White Plains takes upper hand
- Updated: January 9, 2016
Boys roundup: Wildcats use fast flurry at the end of the first half to seize momentum in their showdown with Saks; highlights of all reported County games
Murphy Doss (32) was an absolute beast on the block for White Plains Friday night. He was the Wildcats’ leading scorer and held his own against much bigger post players. (Photo by Kristen Stringer/Krisp Pics Photography)
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
White Plains took control of the Class 4A Area 11 boys basketball race Friday night with a surprising 59-37 rout of Saks in a showdown of area unbeatens.
While the scoreboard might have shown a 22-point blowout, it was a close game for much of the first half. But it was quite easy to see where the game turned.
The winners – they’re both Wildcats — seized control with a flurry in the final 90 seconds of the second quarter that carried them to a seven-point halftime lead — and more.
Demetrius Powell had just made a basket to get Saks within two when he said something to draw a technical foul after the play. Kevin Carr made one of the two free throws, Michael McGuirk scored on a rare called play on the ensuing possession and Carr capped it all with a twisting shot that beat the halftime horn after his teammates scrambled to keep the ball alive on their end of the floor.
“Once I hit that basket it just . . . clicked; it turned on,” Carr said. “I was close to the block and I just threw it up and it hit the bank. Coach said it was a great shot, so we went with it.”
They carried that momentum into the dressing room, then came out and outscored Saks 34-19 in the second half.
They opened the half with an 8-3 run to push the lead to double digits, and then took the lead past 20 with a 15-1 run powered by Jerod Guthrie that carried well into the fourth quarter.
Jalen Britt tried to keep his Wildcats in it with a couple 3-pointers and nine of his game-high 17 points in the third quarter, but by then the White Plains wave had gathered too much momentum.
“That run at the end gave them some momentum going into the half, no doubt,” Saks coach Jonathan Miller said. “You can’t allow teams to close a half on a run like that; good teams don’t allow those things to happen.
“You can’t beat a team like White Plains or win big games when you have those mental mistakes or lack of execution at critical times.”
There was a lot of credit to go around the White Plains locker room. Five players scored at least nine points for the winning Wildcats and even though he wasn’t one of them coach Chris Randall called Lawrence Jackson “our best player tonight” for the way he filled the stat sheet.
And one can’t overlook the job Murphy Doss did down low. Doss was a beast on the block against much bigger post players, getting Saks’ 6-5 Demario Burnett off his feet and in foul trouble early and muscling his way to a team-high 12 points.
“Coach is always telling me to play like I’m bigger and that’s how I’m always going to play; I bring the intensity,” the 5-10 Doss said. “I’ve just got to battle underneath as hard as I can.”
White Plains will host the area tournament if it stays the course. Saks will have a chance to steal it back by winning the rematch in its gym later this month, but in Miller’s mind the most important area game is the Wildcats’ next one against Cleburne County.
“We have to take care of that, then we’ll have a shot at a coin flip,” he said. “But that’s so far down the road. We’ve got tons we can work on.”
Jalen Britt (5) was the leading scorer in the Saks-White Plains game with 17 points. (Photo by Kristen Stringer/Krisp Pics Photography)
FRIDAY BOYS BOXSCORES
White Plains 59, Saks 37
SAKS (10-4, 3-1) – Jalen Lynn 1 0-0 2, Demetrius Powell 2 0-2 4, Quay McCord 0 0-0 0, Quin Smith 1 0-0 2, Jalen Britt 6 1-2 17, Davieuntae Booker 0 0-0 0, Malik Burns 1 1-2 4, Alfonsa Word 0 3-5 3, Damario Burnett 0 1-2 1, Trae Hughley 2 0-0 4, Darien Briskey 0 0-0 0, Landun Peters 0 0-0 0. Totals 13 6-13 37
WHITE PLAINS (15-5, 4-0) – Jerod Guthrie 4 2-4 11, Peyton Morgan 0 0-0 0, Kevin Carr 2 5-7 9, Eli Hightower 4 0-0 9, Michael McGuirk 4 2-2 10, Jackson Guthrie 0 0-0 0, Lawrence Jackson 3 0-0 6, Macey Carr 1 0-0 2, Murphy Doss 6 0-0 12. Totals 24 9-13 59.
Saks 10 8 11 8 — 37
White Plains 7 18 14 20 — 59
3-point goals: Saks 5 (Britt 4, Burns); White Plains 2 (Hightower, Je. Guthrie). Technical foul: Powell. Fouled out: Smith. Total fouls: Saks 17, White Plains 17. Officials: Calkins, Hughes, Kelley.
Anniston 69, St. Clair County 34
ANNISTON – Marrio Dobbins 1 1-4 3, Tray Craft 7 0-0 17, Hakeem Ross 1 0-0 3, Davion Tippins 4 0-0 8, Willie Thomas 6 3-3 17, Leonard Brown 0 0-0 0, Terrence Sizemore 0 0-0 0, DeQuan Ross 3 0-0 6, Jarvis Jackson 0 0-0 0, Chris Beard 2 0-0 4, Tae Miller 3 1-2 6, Taraq Wood-Packer 1 1-3 1, Trevonta Carter 1 0-0 2.
ST. CLAIR COUNTY – Jadarren Carter 1 1-2 3, Taylor Mickens 2 0-0 4, Colby Smith 0 0-0 0, Nyjil Cotton 0 0-0 0, Kimo Davis 1 2-2 5, Armond Brasfield 0 0-2 0, Michael Fisher 1 0-0 2, Grayson Beatty 1 3-4 5, Mason Anderson 1 0-2 2, Temothee Smith 1 0-0 3, Garrett Sanders 2 4-8 8, Grayson Coupland 1 0-2 2. Totals 11 10-22 34
Anniston 22 11 24 12 — 69
St. Clair Co. 12 7 5 19 — 34
3-point goals: Anniston 6 (Miller, Croft 3, H. Ross, Thomas); St. Clair Co. 2 (Davis, Smith. Total fouls: Anniston 20, Sylacauga 10. Officials: Self, Williams, Horn.
Notes: The Bulldogs did their part to set up Tuesday’s showdown with Alexandria by winning this area game. Croft had nine assists to go with his points and DeQuan Ross had nine rebounds.
Jacksonville 44, Cleburne County 31
CLEBURNE COUNTY – Jeremiah Blake 3-11 1-3 8, Jacob Lee 3-11 0-2 7, John Robinson 3-6 0-0 6, Taylor Rice 1-7 3-5 5, Joshua Brown 1-2 0-0 3, Stashun Henson 1-1 0-0 2, Noah Ware 0-3 0-0 0, Brock Swafford 0-2 0-0 0, Avery Gentry 0-1 0-0 0, Colton Austin 0-1 0-0 0, Macain Carlile 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 12-47 4-10 31.
JACKSONVILLE – Taye Ackles 3-10 5-8 12, Casey Trull 3-10 2-2 8, Cam Horton 2-16 2-2 7, Tahj Kirkland 3-3 1-2 7, Martavious Long 2-6 1-2 5, Alex Gilbert 1-2 1-4 3, Blake Morris 0-0 2-2 2, Will Fuller 0-1 0-0 0, Aaron Bragg 0-0 0-0 0, Jay Davis 0-1 0-0 0, K.J. Satcher 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 14-49 14-22 44.
Cleburne County 7 8 12 4 — 31
Jacksonville 11 13 11 9 — 44
3-point goals: Cleburne Co. 3-14 (Blake 1-4, Lee 1-4, Brown 1-1, Ware 0-1, Swafford 0-2, Austin 0-1, Carlile 0-1); Jacksonville 2-8 (Ackles 1-3, Horton 1-4, Davis 0-1). Rebounds: Cleburne Co. 37 (Ray 11, Blake 7); Jacksonville 42 (Trull 12, Long 8, Horton 7). Total fouls: Cleburne Co. 14, Jacksonville 10.
Talladega 70, Sylacauga 63
SYLACAUGA – Keaton Wilson 1 2-6 4, Darion Garrett 4 4-8 14, Jared Smith 0 0-0 0, Khalil Pope 2 1-2 7, Jeffrey Burns 0 0-0 0, Antwan Cook 6 3-5 19, Anthony Borden 0 0-0 0, Derrick Carter 1 2-2 4, Malik Crawford 6 2-4 15. Totals 20 14-27 63.
TALLADEGA – Fred Dickerson 1 1-2 4, Tyrese Scales 0 1-2 1, Jay Smoot 8 9-11 26, Jarvis McKenzie 0 4-4 4, Ashton Duncan 7 3-6 20, Jamont Twymon 0 0-0 0, Demarco Truss 0 0-0 0, Wadderius Tuck 6 0-0 12, Robert Houston 0 0-2 0, Jaelyn Russ 1 1-1 3.
Totals 23 19-28 70.
Sylacauga 12 20 19 12 — 63
Talladega 12 20 19 19 — 70
3-point goals: Sylacauga 9 (Garrett 2, Pope 2, Cook 4, Crawford); Talladega 5 (Dickerson, Smoot, Duncan 3). Fouled out: Pope. Total fouls: Sylacauga 23, Talladega 16. Officials: Walker, Holmes, Robinson
Notes: It was a dead even game going to the fourth quarter and then Talladega hit 11 of 13 free throws to pull away. The Tigers were 16 of 18 from the line in the second half. … Duncan scored 13 of his points in the third quarter … Smoot had 10 rebounds, Russ, Houston and Tuck had eight apiece … The win puts Talladega 4-1 in its area.
Ragland 54, Donoho 50
RAGLAND – Jadon Killings 5 0-0 11, Coby Fuller 1 0-0 3, Jagger Phillips 7 6-8 21, Stoney Merritt 1 0-1 2, Tucker Kay 2 0-1 4, Braxton Thomas 4 1-2 9, Noah Hollingsworth 0 0-2 0, Dustin Bunt 2 0-0 4 Totals 22 7-14 54.
DONOHO – Reeves Nelson 0 0-0 0, Jack Svensen 0 0-0 0, Garrett Steed 4 6-8 16, Ross Svensen 3 0-0 7, Mateen Ibrahim 0 1-2 1, Joseph O’Neill 0 0-0 0, Ross Hagan 0 0-0 0, Tucker Sedmak 2 1-4 6, Mitchell Baker 2 2-9 6, Wilson Russell 1 0-0 2, Robert Clausen 6 0-1 12 Totals 18 10-24 50.
Ragland 12 11 16 15 — 54
Donoho 13 5 8 24 — 50
3-point goals: Ragland 3 (Killings, Fuller, Phillips); Donoho 4 (Steed 2, R. Svensen, Sedmak). Technical foul: Killings. Fouled out: Killings. Total fouls: Ragland 20, Donoho 16. Officials: Evans, Ware, Morris.
Notes: Phillips had 16 of his 21points and all of his free throws in the second half for Ragland … The loss sets up a big game for Donoho with Faith Friday. The Falcons could finish second in the area with a win, or an eventual three-way tie for second with a loss.
Westbrook Christian 43, Ohatchee 28
OHATCHEE — Ben Glass 4 0-0 10, Kevin Williamson 0 0-0 0, Micah Lee 1 2-4 4, Jon Noel 0 0-0 0, Brennan Wink 0 0-0 0, Austin Tucker 4 2-2 11, Blaine Cole 0 0-0 0, Brian Jennings 0 1-2 1, Tristan Woodall 1 0-0 2, Sean Barnett 0 0-0 0. Totals 10 5-8 28
WESTBROOK CHRISTIAN – Will Jones 4 4-5 14, Garrett Kennedy 0 0-0 0, Gilbert Rosas 0 0-0 0, Kyle Edwards 4 2-6 10, Cameron Migliore 0 0-0 0, Chandler Richards 1 1-2 3, Kyle Leonard 1 1-2 3, Braden Beecham 2 0-0 5, Luke Graham 3 2-4 8, Boo Shirley 0 0-0 0, Jordan Kilgo 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 10-19 43.
Ohatchee 0 7 10 11 — 28
Westbrook 6 9 12 16 — 43
3-point goals: Ohatchee 3 (Glass 2, Tucker); Westbrook 3 (Jones 2, Beecham). Total fouls: Ohatchee 16, Westbrook 8. Officials: Moore, Bice, Hall.
Notes: The Indians slowed the pace in hopes of keeping the game out of the 50s and wound up going scoreless in the first quarter.
Faith Christian 62, Appalachian 46
Jordan Griswould and Jack Sills both scored double-doubles as the Lions picked up an area victory. Griswould scored 17 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and came within two assists of a triple-double. Sills had 13 points and 15 rebounds. Jameson Adams also scored in double figures for the Lions; he had 12.
Oxford 55. Chelsea 47
The Yellow Jackets jumped on their hosts early and held off a furious fourth-quarter comeback attempt to win their area opener. Starting freshman point guard Eugene Leonard broke out with 11 points, nine rebounds and three steals; he was 7-of-9 from the free throw line. Jakolbie McClendon had eight points and six boards. Jalen Moore led the Jackets in scoring with 15 points; he was 6-of-6 from the line.
Kevin Carr’s twisting layup that beat the halftime horn capped a furious run that took White Plains from two up to seven at the break. (Photo by Kristen Stringer/Krisp Pics Photography)
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