Sentimental start

Anniston alum Brown returns to alma mater to coach its basketball team, succeeding the legendary coach he once played for

“It was just a little more emotional because it’s your alma mater, you grew up in the same neighborhood as the kids and you knew their parents. That’s the good thing about it.”–Anniston coach Torry Brown

By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today

ANNISTON (Nov. 15) — For the first time in 20 years the Anniston High School basketball team was not coached by a guy named Ware. It may have taken a little while for the few returning veterans on the team to get used to, but Tuesday night was not about living in the past.

It was all about looking ahead and there definitely was a new sheriff in town.

Torry Brown returned to his alma mater as head coach of the team he played for in the late ’90s and directed the Bulldogs in their opening of a new era.

And what an opening it was. The Bulldogs held on through some fast-paced play to beat a veteran Sylacauga five 58-52.

“It feels really good,” Brown said. “The impressive part about it is our kids continued to fight. I knew they would come out and compete and play hard; now the outcome, who knows about that? We’re hoping to get better as we go.”

You could tell Brown was trying his best to downplay his role in what really was a significant night in the Anniston High School landscape, but you could also tell how badly he wanted to win on it.

Schuessler Ware had coached the Bulldogs for 19 seasons, leading them to 15 area championships and two state titles before retiring at the end of last season. He had the junior varsity team for several years before that, coaching Brown as a ninth- and tenth-grader.

Wearing a tan suit, cream-colored shirt and gold tie, Brown walked calmly up the steps leading from the dressing room and took a seat on the bench closest to the scorer’s table to watch his team in pregame warm-ups.

It was a distinctly different feeling than his last coaching debut at Shelby County. That was his first head coaching job; this was coming home.

“Here it was more sentimental,” he said. “It was just a little more emotional because it’s your alma mater, you grew up in the same neighborhood as the kids and you knew their parents. That’s the good thing about it.”

Brown didn’t stay in his seat long. Less than 20 seconds into his new job he was up off the bench shouting instructions to his team. Jakoey “Milk” Bradford celebrated his own return to the program by hitting the first basket of the game — a 3-pointer from the right corner — and the Brown era of Anniston basketball was off and flying.

Bradford wasn’t part of Ware’s farewell tour last year because of a school rule that prohibits athletes from playing another sport if he leaves another team (football) during its season. It’s a decision he deeply regrets in light of the Bulldogs’ close loss to J.O. Johnson in last year’s 5A Northeast regionals.

The Milkman scored only seven points Tuesday night, but he was particularly active around the glass, especially in the second half. He grabbed three big rebounds in the final minute of the tight game, including one he ripped from the arms of a Sylacauga player and deposited back into the basket to give the Bulldogs a 54-50 lead

“I love coach Brown; he’s an excellent basketball coach,” Bradford said. “He knows all the fundamentals of basketball. He knows that just because you’re short doesn’t mean you’re a guard and just because you’re tall doesn’t mean you’re a big man. He knows all of us are great, but we can be better players. He told us we won’t be able to play to our full potential until later on because it’s a new team and we have to learn how to play together.

“I was younger playing with Coach Ware so I didn’t get a lot of PT or practice time; I’d get in when it was a blowout of something like that. I like playing for Coach Brown. I wish I could go all the way back to ninth grade just so I could play with him for three more years.”

If the Bulldogs play the rest of their games like at the entertaining pace they did Tuesday it promises to be a wild ride.

ANNISTON 58, SYLACAUGA 52

SYLACAUGA (0-1) – Malik Canford 4 9-17 17, Zyion Hughes 0 0-0 0, Keaton Wilson 2 0-0 4, Darian Garrett 1 3-4 6, Jasade Smith 5 1-2 13, Khalil Pope 1 1-1 3, Luke Tankersley 0 0-0 0, Erron Bryant 4 1-4 9, Deonte Smith 0 0-0 0, Jordan Robinson 0 0-0 0, Derrick Carter 0 0-0 0. Totals 17 16-28 52.

ANNISTON (1-0) – Marrio Dobbins 3 11-19 18, Jamal West 4 2-2 12, James Haynes 2 2-2 7, Nelson Edmondson 0 0-0 0, Jakoey Bradford 2 2-4 7, Tareeq Packer-Wood 4 3-4 11, Hunter Rouse 0 1-2 1, Cardarious Storey 0 0-0 0, Diante Davis 1 0-0 2. Totals 16 21-33 58.

Sylacauga 9 17 15 11 — 52
Anniston 15 16 11 16 — 58

3-point goals: Sylacauga 3 (Garrett, J. Smith 2); Anniston (Dobbins, West 2, Haynes 1, Bradford). Fouled out: Garrett, Davis. Total fouls: Sylacauga 29, Anniston 19. Officials: Stan Smith, Calvin Oden, Daniel Robinson.

To see an even more extensive gallery of B.J. Franklin photos from this game visit www.bjfranklin.smugmug.com

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