

BOYS BOXSCORES

Anniston 57, Childersburg 49

ANNISTON — Marrio Dobbins 0 0-0 0, Tray Croft 6 5-5 17, Hakeem Ross 3 0-0 7, Davion Tippins 4 2-4 10, Willie Thomas 3 5-8 11, DeQuan Ross 3 5-6 11, Christopher Beard 0 1-2 1. Totals 19 18-25 57.

CHILDERSBURG — Fontarious Garrett 0 1-2 1, Darren McFadden 0 0-0 0, Tray Twymon 1 0-0 2, Syheem Young 4 0-2 8, Jatorrie Cook 7 0-2 14, Justin Thomas 2 1-2 5, Tylan Coleman 5 2-6 13, Kici Calhoun 0 2-3 2, Jalen Kidd 1 1-2 4, Dre O’Garrett 0 0-0 0, Dashawn Leonard 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 7-19 49.

Anniston 10 17 12 18 — 57
Childersburg 10 13 9 17 — 49

3-point goals: Anniston 1 (H. Ross), Childersburg 2 (Coleman, Kidd). Fouled out: Tippins. Total fouls: Anniston 21, Childersburg 17. Officials: Hinton, Riddle, Forbus.

Sacred Heart 81, Mountain Brook 74

SACRED HEART (10-4) — Diante Wood 4-7 5-9 13, Kavarri Ross 3-5 0-0 7, Murdock Simmons 2-3 0-2 4, D.J. Heath 7-12 0-1 17, Kevion Nolan 6-14 16-18 31, Sam Miller 3-4 3-4 9, Caleb Lafollette 0-0 0-0 0, Stansil Stephen 0-0 0-0 0, Jon Riley Miller 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-45 24-34 81.

MOUNTAIN BROOK (9-2) — Jack Kline 4-10 1-3 9, Trendon Watford 11-16 5-10 27, Drew Smith 0-1 2-2 2, Sean Elmore 4-11 1-2 12, Ben McCool 3-5 4-4 11, Spencer King 0-0 0-0 0, Clay Collins 4-10 0-0 8, Ben Nelson 0-0 0-0 0, Alex Washington 0-3 0-0 0, Joe Donald 1-3 0-4 2, Hunter Hartley 1-4 0-0 3, Johnny Lavette 0-0 0-0 0, Jeb Brown 0-0 0-0 0, Brian Schmidt 0-0 0-0 0, Sam Colvin 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-63 13-25 74.

Sacred Heart 23 22 16 20 — 81
Mountain Brook 11 14 20 29 — 74

3-point goals: Sacred Heart 7-16 (Ross 1-2, Heath 3-5, Nolan 3-9); Mountain Brook 5-22 (Watford 0-1, Smith 0-1, Elmore 3-10, McCool 1-3, Washington 0-3, Hartley 1-4). Rebounds: Sacred Heart 36 (Heath 8, Wood 7, Nolan 7); Mountain Brook 34 (Watford 12). Fouled out: Watford, Wood, Ross, Simmons. Total fouls: Sacred Heart 21, Mountain Brook 25. Officials: Nick Madsen, Anthony Bright, Bobby Deavers.

Altamont 55, Donoho 30

ALTAMONT – Cade Hornack 2 0-1 4, Miles Underwood 3 2-4 8, Bennett Murray 4 1-1 10, Evan Poole 1 1-2 3, Gates Ely 1 0-0 3, Will Rosentier 0 0-0 0, Sri Ponnezhasen 7 2-3 16, Davis Hornack 3 5-6 11. Totals 21 11-17 55.

DONOHO — Reaves Nelson 0 0-0 0, Dylan Dunaway 0 0-0 0, Jack Svensen 1 0-0 2 Garrett Steed 2 0-0 5, Ross Svensen 3 3-4 11, Mateen Ibrahim 0 0-0 0, Joseph O’Neill 0 0-0 0, Ross Hagan 0 0-2 0, Tucker Sedmak 1 0-0 3, Jacob Lecroy 1 0-0 2, Mitchell Baker 1 4-11 6, Wilson Russell 0 0-2 0, Walton Montgomery 0 0-0 0, Robert Clausen 0 1-2 1. Totals 9 8-21 30.

Altamont 21 15 11 8 — 55
Donoho 5 7 5 13 — 30

3-point goals: Altamont 2 (Bennett, Gates); Donoho 4 (Steed, R. Svensen 2, Sedmak). Total fouls: Altamont 17, Donoho 18. Officials: DuBose, Hill, Anthony.

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