Relaxed Panthers win

Wellborn’s Machristie makes the most of his down time to be sharp at game time

Cleburne County Holiday Invitational
Saks 52, Ohatchee 42
Vincent 85, Faith Christian 59
Wellborn 71, Ranburne 47
Cleburne County 46, Munford 43

Thursday’s Games
Ohatchee vs. Faith Christian, 10:30 a.m.
Ranburne vs. Munford, 1:30 p.m.
Saks vs. Vincent, 4:30 p.m.
Wellborn vs. Cleburne County, 7:30 p.m.

By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today

HEFLIN – Several hours before he was due at school to begin game-day preparations for the tournament, Wellborn guard Devin Machristie was about as far removed from the world of basketball as one could possibly be.

He and brother Landon were floating down a creek, hunting some squirrels and doing whatever brothers do when they have some leisure time together.

Panthers basketball coach Jordan Angle doesn’t really mind what his players do in their down time as long as they’re ready to go when the ball goes up.

OK, so maybe Machristie was a little late for the pregame shoot-around and maybe when he did arrive his jeans looked like he’d gone a couple rounds with his college-football-playing brothers in the mud, but there’s no disputing what he did for the Panthers in their 71-47 rout of Ranburne in the Cleburne County Holiday Invitational.

Machristie wasn’t the Panthers’ leading scorer in the game – he rarely is, that honor again went to Jordan Montgomery (23) and Blake Hanson (19) — but he does so much more for them. He did some early scoring, picking up seven points in the first quarter, but he also made things happen with his defense and ball-handling.

“They’re kids and I want them to have a good time, as long as they’re ready to perform when it’s time to perform,” Angle said. “Now, I still expect them to be on time and I’ll get on him before we leave tomorrow, but I want them to be kids and enjoy playing basketball and not dread coming in the gym and have a good time.”

Machristie certainly enjoys himself away from the court. A lot of times he’ll go hunting between the time school gets out and practice begins. The only reason his jeans were so muddy Wednesday was the brothers had to carry their canoe a long way through the woods.

“Before he gets to me he’s doing something he enjoys, so when he gets to me he’s not tight, he’s not in a knot,” Angle said. “He’s not a guy I have to worry about getting ready to play because his body’s ready, his mind’s ready and if he can just get his shot ready he’s generally going to have a pretty good night.

“He shot the ball well tonight for the first time this season. If he ever tunes the band up, he’s got a great-looking 3-point shot. He shot it pretty good tonight. We can all still get better at different things and that’s one of the things he really works at.”

Machristie hit two 3-pointers in the game, one that closed the scoring in the first quarter and one in the fourth.

The Panthers (4-4) as a whole were surprisingly sharp for a team that hadn’t played since Dec. 19 and practice only twice since then.

They jumped out to an 18-12 first-quarter lead and once Montgomery and Hanson got going in the second quarter stretched their lead to 22 at halftime. They got to a running clock – for the second time this season – with 7:15 left in the game.

“We shot in the gym earlier and in Christmas break, so we never stopped playing,” Machristie said.

Vincent 85, Faith Christian 59: The Lions fell victim to 12 Vincent 3-pointers and 15 second-half turnovers that turned a six-point game at halftime into a quick 20-point deficit. Five players hit 3-pointers for the Yellow Jackets, with Stephen Campbell dropping in five.

“I’d love to tell you we shot it like that every night, but we don’t,” Vincent coach John Hadder said. “Typically we don’t play that type of game, normally it’s more defensive oriented.”

Campbell led the Yellow Jackets with 23 points. Faith’s Jordan Griswould led all scorers with 26. Griswould was 13-of-14 from the free throw line.

Saks 52, Ohatchee 42: Devaughn Beason scored all of his 18 points on 3-pointers for Saks. He hit five treys in the first half, three in the second quarter when the Wildcats turned a 13-10 deficit into a 28-21 halftime lead.

Cleburne County 46, Munford 43: Avery Gentry scored his 11 points in the first three quarters and the host Tigers held off a furious rally in the fourth quarter by Munford. LaRaie Ball scored all eight of his points in the fourth quarter for the Lions and Justin Sistrunk had the other five to finish with a game-high 23 points.

WEDNESDAY’S BOX SCORES
Saks 52, Ohatchee 42
SAKS – Darien Briskey 2 0-2 4, DeVaughn Beason 6 0-0 18, Laderrick Bell 2 0-0 6, Alfonza Ward 3 1-3 7, Tray Huguley 3 5-7 11, Jamal Stone 1 0-0 2, Jaylen Young 1 0-0 2, Jalen Borders 1 0-0 2. Totals 19 6-12 52.

OHATCHEE – Blake Buckelew 0 0-0 0, Ben Glass 3 1-3 9, Grayson Alward 0 1-4 1, Carson Stone 1 0-0 2, Kevin Williamson 0 0-0 0, Domonique Thomas 0 0-2 0, Brennan Wink 0 0-0 0, Austin Tucker 2 0-0 5, Bayley Tillison 0 0-0 0, Jordan Lowe 0 0-0 0, C.J. Ray 10 5-8 25, Andrew Roberts 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 7-17 42.

Saks 10 18 10 14 — 52
Ohatchee 13 8 8 13 — 42

3-point goals: Saks 8 (Beason 6, Bell 2); Ohatchee 3 (Glass 2, Tucker). Total fouls: Saks 11, Ohatchee 17.

Vincent 85, Faith Christian 59
VINCENT (10-4) – Tyler Hayes 1 0-0 2, Stanley Cooper 3 0-0 8, Zavien Kelley 3 1-3 8, Stephen Campbell 9 0-0 23, Josef Greene 1 0-0 2, Deandre Davis 4 5-6 16, Chris Harbie 8 1-2 17, Malik Hamilton 1 0-0 2, Keith Martin 0 0-0 0, Pat McAnaulty 3 0-0 7. Totals 33 7-11 85.

FAITH CHRISTIAN – Michael McGraw 1 0-0 2, Riley Camp 3 0-0 9, Jordan Griswould 6 13-14 26, Jameson Adams 1 0-0 2, Seth Cravens 2 0-0 6, Jacob Cleckler 0 0-0 0, Jack Sills 5 4-9 14, Michael Kulick 0 0-0 0, Julien Key 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 17-23 59.

Vincent 19 14 24 28 — 85
Faith Christian 12 15 13 19 — 59

3-point goals: Vincent 12 (Cooper 2, Kelley, Campbell 5, Davis 3, McAnaulty); Faith 6 (Camp 3, Griswould, Cravens 2). Total fouls: Vincent 20, Faith 11.

Wellborn 71, Ranburne 47
RANBURNE (4-7) – Devon Chambers 0 0-0 0, Jake Burson 4 4-6 15, Asa Fordham 1 0-0 3, Jordan English 1 0-0 3, Josh Ralston 1 0-2 2, Sammy Green 0 0-0 0, Wil Rainey 3 1-2 8, Riley Smith 0 0-0 0, Zach Benefield 0 2-2 2, Ireland Morgan 1 0-0 2, Brock Young 5 2-3 12. Totals 16 9-15 47.

WELLBORN (4-4) – Mitchell Raines 3 1-2 8, Eric Johnson 0 1-4 1, Jordan Montgomery 7 8-11 23, Devin Machristie 5 2-2 14, Ked Harris 1 0-0 2, Kameron Goodwin 1 0-0 2, Pat Harris 0 0-2 2, Dennis Towns 0 0-0 0, Austin Cooper 1 0-0 2, Blake Hanson 6 4-5 19, Kelvin Evans 0 0-0 0. Totals 24 16-26 71.

Ranburne 12 9 14 12 — 47
Wellborn 18 25 20 8 — 71

3-point goals: Ranburne 6 (Burson 3, Fordham, English, Rainey); Wellborn 7 (Raines, Montgomery, Machristie 2, Hanson 3). Technical fouls: Montgomery. Total fouls: Ranburne 16, Wellborn 17. Officials: Hollingsworth, Kiunte, Pratt.

Cleburne County 46, Munford 43
MUNFORD – Kedrick Brown 1 0-0 2, Braxton Swinford 0 0-0 0, Nicolas Hudgins 0 0-0 0, LaRaie Ball 3 2-2 8, Nicholas Patton 0 0-0 0, Justin Sistrunk 8 7-12 23, Tanner Reeves 0 0-0 0, Mahijah Smith 3 0-0 9, Mikah Mitchell 0 1-2 1, Jaylen Best 0 0-0 0, Kyndarius Parker 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 10-16 43.

CLEBURNE COUNTY – Brock Swafford 0 0-0 0, Stashun Henson 2 3-4 8, Josh Brown 3 0-1 7, Landon Embry 3 0-0 6, John Robinson 0 2-2 2, Caleb Brown 2 0-0 4, Bubba Brown 3 0-0 7, Win Morrow 0 0-0 0, Avery Gentry 5 1-1 11, Chad Brown 0 1-2 1. Totals 18 7-10 46.

Munford 8 9 13 13 — 43
Cleburne County 7 19 16 4 — 46

3-point goals: Munford 3 (Smith 3); Cleburne County 3 (Henson, J. Brown, B. Brown). Total fouls: Munford 13, Cleburne County 15. Officials: Miller, Chambers, Oliver.

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