Elston breaks out

By EASportsToday.com
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Updated: December 16, 2016

Boys roundup: Weaver sophomore has a career night, posting a double-double in the Bearcats’ rout of Jacksonville; Wellborn pulls away from Donoho, Ohatchee rally falls short, Talladega crushes Lincoln

Robert Gaines (4) was Weaver’s leader scoring with 15 points. (Photos by B.J. Franklin/GungHo Photos)

By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today

WEAVER – He wears the same No. 24 and even has the light dusting of color on the top of his hair, but you wouldn’t confuse Weaver’s Amardric Elston with Malik Arnold, although there were times Thursday night it might have been hard to tell the difference.

Elston, a 6-foot-6 sophomore leaner than his post predecessor, came off the bench to enjoy the best game of his young varsity career as the Bearcats routed Jacksonville 74-40.

The last player to wear 24 for Weaver coach Daryl Hamby – Arnold – was the dominant true big man in the county last season. Elston certainly has the size to be that in time and Thursday night he showed signs of what could be.

He finished with 12 points and 14 rebounds, one of four Bearcats to score in double figures. He had nine points in the second half.

“Amardric did great tonight,” Hamby said. “He’s got a good chance to be a heck of a player. He has to put in the work to be a good player. He had a good night tonight, but he has to keep working to get better. Don’t get satisfied.

“He’s not there yet. He’s got to realize how big he is. He’s strong and he doesn’t mind contact, he has to learn to make himself a little bit bigger down there and impose his will. He’s not there yet. He’s working on it. Hopefully we’ll find it.”

Elston had never scored more than nine in a varsity game before Thursday. In fact, he had scored only 31 points in his previous seven games and was held scoreless twice.

Perhaps the secret to his breakout game was the chewing he got after their Ohatchee game.

“I think I played good because of the way Coach Hamby talked to us,” Elston said. “It changed my motivation. I got meaner, tougher and physical.”

Everybody got into the act it seemed for the Bearcats (6-3) in this one. In addition to Elston, Robert Gaines (15), London Knight (14) and Paul Hubbard (10) also scored in double figures for them.

But for all the scoring Weaver did, the key to its fourth in-county win this season was the way it played defense. The Bearcats held Jacksonville to 32 percent shooting from the field, 1 for 10 from 3-point range, and forced the Golden Eagles into 27 turnovers, off which they scored 25 points.

They held the Golden Eagles without a field goal in the second quarter while opening a 39-14 lead. Jacksonville had only four second-chance points in the game.

“I liked the way we played defense,” Hamby said. “In order for us to be successful we have to play the type of defense we played tonight – one shot and out, great job of boxing out, great job of helping out, recognizing what we want to do in the man-to-man. It was a lot better job, especially from the other night when I didn’t think we played that well.”

Amardric Elston is poised to provide back-side help as Paul Hubbard drives against Jacksonville’s DeAndre McCain (23) and Jesse Wilson (14).

Wellborn 58, Donoho 42

ANNISTON – The Panthers used a big second half to rally from a five-point halftime deficit and get to .500 for the first time this season.

There wasn’t anything fancy about the turnaround, coach Jordan Angle said. “We just put Blake (Hanson) and Kelvin (Evans) in the paint and let them go to work,” he said. They got things going by scoring several baskets in transition off Donoho turnovers to start the third quarter.

Hanson scored 16 of his game-high 22 points in the second half, 14 in the fourth quarter, including going 6-for-6 from the free throw line. The 6-5 Evans scored all eight of his points in the second half.

Hanson also had eight rebounds, three assists and four steals. Evans grabbed seven rebounds and Jordan Montgomery pulled down 10 boards.

Ragland 69, Ohatchee 58

RAGLAND – Ohatchee staged a furious rally in the second half that just came up short. The Indians trailed by 16 at halftime, but cut their deficit to six entering the fourth quarter.

Blake Buckelew scored all nine of his points in the third quarter to help bring the Indians back. Ben Glass scored nine of his 13 in the second half, Grayson Alward had 11 of his 15 in the half and C.J. Ray scored all seven of his points in the half.

Talladega 87, Lincoln 54

TALLADEGA – Jae-lyn Russ’ double-double led five scorers in double figures, the Tigers hit 10 3-pointers in the game and seized control of the area game with a 32-point second quarter.

Talladega’s Fred Dickerson led all scorers with 16 points and had 11 in the Tigers’ big second quarter, but Russ dominated on both ends of the floor with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Eight different players scored in the second quarter as the Tigers extended an 11-point lead to 23 at halftime.

THURSDAY’S BOYS BOX SCORES
Weaver 74, Jacksonville 40
JACKSONVILLE – Rivan Hill 8-17 0-2 16, Alex Davis 3-6 3-8 9, Jay Davis 2-7 2-3 6, DeAndre McCain 1-5 2-3 5, Josh Glass 1-3 2-2 4, Jesse Wilson 0-1 0-0 0, Hunter Vinson 0-3 0-0 0, Jamir Jackson 0-1 0-0 0, K.J. Satcher 0-0 0-0 0, Alex Gilbert 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 15-46 9-18 40.

WEAVER (6-3) – Robert Gaines 7-9 1-1 15, London Knight 5-10 4-5 14, Amardric Elston 5-8 2-4 12, Paul Hubbard 5-10 0-0 10, Dalton Hamby 1-1 4-4 7, Maurice Goodman 3-6 0-0 6, Chris Lemon 2-4 0-0 6, Shamar Spinks 1-5 0-0 2, R.J. Wooden 1-4 0-0 2. Totals 30-57 11-14 74.

Jacksonville 12 2 19 7 — 40
Weaver 23 16 20 15 — 74

3-point goals: Jacksonville 1-10 (Hill 0-2, J. Davis 0-1, McCain 1-4, Glass 0-1, Gilbert 0-2); Weaver 3-11 (Knight 0-2, Hubbard 0-2, Hamby 1-1, Goodman 0-1, Lemon 2-2, Spinks 0-1, Wooden 0-2). Rebounds: Jacksonville 33 (Hill 11, A. Davis 12); Weaver 34 (Elston 10, Gaines 7). Technical fouls: Jacksonville coach Hunt. Total fouls: Jacksonville 14, Weaver 14. Officials: Howell, Tidwell, Kelley.

Wellborn 58, Donoho 42
DONOHO – Jack Svensen 0 0-0 0, Garrett Steed 5 3-6 14, Jacob Lecroy 1 0-0 3, Ross Hagan 1 1-2 4, Saad Ibrahim 3 0-0 9, Russell Wilson 3 2-3 8, Will Nelson 2 0-0 4. Totals 15 6-11 42.

WELLBORN (3-3) – Mitchell Raines 1 0-0 2, Eric Johnson 0 1-3 1, Jordan Montgomery 4 2-2 11, Devin Machristie 5 2-2 14, Ked Harris 0 0-1 0, Blake Hanson 8 6-8 22, Kelvin Evans 4 0-1 8. Totals 22 11-17 58.

Donoho 12 17 5 8 — 42
Wellborn 12 10 16 20 — 58

3-point goals: Donoho 6 (Steed, Lecroy, Hagan, S. Ibrahim 3); Wellborn 3 (Montgomery, Machristie 2). Total fouls: Donoho 13, Wellborn 13. Officials: Burroughs, Wilson, Beard.

Ragland 69, Ohatchee 58
OHATCHEE – Blake Buckelew 3 1-1 9, Ben Glass 4 3-4 13, Grayson Alward 5 5-9 15, Kevin Williamson 1 0-0 3, Domonique Thomas 1 0-4 2, Austin Tucker 3 2-3 9, Bayley Tillison 0 0-0 0, Jordan Lowe 0 0-1 0, C.J. Ray 2 3-5 7. Totals 19 14-27 58.

RAGLAND – Adam Cotton 0 0-0 0, Adam Sanders 1 0-0 2, Jadon Killings 7 4-6 21, Stoney Merritt 3 2-9 9, Coby Fuller 0 0-0 0, Jadon Ball 5 5-7 18, Tucker Kay 0 4-5 4, Braxton Thomas 5 3-4 13, Noah Hollingsworth 0 0-0 0, Jacob Phillips 1 0-0 2. Totals 22 18-33 69.

Ohatchee 8 9 22 19 — 58
Ragland 16 17 12 24 — 69

3-point goals: Ohatchee 6 (Buckelew 2, Glass 2, Williamson, Tucker); Ragland 7 (Killings 3, Merritt, Ball 3). Fouled out: Alward, Ray. Total fouls: Ohatchee 24, Ragland 18. Officials: Maske, Williams Hurtado.

Talladega 87, Lincoln 54
LINCOLN – L.J. Carmichael 2 2-5 6, Donte Rivers 3 3-8 9, Chris Prince 1 5-6 8, Earl Wells 3 1-1 7, Shamar Hampton 3 1-1 9, Patrick Gaddis 2 0-0 6, Shawn Davis 3 1-1 7, Brikael Truss 1 0-0 2. Totals 18 13-22 54.

TALLADEGA – Fred Dickerson 6 0-0 16, Chartiz Tanner 2 0-0 4, Tyrese Scales 5 0-1 11, Jarvius McKenzie 4 0-0 11, Ashton Duncan 3 2-2 10, Chrishawn Williams 1 2-3 4, TraShaundez Bolden 3 0-0 6, Robert Houston 1 0-0 2, Jamontae Twyman 4 0-0 8, Jae-lyn Russ 7 1-2 15. Totals 36 5-8 87.

Lincoln 5 20 9 20 — 54
Talladega 16 32 21 18 — 87

3-point goals: Lincoln 5 (Prince, Hampton, Gaddis 2); Talladega 10 (Dickerson 4, Scales, McKenzie 3, Duncan 2). Total fouls: Lincoln 12, Talladega 16. Officials: Lemon, Robinson, Stringer.