J’ville gets one to go its way
- Updated: February 3, 2016
Boys roundup: Golden Eagles finally find some good fortune, snap a five-game losing streak by holding off Weaver
By East Alabama Sports Today
WEAVER – Ryan Chambless has called this season the most snake-bit he’s ever encountered as a head coach. If it weren’t for bad breaks, his Jacksonville basketball team might not have any breaks at all.
The Golden Eagles were in dire need of something good to happen. They finally got one to go their way Tuesday night, snapping a five-game losing streak with a 64-60 victory over Weaver
How unkind has the year been to the Golden Eagles (7-14)? They went through their rash of injuries like all teams, but theirs seemed to hit the key players and all at the same time. And whether at full strength or not, they’ve been in a lot of close games, but something would always happen to keep them from slamming the door.
“I’d like to say we’ve had 10 games that had just kind of gone that way … gone the other way on us,” Chambless said. “It’s just bit us. It’s just stuff I’ve always been fortunate to be able to avoid.
“It’s frustrating. You keep wanting the guys to get over the hump and it gets discouraging for me and them. You just want so bad for them to have some success because you’re right there at it and you keep shooting yourself in the foot. Tonight, we finally pulled one out.”
This one looked like it was going to follow the script. Weaver jumped on the Golden Eagles early, but Chambless quickly called time and subbed out his entire lineup. The young reserves got them a 19-all tie at the end of the first quarter and then helped Jacksonville build an 11-point halftime lead.
The Bearcats steadily chipped away and grabbed the lead in the fourth quarter, but Jacksonville ran off six straight points to regain the lead and held it the rest of the game.
Cam Horton led Jacksonville in scoring with 19 points; he also had five rebounds and four assists. Casey Trull had 14 points, 15 rebounds and three blocked shots. Taye Ackles, who Chambless called “one of our most consistent guys all year,” scored 15 points with three rebounds and five steals.
“Everybody talks about Cam, but Taye is just as much an MVP as anybody to the team, just through the way he plays,” Chambless said. “I can’t say enough good things about that guy. He’s the backbone right now. He’s been the most reliable player I’ve had this year, no doubt.”
Oxford 70, Talladega 65: Tigers coach Chuck Miller knew exactly what the issue was, but apparently the answer just made things worse.
At halftime Miller told his Talladega team “(Eugene) Leonard is killing us, we have to figure out what to do with it.” The solution was to go with a box-and-one on the Oxford guard in the fourth quarter, but that left Jakolbe McClendon open down low and he had nine of his 13 points in the quarter to help the Yellow Jackets (18-10) maintain their lead.
McClendon baskets broke ties at 55 and 62, the latter giving Oxford the lead for good. The Jackets extended it to five points with 32.6 seconds left and held on for their 14th win in the last 18 games.
McClendon finished with 13 points and five rebounds. Leonard had 18 points on 6-of-8 shooting and five rebounds. Braden Jones added 14 points and six boards.
“This was a great quality win for us,” Oxford coach Joel Van Meter said. “The key was our guard play. They figured out the pressure from the Talladega guards and were dropping and dishing all night.”
Jay Smoot led Talladega (20-9) with 20 points.
Anniston 66, Sylacauga 46: DeQuan Ross scored 11 of his game-high 23 points and Tray Croft scored nine of his 11 in the first half as the Bulldogs opened a big lead. While Ross and Croft led the Bulldogs to a 35-14 halftime lead, Hakeem Ross heated up in the second half with all 12 of his points.
TUESDAY’S BOYS BOX SCORES
Jacksonville 64, Weaver 60
JACKSONVILLE – Cam Horton 7-19 4-6 19, Taye Ackles 6-15 1-1 15, Casey Trull 6-10 2-2 14, Alex Gilbert 2-7 0-2 5, Rivan Hill 2-7 0-0 4, Tahj Kirkland 1-2 0-0 2, Jay Davis 1-1 0-0 2, Will Fuller 1-1 0-0 2, Aaron Bragg 0-0 1-2 1, Blake Morris 0-2 0-0 0, K.J. Satcher 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-64 8-13 64.
WEAVER – Malik Arnold 4-12 6-11 14, Paul Hubbard 7-11 0-1 14, Ducky Morris 5-7 0-0 10, Craig Copeland 2-7 4-6 9, Giovanni Mosley 2-4 0-0 6, Maurice Goodman 0-1 3-6 3, London Knight 0-1 2-2 2, Dalton Hamby 1-1 0-0 2, Dane Akers 0-1 0-0 0, R.J. Wooden 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 21-47 15-26 60.
Jacksonville 19 22 10 13 — 64
Weaver 19 11 15 15 — 60
3-point goals: Jacksonville 4-12 (Horton 1-4, Ackles 2-4, Gilbert 1-1, Hill 0-2, Kirkland 0-1); Weaver 3-7 (Copeland 1-3, Mosley 2-3, Goodman 0-1). Rebounds: Jacksonville 39 (Trull 15, Horton 5, Kirkland 5); Weaver 41 (Arnold 12, Morris 6, Mosley 6). Fouled out: Hubbard. Total fouls: Jacksonville 22, Weaver 18.
Oxford 70, Talladega 65
TALLADEGA (20-9) – Fred Dickerson 2 0-0 5, Tyrese Scales 0 2-2 2, Jay Smoot 8 4-4 20, Jarvis McKenzie 2 2-2 8, Ashton Duncan 3 1-2 10, Jamonte Twymon 3 0-2 6, Damarco Truss 1 0-0 2, Waderrius Tuck 1 1-1 3, Robert Houston 3 1-4 7, Jaelyn Russ 0 2-2 2. Totals 23 13-19
OXFORD (18-10) – Torry Robertson 2-3 4-4 8, Jalen Moore 3-9 2-4 9, Jakolbe McClendon 5-11 3-8 13, Eugene Leonard 6-8 5-6 18, Jordan Swain 1-2 4-4 6, Braden Jones 4-10 6-8 14, Zach Lackey 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 22-44 24-34 70.
Talladega 11 15 20 19 — 65
Oxford 16 15 16 23 — 70
3-point goals: Talladega 5 (Dickerson, McKenzie, Duncan 3); Oxford 2 (Moore, Leonard). Total fouls: Talladega 24, Oxford 13.
Anniston 66, Sylacauga 46
SYLACAUGA – Zyron Hughes 0 0-0 0, Tommy Marlowe 0 4-4 4, Keaton Wilson 1 0-0 2, Carian Garrett 3 0-0 6, Jasade Smith 2 0-0 5, Khalil Pope 1 4-4 7, Jefferey Burns 0 0-0 0, Antwane Cook 2 0-0 6, Antoine Borden 0 0-0 0, Luther Shorter 0 0-0 0, Rhett Aderholt 2 0-0 5, Derrick Carter 0 0-0 0, Malik Crawford 4 1-2 9. Totals 15 9-10 46.
ANNISTON – Marrio Dobbins 2 0-0 4, Tray Croft 5 0-0 11, Hakeem Ross 5 1-1 12, Davien Tippins 2 0-0 4, Willie Thomas 2 1-2 5, Leonard Brown 0 0-0 0, Terrence Sizemore 1 0-0 2, DeQuan Ross 8 5-5 21, Jarvis Jackson 0 0-0 0, Chris Beard 3 0-6 6, Tae Miller 0 1-2 1, Trevonta Carter 0 0-0 0. Totals 28 8-16 66.
Sylacauga 7 7 17 15 — 46
Anniston 11 24 16 15 — 66
3-point goals: Sylacauga 5 (Aderholt, Cook 2, Pope, Smith); Anniston 2 (Croft, H. Ross). Total fouls: Sylacauga 11, Anniston 12. Officials: Robinson, Oden, Stringer.
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