Lady Jackets fall in final seconds
- Updated: February 16, 2016
Girls roundup: Albertville hits two free throws with five seconds left to end Oxford’s season; Anniston, Garden win, J’ville, Alexandria, Wellborn fall
Oxford’s Winter Taylor (R) races up the floor against an Albertville defender. Taylor had 13 points, six rebounds and three steals, but the Lady Yellow Jackets fell by one. (Photos by Kristen Stringer/Krisp Pics Photography)
Monday’s county subregional scores
Pleasant Valley 55, Ohatchee 42
Anniston 52, Springville 38
TCC 47, Faith Christian 41
Saks 65, Crossville 49
Hokes Bluff 48, Jacksonville 33
Westbrook Christian 68, Wellborn 60
Hayden 66, Alexandria 39
Albertville 34, Oxford 33
By Brant Locklier
For East Alabama Sports Today
OXFORD – On Thursday night, the Oxford girls basketball team experienced the emotional high of a huge comeback. On Monday night the Lady Yellow Jackets couldn’t have felt more frustrated.
Katie Allen calmly dropped two free throws with five seconds left to lift Albertville to a 34-33 victory in the Class 6A Northeast Sub-Regional at the Oxford Sports Arena.
The shots capped a second half that saw the Aggies (16-10) holding the ball for long periods of time after they got the lead on a last-second shot at the end of the first half. On Thursday the Lady Jackets (18-12) staged a comeback of their own, rallying from 21 points down in the third quarter to win their area championship.
“The gut kick was not until the very end,” Oxford coach Tonya Peoples said. “I felt good about the game. In the locker room we just talked about how much it hurts right now, but it has been an awesome season. They have great memories that will last a lifetime.
“I kept telling them thank you for such a fun season … They needed to walk out of the locker room with their heads held high.”
Albertville took a 30-25 lead midway through the third quarter and then began to hold the ball as the Lady Jackets’ defense went to a box-in-one on Allen, who had 19 points at that moment in the game.
Oxford got a steal and Winter Taylor fired in a desperation 3-pointer at the buzzer to cut the lead to 30-28 after three quarters. It was her 3 Thursday night that sparked the big comebacker.
Albertville got its only field goal of the fourth quarter when Cloie Bridges scored to put the Aggies up 32-28. Tremeria Britt broke the Aggies’ stall with a steal and a lay-up with 2:18 to go. She was fouled on the play and made a free throw to chop the lead to 32-31.
Britt got another steal and was fouled with six seconds left and she knocked down two free throws to put the Jackets ahead 33-32.
On the ensuing inbounds play Taylor fouled Allen some 70 feet from the basket to set up the two free throws that put the game away. A running jumper from the baseline at the end of the game by Makayla Kidd would not go in and the Lady Jackets season ended.
“We did the things we needed to do to win the game,” Peoples said. “We made a few key mistakes at the end, but we still had an opportunity to win the game.
“I was very proud of how our team played. I told them to walk out of the locker room with their heads held high. I’m very thankful to have coached that group of players. We had fun together. Just came up a little short tonight.”
Oxford led the entire first half until Albertville scored six straight to take a 22-21 halftime lead. It was a tough physical battle underneath the boards as Jordan Smith had eight rebounds and Ebony Kelley seven in the half. Kelley also had nine first-half points and Taylor had eight.
Taylor finished with 13 points and six rebounds. Kelley had nine points and 13 rebounds. Jordan Smith had 10 rebounds and four blocked shots. Britt scored all of Oxford’s points in the final quarter as she had five points.
The loss snapped a seven-game winning streak for the Yellow Jackets.
Class 5A: Anniston 52, Springville 38
Raven Cooley hit four of her six 3-pointers in the third quarter and five in the second half as the Lady Bulldogs came to life after halftime.
Cooley finished with 27 points. She was 10-of-22 from the field overall, 6-of 16 from behind the arc. She also had five rebounds, three steals and three assists.
Miajah Bullock had 14 points, six rebounds, three steals and three assists. Davia Palmer scored only five points, but she had six assists. Neither Carsheuna Curry nor J’Kyra Clemson scored for the Lady Bulldogs, but they grabbed 12 and 15 rebounds, respectively, and both blocked two shots.
The Lady Bulldogs trailed 23-19 at halftime. Cooley scored 14 points in the third quarter as they pulled ahead 40-32, and 21 in the second half.
Class 3A: Westbrook Christian 68, Wellborn 60
RAINBOW CITY – There weren’t many who gave Wellborn much of a chance going into Westbrook Christian’s gym, but the Lady Panthers gave their hosts all they could handle before falling Westbrook salted it away at the free throw line.
The Lady Warriors hit seven of eight free throws in the fourth quarter – and 11 of 12 in the second half after going only 2 for 8 in the first – to turn back Wellborn. The Lady Panthers came from 17 down after the first quarter to get the game tied with 4:45 to play.
Olivia Graham and Abby Lockridge scored 27 and 24 points, respectively, for Westbrook to offset a 35-point game by Wellborn’s Vanessa Carter. They had all the Lady Warrors’ free throws in the second half. Lockridge was 6-for-6 in the half, Graham was 5-for-6 in the fourth quarter.
Wellborn scored the first seven points of the game, then Graham (11) and Lockridge (12) heated up and fueled a 28-4 finish to the first quarter. But Wellborn had a run in it as well and went on a 17-4 tear at the end of the second quarter to pull within 38-37 at halftime.
The Lady Panthers had the game tied with 4:45 left and again at 60-60 before Westbrook took the lead for good with 1:53 to play.
Class 4A: Hokes Bluff 48, Jacksonville 33
HOKES BLUFF – The Golden Eagles got off to a slow start and couldn’t recover. They fell behind 15-8 in the first quarter and were held to only two points in the second quarter to go into the break down 27-10.
Kendall Johnson and Maddy Jenkins both scored 16 points for Hokes Bluff. They were a combined 15 for 19 from the field. Johnson blocked two shots and Jenkins had five steals.
Jacksonville’s Kyra Williams led all scorers with 19 points. She took nearly half of the Golden Eagles’ shots from the field. She also had five rebounds and four steals.
Class 1A: Spring Garden 74, Skyline 41
SPRING GARDEN – The road back to the Northeast Regional hasn’t been an easy one for Spring Garden. Injuries and other health issues plagued the Lady Panthers even before the season began, but slowly, they’ve built things back up to the form coach Ricky Austin expects of his teams.
The Lady Panthers raised the level even higher in the subregional game. They connected on nine first-half 3-pointers and sank 13 of 26 from behind the arc in the game.
Not surprisingly, the catalysts for the victory were seniors Madison Sides and Tykeah Rogers — or, as Austin referred to the dynamic duo, his Batman and Robin.
Sides scored 23 points. She connected on 7 of 10 3-pointers (five in the first half) and also had four assists. Meanwhile, Rogers pounded the paint for 29 points and 16 rebounds. She hit 9 of 14 shots from the floor and also connected on 11 of 12 free-throw attempts.
“They really were awesome tonight,” Austin said. “That’s the best combo game I’ve seen them have together. They just had a great connection with each other. … There were a few times tonight where I just sat back and enjoyed the game. I just enjoyed watching those two play tonight.”
The Sides-Rogers connection guided Spring Garden (27-4) to its 18th straight victory and its 26th Northeast Regional game. The Lady Panthers are 21-4 at Pete Mathews Coliseum with nine regional championships. They’ll face Talladega County Central Thursday at 3 p.m. – Shannon Fagan
Class 5A: Hayden 66, Alexandria 39
MONDAY’S GIRLS SUB-REGIONAL BOXSCORES
Albertville 34, Oxford 33
ALBERTVILLE (16-10) – Cloie Bridges 2 0-1 4, Allie Clakley 0 0-0 0, Grace Kelley 0 0-0 0, Zoie Carroll 0 0-0 0, Katie Allen 9 3-3 21, Emily Epperson 1 2-2 4, Briana Paschal 0 0-0 0, Savannah Bright 0 0-0 0, Alyssa Bonds 1 0-0 3, Hannah Lightsey 0 0-0 0, Allison Wells 1 0-3 2, Mamie Smith 0 0-0 0, Katelyn Roe 0 0-0 0, Sarah Phillips 0 0-0 0, Callie Bridges 0 0-0 0. Totals 14-40 5-9 34.
OXFORD (18-12) – Anna Bolton 0-1 0-0 0, Makayla Kidd 1-6 0-1 2, Winter Taylor 5-13 1-2 12, Acacia Kidd 0 0-0 0, Tremeria Britt 1-10 3-3 5, Ebony Kelley 3-15 3-6 10, Jordan Smith 1-7 2-2 4, Grace Mitchell 0 0-0 0. Totals 11-52 10-16 33.
Albertville 8 14 8 4 — 34
Oxford 10 11 6 5 — 33
3-point goals: Albertville 1-11 (Bonds); Oxford 1-8 (Taylor 1-3, Britt 0-5). Rebounds: Albertville 15, Oxford 38 (Kelley 13, Smith 10). Fouled out: Taylor. Total fouls: Albertville 13, Oxford 13.
Anniston 52, Springville 38
SPRINGVILLE – Riley Barrett 4 1-2 9, Heather Levan 1 0-0 2, Becca Buckner 2 1-2 5, Jaylyn Felder 2 0-0 5, Piper Long 0 0-0 0, Maggie North 0 0-0 0, Kylee Kimbrough 5 2-6 12, Chyna Winston 0 0-0 0, Hannah Roberts 2 0-2 5, Sabrina Boyd 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 4-12 38
ANNISTON – Miajah Bullock 4-12 6-8 14, Raven Cooley 10-22 1-4 27, Carlina Welch 1-5 0-1 2, Davia Palmer 2-5 1-2 5, Keandra Finley 2-4 0-0 4, Amoriya Dudley 0-0 0-0 0, Carsheuna Curry 0-7 0-0 0, J’Kyra Clemons 0-7 0-0 0, Jemya Bullock 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 19-63 8-15 52.
Springville 16 7 9 6 — 38
Anniston 13 6 21 12 — 52
3-point goals: Springville 2 (Felder, Roberts); Anniston 6 (Cooley 6). Total fouls: Springville 15, Anniston 9. Officials: Gregg, Armstrong, Caviness.
Westbrook Christian 68, Wellborn 60
WELLBORN – Vanessa Carter 15 3-4 35, Anaya Lowe 0 0-0 0, Madison Files 0 0-0 0, Katessa Carter 2 0-0 4, Ayanna Foster 4 0-0 8, Aliya Thrasher 5 1-1 13, Markeisha Jones 0 0-0 0. Totals 26 4-5 60.
WESTBROOK CHRISTIAN – Paige Williams 1 1-2 3, Avery Brown 0 0-0 0, Olivia Graham 10 5-6 27, Kendall Sharp 2 0-0 4, Grace Cockrell 3 0-0 6, Abby Lockridge 7 7-12 24, Mattie Loyd 2 0-0 4. Totals 25 13-20 68.
Wellborn 11 26 14 9 — 60
Westbrook 28 10 14 16 — 68
3-point goals: Wellborn 4 (V. Carter 2, Thrasher 2); Westbrook 5 (Graham 2, Lockridge 3). Total fouls: Wellborn 17. Westbrook 13. Officials: Jones, Breadley, White.
Spring Garden 75, Skyline 41
SKYLINE (15-11) – Caitlin Ledwell 7 2-3 18, Tabitha Gifford 0 0-0 0, Madison Smith 0 1-2 1, Lauren Martin 1 0-0 2, Sydney Ivey 1 0-2 3, Sarah Lewis 0 0-2 0, Haley Rollins 3 0-0 6, Madison Kennamer 4 0-0 11. Totals 16 3-9 41.
SPRING GARDEN (27-4) – A.J. Broome 1 0-0 3, Kerstin Bryant 1 0-0 3, Madison Sides 8 0-0 23, Savannah Dempsey 4 0-0 12, Payton McGinnis 0 1-2 1, Tyonna Rogers 2 0-0 4, Tykeah Rogers 9 11-12 29, Breauna Rogers 0 0-0 0. Totals 25 12-14 75.
Skyline 7 15 8 11 — 41
Spring Garden 23 22 14 16 — 75
3-point goals: Skyline 6 (Ledwell 2, Ivey, Kennamer 3); Spring Garden 13 (Broome, Bryant, Sides 7, Dempsey 4). Total fouls: Skyline 12, Spring Garden 13. Officials: Davis, Kelser, Slater.
Hokes Bluff 48, Jacksonville 33
JACKSONVILLE – Kyra Williams 7-19 3-3 19, Dasia Kirksey 2-6 1-2 5, Aniya Jefferson 2-3 0-0 4, Ataliya Morgan 1-9 1-8 3, Aniyah Robinson 1-2 0-0 2, Kayla Broom 0-0 0-0 0, Kelsey Ervin 0-1 0-0 0, Essence Hutchinson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 13-40 5-13 33.
HOKES BLUFF – Kendall Johnson 8-11 0-2 16, Maddy Jenkins 7-8 0-1 16, Sydney Ball 2-8 0-0 6, Logan Black 1-2 2-2 5, Tylynn Register 1-5 2-2 4, Amanda Noah 0-3 1-2 1, Gracie West 0-0 0-0 0, Shaley Hunt 0-0 0-0 0, Magaret Wetzel 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-37 5-9.
Jacksonville 8 2 9 14 — 33
Hokes Bluff 15 12 8 13 — 48
3-point goals: Jacksonville 2-10 (Williams 2-7, Morgan 0-3); Hokes Bluff 5-15 (Jenkins 2-3, Ball 2-7, Black 1-2, Register 0-1, Noah 0-2). Rebounds: Jacksonville 19 (Williams 5, Jefferson 5); Hokes Bluff 31 (Register 7, Noah 7, Johnson 6). Total fouls: Jacksonville 10, Hokes Bluff 14.
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