Early-day struggles
- Updated: December 11, 2016
Shorthanded Jacksonville, Ohatchee face ranked opponents early in TV24 Holiday Showcase with expected results
Jacksonville’s Josh Glass (12) drives past one Geraldine defender and now has to contend with Laramie McCurdy (35). (Photo by B.J. Franklin/GungHo Photos)
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
JACKSONVILLE — Jacksonville has been looking for some consistent offense all year, but take the biggest pieces of what it does have away and it’s a struggle.
The Golden Eagles were missing three starters from their lineup because of standardized testing Saturday and their absence was telling in a 49-28 loss to Geraldine in the second game of the TV24 Holiday Showcase.
Jacksonville was missing leading scorers Rivan Hill and DeAndre McCain and inside presence K.J. Satcher. The Golden Eagles scored 10 points in the first half.
“Geraldine’s a good team; they shot the ball really well,” first-year Jacksonville coach Cordell Hunt said. “I’d say they shot over 60 percent from 3-point land today and we just didn’t shoot that well. That’s been our problem all year long, scoring.
“These guys are having to get accustomed to having to attack the basket more and score instead of waiting on somebody to do it for them.”
Tahj Kirkland and Josh Glass stepped up to try to pick up the slack, but the Golden Eagles didn’t have enough to overcome hot-shooting Geraldine. The fourth-ranked 3A Bulldogs scored the first seven points of the game and led 17-4 after the first quarter.
“I don’t want to use (being shorthanded) as an excuse, because it’s not an excuse,” Hunt said. “These other guys have to just step up and play.
“This was good for them to go out there and get more playing time than what they would normally get. They’ve just to learn to step it up and fill those shoes. We’re just one play up or down the court of missing one or two of those guys, so somebody has to step up and fill that role.”
Asbury 66, Ohatchee 47
Things were going well for Ohatchee’s basketball team early. The Indians had the first-quarter lead and looked as if they might finally be getting their basketball legs after a long run in football.
Then foul trouble reared its head, which created some mismatches. The Rams started to find their rhythm and it soon became another frustrating day for the Indians.
“I was disappointed the way we played against Wellborn (Thursday), just our effort,” Ohatchee coach Bryant Ginn said. “We challenged the guys (Friday) at practice that we’ve got to get back to playing basketball the way we know how and get back after it and want it more than other people do. I thought we came out like that in the first quarter, then foul trouble kind of got us away.”
Ohatchee led 13-12 after the first quarter, but the whole game changed when Asbury scored the next 12 points to take control.
The Rams hit three of their six 3-pointers in the quarter and outscored the Indians 19-6. Jacob Chandler scored nine of his 13 points in the second quarter. It was Josue Cruz’ turn in the third quarter, scoring 10 of his 20 as the Rams extended their lead to 52-32.
“We’re having a little trouble right now guarding on ball,” Ginn said. “We’re getting split too much and that’s giving them some easy shots. They’re a good shooting team.”
The Indians (1-4) got 17 points from Austin Tucker. Rushad Delgado had 10 points and 11 rebounds for the Rams.
Talladega 72, White Plains 41
Fred Dickerson, Ashton Duncan and Robert Houston all had big games for the Tigers. Dickerson had a little bit of everything – 12 points, 10 assists and five steals. Houston had a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds. Duncan scored a team-high 22 points on the back of four 3-pointers.
Mountain Brook 99, Sacred Heart 45
The game was expected to be the headline game of the TV24 Holiday Showcase, the No. 1 teams in Class 7A and 1A. Sacred Heart was a mere shell of itself with five players – four starters – under suspension for leaving the bench – and Mountain Brook buried it under an avalanche of 15 3-pointers.
Asbury 66, Ohatchee 47
ASBURY (8-1) – Jacob Chandler 6-9 0-0 13, Yobanni Calderon 3-6 1-1 8, Josh Pelham 2-5 0-0 6, Josue Cruz 7-10 5-5 20, Rushad Delgado 5-8 0-0 10, Noah Hilborn 2-10 0-2 4, Blaine Burbanks 0-1 0-1 0, Christian Alexander 1-1 0-0 3, Devin Gibson 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 27-51 6-9 66.
OHATCHEE (1-4) – Ben Glass 1-7 5-8 7, Grayson Alward 3-4 1-4 7, Domonique Thomas 0-2 1-2 1, Austin Tucker 7-11 2-4 17, C.J. Ray 0-2 0-0 0, Blake Buckelew 0-1 3-4 3, Carson Stone 1-1 1-2 3, Kevin Williamson 0-3 0-0 0, Andrew Roberts 0-0 0-1 0, Bayley Tillison 1-2 2-4 4, Jordan Lowe 2-3 1-2 5. Totals 15-36 16-31 47.
Asbury 12 19 21 14 — 66
Ohatchee 13 6 13 15 — 47
3-point goals: Asbury 6-14 (Chandler 1-1, Calderon 1-1, Pelham 2-5, Cruz 1-2, Hilborn 0-4, Alexander 1-1); Ohatchee 1-9 (Glass 0-3, Tucker 1-3, Williamson 0-2, Tillison 0-1). Rebounds: Asbury 32 (Delgado 11), Ohatchee 15 (Tucker 5). Fouled out: Cruz. Total fouls: Asbury 21, Ohatchee 16. Officials: Burroughs, Wortham, Killingsworth.
Geraldine 49, Jacksonville 28
GERALDINE (7-0) – Brady Gilbert 4-6 0-0 12, Justin Murphy 4-7 1-2 10, Austin Willboughby 3-7 2-2 9, Thomas Willboughby 3-6 0-2 6, Laramie McCurdy 2-3 0-2 4, Brandon Bright 1-3 0-0 3, Grant Ledbetter 1-1 1-2 3, Luke Maddox 1-4 0-0 2, Bret Armstrong 0-3 0-0 0, Avery Byars 0-4 0-0 0, Will Jacobs 0-2 0-0 0, Levi Maness 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 19-48 4-10 49.
JACKSONVILLE – Tahj Kirkland 2-7 1-2 6, Hunter Vinson 3-9 0-0 6, Josh Glass 2-9 0-0 5, Alex Gilbert 1-6 0-0 2, Alex Davis 1-7 1-1 3, Jay Davis 1-4 1-2 3, Jamir Jackson 1-3 0-0 2, Jesse Wilson 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 11-47 2-3 28.
Geraldine 17 9 17 6 — 49
Jacksonville 4 6 4 14 — 28
3-point goals: Geraldine 7-20 (Gilbert 4-6, Murphy 1-2, A. Willboughby 1-2, T. Willboughby 0-1, Bright 1-3, Armstrong 0-2, Byars 0-4); Jacksonville 4-13 (Kirkland 1-2, Vinson 0-2, Glass 1-5, Gilbert 1-2, J. Davis 1-2). Rebounds: Geraldine 39 (Maddox 9, Murphy 7); Jacksonville 34 (Gilbert 7, Kirkland 6, A. Davis 6). Total fouls: Geraldine 5, Jacksonville 9. Officials: Davis, Hinkle, Winn.
Jacksonville coach Cordell Hunt has an intimate conversation with the eight players he had available against Geraldine Saturday. (Photo by B.J. Franklin/GungHo Photos)
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