Jackets survive J’ville scare
- Updated: January 30, 2016
Boys roundup: Oxford’s big fourth-quarter lead trimmed to 3 behind Jacksonville’s barrage of 3-pointers; includes 3 other county games
By Brant Locklier
For East Alabama Sports Today
OXFORD — The Oxford Yellow Jackets survived an array of seven Jacksonville 3-pointers in less than a four-minute span in the fourth quarter Friday to escape with a 73-68 victory over the red-hot shooting Golden Eagles.
The Yellow Jackets (16-9) were up 15 points with seven minutes to go and seemed on their way to a dominating victory. However, Jacksonville went on a furious shooting rampage of Cam Horton’s four 3s, two from Taye Ackles and one from Rivan Hill and all of a sudden that comfortable lead was just three points, 68-65, with two minutes to go.
The Jackets regained control when Jalen Moore and Jordan Swain scored baskets. Sophomore Braden Jones made four crucial free throws down the stretch to help the Jackets survive for their 12th victory in the last 15 games.
Jakolbie McClendon led Oxford with 27 points and 10 rebounds. Jones added 17 points and eight rebounds despite being in foul trouble. Moore finished with nine points, while freshman Eugene Leonard and Swain had eight apiece.
Horton poured in 33 points and drilled six of Jacksonville’s dozen 3s. Ackles had 12 points and three 3s. The Golden Eagles were 12-of-25 as a team from behind the arc. Hill finished with nine points.
McClendon had 12 first-quarter points as Oxford pulled out to a 22-18 first quarter lead. The Jackets extended the lead to eight in the second quarter, but the Golden Eagles cut it to 33-30 by the half.
Jones and McClendon led a third-quarter eruption that carried the Jackets to a 56-41 lead after three quarters.
The Jackets continue to grow as a team and are figuring out how to win games down the stretch, which was a problem earlier in the season with the Young Jackets as they lost six close games. They scored the last eight points to seal Friday’s victory.
“Our play this season has been sparked by our six seniors,” Oxford coach Joel Van Meter said. “Some may not play a whole lot but their leadership has been tremendous on some of the younger kids.
“Jakolbie has also been a great leader as he has matured. We still need his 15 points a game, but he gets them in different ways now and involves the whole team. He has been a great deal of help to our younger kids.”
Van Meter is very excited about the future of this program. The Oxford boys and girls teams won Big School championships in the county junior high tournament completed Friday night.
“The future for the next 3-4 years looks very good,” Van Meter said.
Anniston 62, Parker 47: Tray Croft hit six of his team’s eight 3-pointers and DeQuan Ross scored a double-double as the Bulldogs bounced back from a bitter defeat the night before.
Croft hit three of his 3-pointers and scored 10 points in a 20-7 third quarter that helped the Bulldogs pull away from a close game. Croft finished with a game-high 23 points. Ross, the MVP of last week’s Calhoun County Tournament, had 17 points and 12 rebounds.
Ohatchee 73, JCA 59: The Indians got balanced scoring from 10 players in the second half as they pulled away from the homestanding Thunder.
Austin Tucker had six of his eight points, Kevin Williamson hit two of his three 3-pointers and Jon Noel and Micah Lee each scored five points in the second half. Lee led the Indians in scoring with 15 points. Tristan Woodall added 10.
JCA’s Walker Messer led all scorers with 21 points.
Saks 65, Woodland 42: Alfonza Ward hit three of Saks’ nine 3-pointers and nailed two of them in the crucial second quarter that helped the Wildcats gain control of the game. A dozen players scored for Saks in the game.
FRIDAY’S BOYS BOXSCORES
Oxford 73, Jacksonville 68
JACKSONVILLE – Cam Horton 8-21 11-13 33, Taye Ackles 3-6 3-6 12, Rivan Hill 2-5 4-4 9, Casey Trull 3-6 0-0 6, Alex Gilbert 2-5 0-0 5, Tahj Kirkland 1-3 0-0 3, Will Fuller 0-0 0-0 0, Aaron Bragg 0-1 0-0 0, Martavious Long 0-0 0-0 0, Alex Davis 0-1 0-0 0, Jay Davis 0-1 0-0 0, K.J. Satcher 0-0 0-0 0, Blake Morris 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-49 18-23 68.
OXFORD – Jakolbe McClendon 9-15 9-15 27, Braden Jones 5-13 7-12 17, Jalen Moore 2-6 5-6 9, Jordan Swain 4-7 0-2 8, Eugene Leonard 3-9 1-3 8, Torry Robertson 1-2 0-2 2, Zach Lackey 0-1 2-2 2, Jacob Baker 0-0 0-2 0, Andrew Pratt 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-53 24-44 72.
Jacksonville 18 12 11 27 — 68
Oxford 22 11 23 17 — 73
3-point goals: Jacksonville 12-25 (Horton 6-13, Ackles 3-4, Hill 1-2, Gilbert 1-3, Kirkland 1-3); Oxford 1-8 (McClendon 0-1, Jones 0-1, Moore 0-2, Leonard 1-3, Robertson 0-1). Rebounds: Jacksonville 37 (Trull 8, Fuller 6); Oxford 49 (McClendon 13, Jones 12). Fouled out: Ackles, Fuller. Total fouls: Jacksonville 30, Oxford 17.
Anniston 62, Parker 47
PARKER – Taurus Bell 0 2-4 2, Roderick Womack 0 1-2 1, Algie Surrell 1 0-1 2, Xavier Williams 4 1-2 9, Jacob Millhouse 4 0-0 8, Isaiah Anthony 3 0-1 6, Jason King 2 4-6 9, Christian Starkey 0 1-2 1, Damoria Jones 0 1-2 1, David Hawthorne 1 0-0 2, Joel Ballard 3 0-0 6. Totals 18 10-20 47.
ANNISTON – Marrio Dobbins 3 4-8 10, Tray Croft 6 3-4 23, Hakeem Ross 1 2-2 4, Willie Thomas 3 3-4 10, DeQuan Ross 6 4-5 17, Tae Miller 0 0-2 0, Chris Beard 0 0-0 0, Trevonta Carter 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 16-25 62.
Parker 10 11 7 19 — 47
Anniston 10 14 20 18 — 62
3-point goals: Parker 1 (King); Anniston 8 (Croft 6, Thomas, D. Ross). Technical foul: Ballard. Fouled out: Surrell, Thomas. Total fouls: Parker 20, Anniston 22. Officials: Walker, Holmes, Smith.
Saks 65, Woodland 42
WOODLAND – Eli Phillips 0 2-2 2, Clay Gay 2 4-6 8, Jay Burge 2 1-2 5, Tyler Gay 8 3-5 21, Deonta Wright 0 0-0 0, Kyle Strain 1 0-0 2, Axson Gay 2 0-0 4. Totals 15 10-15 42.
SAKS – Jalen Wynn 1 0-0 3, Demetrius Powell 3 0-2 7, Quay McCord 1 0-0 2, Quin Smith 4 0-0 8, Jaylen Britt 2 0-0 6, J.J. Murry 2 0-0 6, Davieuntae Booker 0 0-0 0, Malik Burns 1 0-0 2, Alfonza Ward 4 0-0 11, Demario Burnett 2 0-1 4, Tre Hughley 5 0-0 10, Darien Briskey 2 0-0 4, Landon Peters 0 2-2 2. Totals: 27 2-5 65.
Woodland 11 4 12 15 — 42
Saks 17 17 24 7 — 65
3-point goals: Woodland 2 (T. Gay 2); Saks 9 (Wynn, Powell, Britt 2, Murry 2, Ward 3). Total fouls: Woodland 9, Saks 14. Officials: Smith, Warren Wood.
Ohatchee 73, JCA 59
OHATCHEE – Ben Glass 2 2-4 6, Kevin Williamson 3 0-0 9, Micah Lee 7 1-2 15, Jon Noel 2 2-4 7, Bryant Dunaway 3 0-0 6, Austin Tucker 3 2-6 8, Blaine Cole 1 0-0 2, Brian Jennings 3 0-0 6, Tristan Woodall 4 0-0 10, Sean Barnett 2 0-0 4, Totals 30 7-16 73.
JCA – Jimbo Tolbert 0 0-0 0, Jayni Mosley 4 0-0 8, Walker Messer 7 5-6 21, Jayden Mitchell 0 0-0 0, Chase Cobb 0 0-0 0, Antwon Fegans 5 6-8 11, Reed Murphy 5 4-5 14. Totals 21 15-19 59.
Ohatchee 17 16 19 21 — 73
JCA 17 15 10 17 — 59
3-point goals: Ohatchee 6 (Williamson 3, Noel, Woodall 2); JCA 2 (Messer 2). Fouled out: Mitchell. Total fouls: Ohatchee 18, JCA 16.
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