Big game not enough
- Updated: November 23, 2016
White Plains’ McGuirk goes for 43, but Wildcats fall to Sylacauga in finals of Lincoln Thanksgiving Tournament
White Plains’ Macey Carr goes in for a layup in the second half against Sylacauga.
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By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
LINCOLN — Michael McGuirk had a career kind of night in the championship game of the Lincoln Thanksgiving Tournament, but he just couldn’t enjoy it.
The senior point forward matched the most points ever scored by a White Plains player in coach Chris Randall’s tenure at the school and probably scored more points than anyone in Lincoln’s new gym, but he would gladly trade all that history for something that got away.
McGuirk continued his incredible scoring spree to open the season by hitting eight 3-pointers and scoring 43 points Wednesday, but the Wildcats lost in the tournament title game for the second year in a row, 87-75 to Sylacauga.
“It sucks getting second place; if you’re not first, you’re last,” McGuirk said. “We’re used to winning. We have to guard better to have a chance to win.”
McGuirk certainly has been hard to guard.
The 43 points he scored matched the most by a White Plains player in Randall’s 16 years with the program, set by then-sophomore Josh Mickler in the 2005-06 season opener against Spring Garden. He hit seven of his 3-pointers in the second half, five in the fourth quarter. He scored 19 points in the fourth quarter, 32 in the second half, which Randall called “pretty impressive.”
McGuirk’s points production just climbs every game. He opened the season with 27 against Faith Christian, and in three games here scored 31, 39 and 43. He hit 16 3-pointers in the tournament, 14 in the last two games.
But he wasn’t alone in the Thanksgiving Eve scoring fest. Teammate Macey Carr got the 20 McGuirk suggested the day before he would need for the Wildcats to beat the athletic Aggies; he had 22.
Sylacauga’s Malik Crawford scored 27 and Khalil Pope had 20. Crawford had 21 in the second half and Pope had 18 — after the Aggies built a 13-point lead that was as big as 17. The teams combined for 19 3-pointers in the game.
“They made like eight 3s at the beginning of the third quarter and I told our kids we’ve got to keep believing they’re going to start missing sooner or later, and they just didn’t,” Aggies coach William Copeland said. “(McGuirk’s) a very confident shooter and you can tell he spends hours in the gym and has confidence. He’s given the free reign to do that and he has confidence that he can knock down that shot.”
Behind McGuirk and Carr the Wildcats fought back from a 15-point deficit early in the third quarter to make it a five-point game with about three minutes left in the quarter. But the Aggies (4-1) regrouped and went on a 15-2 run to take back the momentum.
“When we were about to get blown out, Mike just kind of took it upon himself to keep us in it, Mike and Macey both,” Randall said. “It was like Mike was refusing to lose.”
In the fourth quarter McGuirk couldn’t have been hotter. Each 3 he took seemed to come increasingly farther behind the arc, but through it all they never looked forced.
“It was just desperation, every 3 in the second half,” he said. “I really only took two or three in the first half. I have confidence in our shot and when it’s going in just keep on shooting it, but most of those in the second half were way back there, just for desperation; we had to have them.”
The Aggies kept the Wildcats (3-1) at bay by making free throws down the stretch. They hit 10 of 11 at one stretch of the fourth quarter and were 20 of 28 for the game. The 87 points Sylacauga scored were the most allowed by a Randall-coached White Plains team.
Lincoln 85, Pell City 74
The Golden Bears got off to a slow start for the second game in a row, but found their comfort zone after one quarter and were electric on offense the rest of the third-place game.
They scored only six points in the first quarter and trailed by 10, but scored at least 20 points in each of the last three quarters and 57 points in the second half. Pell City threatened several times once the Golden Bears got the lead, but never got closer than six in the fourth quarter.
“We were just settling in and doing what we were coached to do,” first-year Bears coach Doug Ward said. “This was only our seventh day together – no spring, no summer, just seven days – and we’ve got two main players back from last year, two role players back and the rest are all new.
“Last night (against Sylacauga) was a tough game to start off with. It was like jumping into the deep end with no floaties. We took that as an opportunity to learn. We came in this morning and regrouped. I told them it’s not what we’re running, it’s how we’re running it. I think they’re going to get better.”
L.J. Carmichael and Donte Rivers led Lincoln with 27 and 24 points, respectively. Carmichael scored all his points in the final three quarters. Rivers scored 19 in the second half.
Moody 69, Faith Christian 45
The Lions played their first full game without injured Jordan Griswould (knee), but that wasn’t their undoing in the fifth-place game. Coach Brad Yarbrough lamented the lack of defensive intensity that sent his team to its third straight loss.
Things started out well for the Lions. They jumped out to a 7-2 lead and just when it looked like they have overcome the loss of their top player, the Blue Devils went on a 20-1 run to take control.
“We gave 69 points; you can’t do that and win games,” Yarbrough said. “We were terrible on defense. Our ball movement was bad. We played soft. That’s not how we play. We don’t practice that way. It was just ugly.
“We’ve got to get back to what we do, that’s hard fundamental defense and stop being so passive; too soft right now. The past three games we’ve given up over 60 points.”
With Griswould out, the scoring role fell onto Jack Sills. He responded with 19 points, 15 in the second half after the Lions fell behind 42-19. The Lions did get a little spark at the start of the second half when Seth Cravens came out and hit two quick 3s, but they’re giving up more than they’re getting.
“We’ve just got to find people who will guard somebody,” Yarbrough said. “We can score, I’m not worried about our offense, we’ll score points; we just have to freaking find somebody who will guard. We’re just looking for five guys who want to go to war.”
On the cover: White Plains’ point forward Michael McGuirk (15) gets congratulated by teammates after hitting another big shot.
LINCOLN THANKSGIVING TOURNAMENT
Championship Game
Sylacauga 87, White Plains 75
WHITE PLAINS (3-1) – Jaylen Jackson 0 0-0 0, Peyton Morgan 1 1-2 3, Dylan McCareeth 0 0-0 0, Austin Bussey 0 0-0 0, Andrew McCarter 0 0-0 0, Michael McGuirk 14 7-8 43, Drake Preston 3 0-0 7, Macey Carr 8 3-5 22, Brett Beaver 0 0-0 0. Totals 26 11-15 75.
SYLACAUGA (4-1) – Malik Crawford 12 3-4 27, Keaton Wilson 1 0-2 2, Darian Garrett 5 2-2 15, Jasade Smith 4 6-8 17, Khalil Pope 5 9-11 20, Erron Bryant 2 0-0 4, Deonte Smith 1 0-1 2, Rod Milliner 0 0-0 0, Jordan Robinson 0 0-0 0, Derrick Carter 0 0-0 0. Totals 30 20-28 87.
White Plains 14 9 21 31 — 75
Sylacauga 19 17 22 29 — 87
3-point goals: White Plains 12 (McGuirk 8, Preston, Carr 3); Sylacauga 7 (Garrett 3, J. Smith 3, Pope). Fouled out: Morgan. Total fouls: White Plains 21, Sylacauga 17. Officials: Wood, Warren, Holmes.
Third-place Game
Lincoln 85, Pell City 74
PELL CITY – Jay Keith 4 0-0 9, Tyler Dowdy 2 4-4 9, Trey Evans 4 3-4 11, Hudson Hughes 2 3-4 7, Andrew Pender 5 1-1 12, Brandon Calhoun 1 1-2 3, JaMichael Lipscomb 4 6-8 15, Kinsman Trammell 3 0-4 6, Tyler Locklar 0 2-4 2. Totals 25 20-31 74.
LINCOLN (1-1) – L.J. Carmichael 9 9-12 27, Malik Weed 4 1-2 10, Donte Rivers 8 5-6 24, Chris Prince 1 0-0 2, Cody Williams 0 0-0 0, Rel Howard 1 0-0 2, Earl Wells 1 2-4 4, Shamar Hampton 1 5-9 7, P.J. Gaddis 3 3-6 9, Shawn Davis 0 0-0 0, Joseph Gaston 0 0-0 0. Totals 28 25-39 85.
Pell City 16 14 19 25 — 74
Lincoln 6 22 29 28 — 85
3-point goals: Pell City 4 (Keith, Dowdy, Pender, Lipscomb); Lincoln 4 (Weed, Rivers 3). Fouled out: Prince. Total fouls: Pell City 23, Lincoln 26. Officials: Warren, Bradford, Strong.
Fifth-place Game
Moody 69, Faith Christian 45
MOODY (2-3) – Braden Carpenetti 2 0-0 6, Max Hodges 0 0-0 0, Mason Hayes 4 2-5 12, Chris Davis 2 0-0 5, Hunter Winslett 1 0-0 2, Devin Prince 6 3-4 15, Noah Calvert 2 0-0 4, Talen Files 3 1-1 9, Jake Davis 4 0-0 8, T.J. Johnson 1 0-0 2, Aaron Overton 0 0-0 0, Ceione Reaves 2 2-4 6. Totals 27 8-14 69.
FAITH CHRISTIAN (1-3) – Michael McGraw 1 4-6 6, Riley Camp 1 1-2 4, Beau Conley 0 0-0 0, Jameson Adams 2 2-5 6, Seth Cravens 2 1-2 7, Jacob Cleckler 0 0-0 0, Jack Sills 7 5-12 19, Michael Kulick 1 1-2 3, Julien Key 0 0-0 0. Totals 14 14-29 45.
Moody 17 25 12 15 — 69
Faith 8 11 14 12 — 45
3-point goals: Moody 7 (Carpenetti 2, Hayes 2, C. Davis, Files 2); Faith 3 (Camp, Cravens 2). Fouled out: J. Davis. Total fouls: Moody 24, Faith 14. Officials: K. Strong, M. Whiteside, S. Bradford.
COY SMITH MEMORIAL THANKSGIVING TOURNAMENT
Championship Game
Ashville 62, Jacksonville 54
JACKSONVILLE (1-1) – Rivan Hill 11-19 4-5 30, DeAndre McCain 4-8 2-4 11, Tahj Kirkland 0-3 3-6 6, Alex Gilbert 1-4 0-0 3, Alex Davis 1-3 0-0 2, K.J. Satcher 1-6 0-0 2, Hunter Vinson 1-2 0-0 2, Jay Davis 0-1 1-2 1, Josh Glass 0-0 0-2 0, Jamir Jackson 0-0 0-0 0, Quinn Long 0-1 0-0 0, Jesse Wilson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-47 10-19 54.
ASHVILLE – D’Angelo Williams 8-14 14-18 31, Jaden Jones 4-5 2-4 10, Cody Caras 3-4 0-0 7, Hunter Huckbay 2-4 2-4 6, Chris Sanders 2-4 2-3 6, Elijah Beatty 1-1 0-0 2, John Michael Norris 0-1 0-0 0, Dalton Cane 0-2 0-1 0, Perkins Carden 0-0 0-0 0, Ethan Rodden 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-35 20-29 62.
Jacksonville 12 14 5 23 — 54
Ashville 16 15 8 23 — 62
3-point goals: Jacksonville 6-16 (Hill 4-8, McCain 1-3, Kirkland 0-2, Gilbert 1-3); Ashville 2-8 (Williams 1-4, Caras 1-2, Sanders 0-1, Cane 0-1). Rebounds: Jacksonville 24 (McCain 5); Ashville 33 (Williams 8, Huckbay 7). Total fouls: Jacksonville 23, Ashville 16. Notes: Rivan Hill led Jacksonville in scoring for the second game in a row; he was 21 for 41 from the field in the two games of the tournament.
WEST END THANKSGIVING TOURNAMENT
First-round Game
Brindlee Mountain 70, Pleasant Valley 42
PLEASANT VALLEY – Riley Vernon 2 0-0 5, Bradley Knight 0 0-0 0, Caden Turner 5 0-0 11, Reid Hightower 4 3-5 13, Caleb Parker 0 0-0 0, Brooks Davis 0 0-0 0, Nic Smith 2 0-2 4, Ethan Johnson 0 1-2 1, Drew Bonds 2 0-0 6, Jordan Lambert 0 0-0 0, Adam Freeman 1 0-0 2, Carson Brazier 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 4-9 42.
BRINDLEE MOUNTAIN – Joseph Smith 7 7-10 23, Brent Myers 1 0-0 2, Devon Meadows 2 0-0 4, Trent Myers 3 2-2 10, Nathan Green 5 1-2 13, Logan Lemons 5 0-0 10, Tristan Nonato 0 0-0 0, E. Cumo 1 0-0 2, Caleb London 2 0-3 4, Austin Salinas 0 2-2 2. Total 26 12-19 70.
Pleasant Valley 13 10 7 12 — 42
Brindlee Mountain 13 18 16 23 — 70
3-point goals: PV 6 (Vernon, Turner, Hightower 2, Bonds 2); Brindlee Mountain 6 (Smith 2, T. Myers 2, Green 2). Total fouls: PV 19, Brindlee Mountain 7.
Consolation Game
Susan Moore 61, Pleasant Valley 50
PLEASANT VALLEY – Riley Vernon 0 1-2 1, Bradley Knight 1 0-0 2, Caden Turner 5 2-3 13, Reid Hightower 7 0-0 16, Nic Smith 4 1-3 9, Ethan Johnson 1 1-2 4, Drew Bonds 1 0-0 3, Jordan Lambert 0 0-0 0, Adam Freeman 1 0-0 2. Totals 20 5-10 50.
SUSAN MOORE – Aidan Steele 0 0-0 0, Antonio Bernal 5 4-10 14, Tanner Sisson 0 0-0 0, Brock Morton 3 1-2 10, Jacob Kelly 0 0-0 0, Isaac Adams 5 11-13 22, Christopher Brown 0 0-0 0, Garrett Vaughn 0 0-0 0, Micah Ogles 2 0-0 5, Dakota Thomas 3 4-4 10. Totals 18 20-29 61.
Pleasant Valley 6 14 7 23 — 50
Susan Moore 15 12 11 23 — 61
3-point goals: PV 5 (Turner, Hightower 2, Johnson, Bonds); Susan Moore 5 (Morton 3, Adams, Ogles). Fouled out: Turner. Total fouls: PV 20, Susan Moore 12.
SNEAD STATE GIRLS THANKSGIVING CLASSIC
Jacksonville 45, Boaz 27
JACKSONVILLE – Sierra Stone 7-8 0-1 14, Kayla Broom 4-7 0-0 9, Aniyah Robinson 4-6 0-0 9, Kyra Williams 2-6 1-4 5, Tatiyana Thomas 2-7 0-0 5, Aniya Jefferson 1-4 1-1 3, Essence Hutchinson 0-0 0-0 0, Maddie Hall 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-38 2-6 45.
BOAZ – Autumn Patterson 3-7 3-3 9, Sarah Clontz 2-4 2-2 6, Caitlyn Hunkeapillar 1-5 2-2 4, Miley Bozarth 2-5 0-0 4, Baylee Alldredge 1-7 0-0 2, Kaitlyn Gillilan 1-7 0-0 2, Sarah Diamond 0-1 0-0 0, Jayden Bobo 0-1 0-0 0, Jericka Lybrand 0-3 0-0 0, Meggie Duvall 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 10-40 7-7 27.
Jacksonville 5 15 10 15 — 45
Boaz 6 5 8 8 — 27
3-point goals: Jacksonville 3-11 (Broom 1-3, Robinson 1-2, Williams 0-2, Thomas 1-4); Boaz 0-11 (Patterson 0-2, Hunkeapillar 0-1, Alldredge 0-2, Gillilan 0-4, Bobo 0-1, Lybrand 0-1). Rebounds: Jacksonville 31 (Stone 14, Williams 5); Boaz 21 (Alldredge 5). Total fouls: Jacksonville 8, Boaz 8.
Notes: Sierra Stone enjoyed a double-double as the Lady Golden Eagles won their opening-round game in the tournament.
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