Lady Panthers bounce back
- Updated: February 6, 2016
Wellborn rebounds from an overtime loss to win final regular-season game in big way
Faith Christian’s Logan Boyd (00) battles with Wellborn’s Vanessa Carter for a rebound during their game Friday night. (Photo by Carey Jenkins)
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
Shanese Morgan couldn’t have been happier with the way her Wellborn girls basketball team bounced back from a tough loss the night before.
Her Lady Panthers, 24 hours removed from an overtime loss in Birmingham that got them back home late, ran away from Faith Christian 59-34 Friday night.
They broke away from an early deficit with a 35-8 run to the rest of the half to open a comfortable lead. They trailed 7-3, then went on a 23-4 run to take control. Aliyah Thrasher scored the first two points of the run, Ayanna Foster scored the next six, Vanessa Carter scored the next 10 and Katessa Carter scored the last five.
Vanessa Carter finished with 24 points.
“I feel like we came out much better,” Morgan said. “Last night we didn’t come out like we were supposed to. We didn’t have that fire, we came out a little slow, and that’s what hurt us there at the end going into overtime (where they were shutout 9-0). We had a lot of players not playing smart defensively, we had players foul out. We just came out with the wrong energy.
“But today I felt like we made up for it. We came out quicker, we came out trying to execute plays a little bit better and we came out better defensively. So, I was much more pleased with it. I told the girls yesterday was yesterday, let’s go into today with a new start, a new beginning, and that’s exactly what they did. It shows me we still can come out with energy and it’s not over for us just yet.”
Faith, meanwhile, played another game without all-time leading scorer Madison Stephens. The senior is at the tail end of a battle with mononucleosis that now has left her either out or limited for the last nine games.
She was given the honor of starting in her final regular-season home game, but she only played the first 39 seconds. She retired after scoring the first two points of the game after being fouled following her 3-point shot. She now has 1,593 career points.
In her absence the Lady Lions’ offense struggled. Emily Sims was their leading scorer with eight points.
Oxford 66: Fort Payne 53: The Lady Jackets put five scorers in double figures and erupted for 42 points in the second half to win their fifth straight and seventh of their last nine.
Winter Taylor led the Lady Jackets with 19 points, eight rebounds and three steals, while Ebony Kelley had another big night with 13 points and 16 rebounds. Jordan Smith had 12 points and eight boards. Makayla Kidd scored all 11 of her points in the second half.
“Forty-two points in the second half was great,” Oxford coach Tonya Peoples said. “The important thing is that our confidence is getting better. We need that going into the postseason.”
White Plains 51, Ranburne 43: Shelby Wood scored 20 points, making 14 of 18 free throws, and Ann Katherine Dothard had 11 to lead the Lady Wildcats in their final regular-season game. White Plains was 20 of 28 from the line in the game.
Spring Garden 39, Jacksonville 27: Tykeah Rogers scored 12 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to lead the Lady Panthers. Spring Garden pulled ahead early and closed it out late, outscoring the Golden Eagles 26-15 in the first and fourth quarters.
FRIDAY GIRLS BOX SCORES
Wellborn 59, Faith Christian 34
WELLBORN — Samantha Cooley 0 0-0 0, Vanessa Carter 12 0-3 24, Loni Welch 1 0-2 2, Madison Files 0 1-4 1, Katessa Carter 1 3-4 6, Ayanna Foster 2 4-8 8, Aliyah Thrasher 4 2-4 11, Desirae Traylor 0 0-0 0, Markeisha Jones 2 3-6 7. Totals 22 13-31 59.
FAITH CHRISTIAN — Logan Boyd 3 0-0 7, Shelby Phillips 1 0-0 3, Emily Sills 4 0-2 8, Madison Stephens 0 2-2 2, Ashleigh Mockabee 0 0-0 0, Sarah Jessica Christjohn 0 0-0 0, Kassidy Nix 0 0-0 0, Kristin Covington 1 0-0 2, Sydnee Johnson 2 0-0 4, C.J. Settles 1 0-0 3, Regan Crosby 2 0-0 5, Sarah Kate McVeigh 0 0-0 0. Totals 14 2-4 34.
Wellborn 17 21 11 10 — 59
Faith 9 6 9 10 — 34
3-point goals: Wellborn 2 (K. Carter, Thrasher); Faith 4 (Boyd, Phillips, Settles, Crosby). Total fouls: Wellborn 7, Faith 19. Officials: Kelley, Batey, Brewster.
Oxford 66, Fort Payne 53
FORT PAYNE (14-12) – Kat Thompson 5 0-2 14, Shaldonna Chappell 4 1-4 9, Reese Steiper 7 1-2 15, McElrath 5 3-6 13, Allie Jett 0 1-2 1, Isabel Goggans 0 1-2 1. Totals 21 7-18 66.
OXFORD (16-11) – Anna Bolton 0-0 0-0 0, MaKayla Kidd 4-7 0-0 11, Winter Taylor 4-18 9-10 19, Makayla Lowery 0-1 0-0 0, Tremeria Britt 5-12 0-0 11, Ebony Kelley 6-14 1-5 13, Jordan Smith 5-10 2-2 12. Totals 24-62 12-17 66.
Fort Payne 14 16 12 11 — 53
Oxford 9 15 18 24 — 66
3-point goals: Fort Payne 4 (Thompson 4), Oxford 6 (Kidd 3, Taylor 2, Britt). Fouled out: Chappell. Total fouls: Fort Payne 15, Oxford 12. Officials: Miller, Batey, Clingan.
White Plains 51, Ranburne 43
WHITE PLAINS — Rian Chandler 1 0-0 2, Korie Burgess 1 0-0 2, Ann Katherine Dothard 3 5-10 11, Chasity Nelson 0 0-0 0, Ary Rosario 1 0-0 2, Grey Young 4 0-0 9, Shelby Wood 3 14-18 20, Jordan Sabree 0 0-0 0, Jocelyn Harris 1 0-0 2, Hannah Dyar 1 1-2 3. Totals: 15 20-28 51.
RANBURNE — Jessica Ralston 6 0-0 13, Hannah Phillips 5 0-0 10, Lacey Smith 4 3-3 14, Madison Smith 0 0-0 0, Amanda Marshall 0 0-0 0, Chaney Merrill 1 0-0 2, Armelia Marshall 0 0-0, Abigail Mitchell 0 0-0 0, Erica Louvorn 0 0-0 0, Mariah Florezak 0 0-0 0, Emily Hall 0 0-0 0, Marista Otwell 2 0-0 4. Totals 18 3-3 43.
White Plains 12 10 14 15 — 51
Ranburne 13 4 10 16 — 43
3-point goals: White Plains 1 (Young); Ranburne 4 (Ralston, L Smith 3). Technical fouls: M. Smith. Fouled out: Phillips, M. Smith, Hall. Totals fouls: White Plains 9, Ranburne 23. Officials: Watson, Battles, Kadle.
Spring Garden 39, Jacksonville 27
JACKSONVILLE – Kyra Williams 5-12 1-3 11, Ataliya Morgan 3-13 2-2 10, Dasia Kirksey 3-15 0-0 6, Aniya Jefferson 0 0-0 0, Kelsey Ervin 0-0 0-0 0, Aniyah Robinson 0-3 0-0 0, Kayla Broom 0-0 0-0 0, Essence Hutchinson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 11-33 3-7 27.
SPRING GARDEN – Tykeah Rogers 3-9 6-8 12, Kerstin Bryant 3-6 4-7 10, Madison Sides 3-9 0-0 7, Savannah Dempsey 2-7 0-0 6, A.J. Broome 1-6 2-2 4, Tyonna Rogers 0-0 0-1 0, Katie Williams 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 12-37 12-18 39.
Jacksonville 11 5 7 4 — 27
Spring Garden 16 6 7 10 — 39
3-point goals: Jacksonville 2-10 (Williams 0-2, Morgan 2-8); Spring Garden 3-12 (Bryant 0-1, Sides 1-5, Dempsey 2-5, Broome 0-1). Rebounds: Jacksonville 26 (Kirksey 7, Jefferson 7); Spring Garden 26 (T. Rogers 12). Total fouls: Jacksonville 18, Spring Garden 8.
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