Donoho adjusts
- Updated: December 19, 2016
Monday girls roundup: Lady Falcons come back from a slow start to beat JCA for their first area victory; freshman Frickey comes up big in overtime
Girls games
Donoho 63, Jacksonville Christian 59 (OT)
Pleasant Valley 55, Ragland 22
Wellborn 65, Wadley 35
Cherokee Invitational, Gaylesville
Springville 61, Gaylesville 22
Piedmont 48, Collinsville 36
Sand Rock 69, Cedar Bluff 36
Spring Garden 64, Glencoe 58
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
Melissa Smyly’s halftime message to her Donoho girls basketball team was simple.
She told them to do whatever they needed to get it together in the second half and then basically left them to their own devices. If that meant visiting the concession stand for a candy bar and a soft drink or huddling to get their act together so be it.
Whatever they did worked. The Lady Falcons looked sharper in the second half and eventually beat Jacksonville Christian in overtime Monday 63-59 for their first area victory of the season.
“Being able to adjust at halftime makes all the difference, and that’s exactly what we did,” Smyly said. “We talked about it. I know sometimes playing early when you haven’t been at school all day you kind of are slow, so I said whatever y’all need to do, if you need to eat a Kit-Kat or a Twix, whatever you need to do, but you need to get out there and be ready to play and they did. They adjusted.”
Senior Lauren Holbrook got the Lady Falcons (4-5) back into it by dominating inside and freshman Savannah Frickey scored their first six points in overtime to give them final control. Frickey and Holbrook both had 19 points in the game. Constance Hodges added 17.
“Frickey was the man today,” Smyly said. “I told her afterwards she handles the ball so well has such good game sense, so having her and Hodges both up there you know somebody’s going to get a good shot and they’re going to take care of the ball the best they can. I was very impressed with Savannah. She did a wonderful job.”
Donoho led by seven with a minute left in regulation, but JCA’s Kayla Barnes sent the game into overtime when she banked in a runner off the glass at the buzzer. Barnes scored all 15 of her points for the Lady Thunder (5-4) in the second half and overtime. Haley Moses scored 17 of her team-high 19 in the first half.
Frickey opened the scoring in overtime with layup. She hit a pull-up jumper and then converted her steal into another layup to make it 61-55.
“I just went out there and was like, ‘We’ve got to win this,’ because it was really important that we win this game” Frickey said. “I think we just turned it on right there at halftime and we really stepped up.
“One of our main shooters (Jenna Stremmel) had fouled out and if I didn’t turn it on or Constance didn’t turn it on (in overtime) we weren’t going to win, so I was like let’s go ahead and do this right here right now. We’ve lost a couple games like this before or we got it real close, so it felt good to come back there.”
Moses hurt the Lady Falcons early. She set up shop on the lower left block and scored 10 points in the first quarter as JCA opened a 16-7 lead. She had 14 of the Lady Thunder’s first 20 – 12 in a row at one point – as the lead grew to 24-9.
Then Donoho came to life and Frickey and Hodges sparked an 11-0 run that got the Lady Falcons with 26-22. Moses capped the half with a driving layup just before the buzzer to give JCA a 29-22 halftime lead.
Back-to-back buckets by Holbrook late in the third quarter gave Donoho its first lead since early in the game and the Lady Falcons took a 40-37 lead into the fourth quarter.
MONDAY’S GIRLS BOX SCORES
Donoho 63, Jacksonville Christian 59 (OT)
JCA (5-4) – Kylie Cupp 1 0-0 2, Mia Morales 0 0-0 0, Haley Moses 9 1-5 19, Briah Cupp 3 0-0 6, Elizabeth Goss 1 0-0 2, Kayla Barnes 5 3-6 15, Sidney Hancock 0 0-0 0. Totals 25 7-15 59.
DONOHO (4-5) – Campbell Hagan 1 0-0 2, Samantha Strunk 0 0-0 0, Savannah Frickey 8 3-4 19, Meghana Giri 0 0-0 0, Constance Hodges 6 4-4 17, Jenna Stremmel 3 0-0 6, Lauren Holbrook 8 3-4 19. Totals 26 10-12 63.
JCA 16 13 11 15 4 — 59
Donoho 7 15 18 15 8 — 63
3-point goals: JCA 2 (Barnes 2); Donoho 1 (Hodges). Fouled out: Stremmel. Total fouls: JCA 13, Donoho 15. Officials: Robinson, Odom,Wright.
Pleasant Valley 55, Ragland 22
PLEASANT VALLEY – Lindsey Pritchett 2 2-3 7, Mac Parris 1 0-0 2, Atleigh Brannon 6 2-3 15, Juliana Ballew 0 0-0 0, Kaylee Lawler 0 0-0 0, Brenna Harris 0 0-0 0, Chandler Dorsett 1 0-0 2, Emma Hood 5 0-0 10, Taylor Barthel 0 1-2 1, Mikala Simpson 2 2-4 8, Courtney Upton 3 1-2 7, Karmyn Sparks 0 0-0 0, Kara Perry 2 0-0 4. Totals 22 8-14 55.
RAGLAND – Samantha Day-Jones 1 0-2 2, Nora Echols 1 0-0 2, Savannah Kay 1 0-0 2, Makenzie Campbell 5 0-1 10, TyAsia Howard 1 0-0 2, Alexis Kelley 1 0-0 2, Shelley Bird 1 0-0 2, Jewel Ferguson 0 0-0 0, Cadence Buchanan 0 0-0 0, Cassidy Byers 0 0-0 0. Totals 11 0-3 22.
Pleasant Valley 24 17 11 3 — 55
Ragland 2 10 8 2 — 22
3-point goals: PV 3 (Brannon, Simpson 2). Total fouls: PV 12, Ragland 16. Officials: Davis, Moore, Weston.
CHEROKEE INVITATIONAL
Piedmont 48, Collinsville 36
PIEDMONT – Breanna Brazier 5 1-2 15, Kaitlyn Ridley 0 2-4 2, Lulu Jackson 3 2-6 8, Camron Logan 2 0-0 4, Sydney Prater 4 5-7 15, Rebecca Smart 2 0-0 4, Kiara Jackson 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 10-19 48.
COLLINSVILLE – Mary Patton 0 0-0 0, Aryelle Jones 2 0-0 5, Caroline Brannon 1 2-2 5, Brittney Rivers 5 13-16 23, Maggie McKinney 0 0-0 0, Kendreia Moore 1 0-0 3, Bela Mann 0 0-0 0. Totals 9 15-18 36.
Piedmont 11 10 12 15 — 48
Collinsville 16 7 6 7 — 36
3-point goals: Piedmont 6 (Brazier 4, Prater 2); Collinsville 3 (Jones, Brannon, Moore). Total fouls: Piedmont 13, Collinsville 12. Officials: Daffrin, Whitmire, Heideman.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login