Saturday basketball roundup
- Updated: January 9, 2016
Wellborn, PV boys both snap losing streaks, Talladega falls; PV girls extend winning streak
By East Alabama Sports Today
Judging from the way his team responded, Wellborn boys basketball coach Jordan Angle might seriously consider working his team out for two hours before every game going forward.
Angle put his team through a rigorous workout several hours before it played Saturday and the Panthers responded when the ball went up by beating Jefferson Christian 58-53 to snap a four-game losing streak.
“Absolutely,” Angle said when asked if he’d consider the tactic again. “We looked liked a different team out there tonight. This is the best rebounding game we played all year long; we were really getting after it on the boards. We went full-court man-to-man the majority of the game and they got after it.”
The early-morning practice was the result of the Panthers’ lack of response in the second half of Thursday’s loss to Westbrook Christian. Angle gave the players off Friday, but told them to be at the gym bright and early the next day.
“They beat me to the gym this morning,” Angle said. “It was like they were excited to be there. Maybe it’s taken us a little while to get in the groove. Maybe we’re starting to turn the page a little bit.”
Blake Hanson led the Panthers (2-10) with 25 points and 13 rebounds. Mitchell Raines, a junior who transferred from Anniston, was thrust into a more significant role due to the absence of a teammate and he responded with 10 points and 11 boards.
“I told Mitchell before we started if you can go the distance you’re going to play the whole game,” Angle said. “He was pumped. He went out and played well.”
Pleasant Valley 68, Ashville 60: Josh Faucett scored 20 points, Reid Hightower had 14 and the Raiders used a big third quarter to break away from a tie game and snap a four-game losing streak.
Playing against a team that plays 100-percent zone for the first time, the Raiders (6-10) were able to run the floor and looked comfortable running their offense in set plays. Nine players scored for PV.
Ashville rallied to tie the game at 33 at halftime, but the Raiders pulled away with a 21-10 third quarter.
“I like to run, I like to push it, but you’ve got to understand, when you have to win games like we’re winning them, you’ve got to push it, but if it’s not there you’ve got to run a good set,” first-year Raiders coach Ryan McCoy said. “Tonight it seemed like they were really comfortable with each other; everybody handled the ball well and passed the ball well.
“We had a tough stretch there through Christmas and all of them know why. They all paid the price for that and tonight, hopefully, we got on the road back to getting to where we were supposed to be.”
Etowah 58, Talladega 50: Alvin Bolton scored eight of his 11 points in the third quarter, including both of his 3-pointers, to help the Blue Devils pull away from a close game at halftime.
Ashton Duncan scored 16 points and Jay Smoot had a double-double for Talladega, but the Tigers struggled with their shot from the field and the free throw line in the loss. They were only 13-of-28 from the line, while Etowah was 22-of-33. Smoot finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
GIRLS GAMES
Pleasant Valley 63, Ashville 36: Atleigh Brannon scored 20 points as the Lady Raiders (15-2) ran their winning streak to seven in a row. Mckinley Parris added 14 and Mikala Simpson had 10 as nine players scored for PV.
Once the Lady Raiders established control of the game, coach Brad Hood went to his bench to work on depth and situations for bigger games down the road.
“It’s hard to go 5-on-7 or 5-on-8,” Hood said. “I saw a couple things that gave me a little confidence to play them in some of these bigger games.”
On the cover: Wellborn coach Jordan Angle (L) and his leading scorer Blake Hanson.
SATURDAY’S BOYS BOXSCORES
Wellborn 58, Jefferson Christian 55
JEFFERSON CHRISTIAN — J.T. Turner 1 2-4 5, Steven Gordon 4 12-17 20, Phillip Lester 5 5-5 16, Bryant Crain 1 0-0 2, Kyle Wilkerson 3 0-0 6, Jamal Taylor 1 0-0 2, Braxton Baird 1 2-2 4. Totals 15 21-28 55.
WELLBORN — D.J. Rhoden 1 0-0 2, Mitchell Raines 4 1-3 9, Eric Johnson 0 0-0 0, Quandarious Moore 3 3-4 9, Ty Kite 0 0-2 0, Ked Harris 0 0-1 0, Jordan Montgomery 3 4-6 11, Jaylon Kelley 1 0-4 2, Blake Hanson 7 9-11 25. Totals 19 17-31 58.
Jefferson Christian 14 21 10 10 — 55
Wellborn 18 17 14 9 — 58
3-point goals: Jefferson Christian 4 (Wilkerson 2, Lester, Turner); Wellborn 3 (Montgomery, Hanson 2). Fouled out: Moore. Total fouls: Jefferson Christian 25, Wellborn 26. Officials: Kelley, Carpenter, Lantini.
Pleasant Valley 68, Ashville 60
ASHVILLE – Hunter Huckbay 6 2-3 15, Sam Wilson 0 0-0 0, D’Angelo Williams 7 1-3 16, Jaden Jones 1 0-0 2, Justin Mundy 1 2-4 5, Landon Cornutt 0 0-0 0, Noah Cater 3 0-0 9, Zarean Williams 3 0-0 7, Malek Williams 1 4-6 6. Totals 22 9-16 70.
PLEASANT VALLEY (6-10) — Josh Preston 1 0-0 2, Dakota Jones 1 2-4 4, Britton Proper 2 2-2 7, Marshall Smith 1 2-2 4, Josh Faucett 8 1-4 20, Reid Hightower 5 3-3 14, Nick Robbins 3 0-0 6, Jordan Lambert 0 0-0 0, Cantor Knight 2 0-0 4, Chase Craven 1 5-7 7. Totals 24 15-22 68.
Ashville 10 23 10 17 — 60
Pleasant Valley 16 17 21 14 — 68
3-point goals: Ashville 7 (Huckbay, D. Williams, Mundy, Cater 3, Z. Williams); Pleasant Valley 5 (Proper, Faucett 3, Hightower). Total fouls: Ashville 19, Pleasant Valley 12. Officials: Strott, Crawford, Preston.
Etowah 58, Talladega 50
TALLADEGA – Fred Dickerson 2 1-5 6, Jay Smoot 1 8-14 10, Jarvis McKenzie 1 0-0 3, Ashton Duncan 6 1-3 16, Jamonte Twymon 0 0-0 0, Damarco Truss 0 0-0 0, Wadderius Tuck 2 1-4 5, Robert Houston 3 0-0 6, Jaelyn Russ 1 2-2 4. Totals 16 13-28 50.
ETOWAH — Zane Mathis 0 0-0 0, Stacy Williams 2 1-2 7, Lee Green 4 5-7 13, Fred Moore 0 0-0 0, Justin Harris 2 2-4 6, Jaymin Graham 3 2-2 8, Cyrus Smith 1 1-2 3, Alvin Bolton 3 3-5 11, Andy Noles 1 0-0 2, Sean Nunn 0 8-11 8. Totals 16 22-33 58.
Talladega 11 10 13 16 — 50
Etowah 6 16 19 17 — 58
3-point goals: Talladega 5 (Duncan 3, McKenzie, Dickerson); Etowah 4 (Williams 2, Bolton 2). Fouled out: Houston, Graham. Total fouls: Talladega 25, Etowah 20. Officials: Brooks, Thomas, Dupree.
SATURDAY’S GIRLS BOXSCORES
Pleasant Valley 63, Ashville 36
ASHVILLE – Riley Wilbanks 0 0-0 0, Lasondra Looney 4 3-6 12, Ashley Barnard 1 0-0 2, Hannah Lauderdale 0 7-16 7, Taylor Crews 1 0-0 2, Laura Mejia 1 0-0 2, Diamond Williams 4 0-0 8, Erika Williams 1 0-0 3. Totals 12 10-19 36.
PLEASANT VALLEY (15-2) – Kara Perry 1 2-4 4, Mckinley Parris 5 2-3 14, Atleigh Brannon 9 2-3 20, Alyssa Cash 1 0-0 2, Rachel Faucett 0 0-0 0, Kaylee Lawler 1 0-0 2, Kendall Johnson 1 3-5 5, Mikala Simpson 2 5-6 10, Taylor Barthel 0 0-0 0, Courtney Upton 1 0-0 2, Emily Cochran 2 0-0 4, Totals 23 14-21 63.
Ashville 12 5 10 9 — 36
Pleasant Valley 18 12 14 19 — 63
3-point goals: Ashville 2 (Looney, E. Williams); PV 3 (Parris 2, Simpson). Total fouls: Ashville 17, PV 15. Officials: Strott, Preston, Williams
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