Bearcats rest easier

By EASportsToday.com
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Updated: January 3, 2017

UPDATED SCORES
Boys basketball roundup: Weaver clinches its area in convincing fashion; Sacred Heart routs Donoho, Alexandria not fooled again, Jacksonville falls

Shamar Spinks (23) had a career game for Weaver, scoring 24 points in the Bearcats’ rout of Wellborn. On the cover, London Knight puts up a shot against the defense of Kelvin Evans. (All photos by B.J. Franklin/GungHo Photos)

Tuesday’s scores
Alexandria 60, Boaz 42
Cleburne County 54, Munford 39
Coosa Christian 58, Faith Christian 47
Oxford 90, Fort Payne 65
Sacred Heart 113, Donoho 44
St. Clair County 60, Jacksonville 57 (OT)
Weaver 93, Wellborn 64

By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today

WEAVER – The Weaver boys clinched the right to host their area tournament next month and earned a free ride into the subregion tournament with a convincing 93-64 victory over Wellborn Tuesday night.

And while both are major accomplishments in their own right, the aspect of the night that made Bearcats coach Daryl Hamby most happy were the things his team did to make it happen.

“That’s nice, but I really don’t think about it too much; I just worry about the game,” Hamby said of the things that came with the victory. “I’m not taking the significance away, it is big, we’re all happy about that, of course, that’s what we want to work for.

“I guess what I’m trying to say is I liked the way they played tonight. We looked like what we’re supposed to defensively. Offensively, we’ve been working a lot on that and that paid off. We’re all playing together. We’re trying to limit our mistakes. We’re finally realizing turnovers are not do-overs.”

The Bearcats were in control of this one from the jump. Maurice Goodman hit four straight 3-pointers in the first quarter to spread out the Panthers, and that opened the floor for Shamar Spinks and Paul Hubbard to drive it to the basket in the next two quarters.

They easily could have scored 100 if Hamby hadn’t pulled back on the throttle in the final two and a half minutes.

Spinks, a sophomore, scored a varsity career-high 24 points; he had 28 in a ninth-grade game against Alexandria last year. Hubbard had 16. Goodman finished with 18.

“My teammates were just passing me the ball and I was just hoping I could convert,” Spinks said.

Both Goodman and Spinks had a sense it was going to be a big night when they got shots to fall early. For Goodman, it was from behind the 3-point arc; for Spinks, it was hitting his first five free throws.

“I was feeling it,” Goodman said. “I was just throwing it up and it was going in. I’ve been feeling it lately. Coach has got faith in me.”

Blake Hanson led Wellborn with 29. The Panthers and Ohatchee will be play in the opening-round of their area tournament for the second spot in the subregional.

Maurice Goodman’s (R) four 3-pointers in the first quarter opened the floor for Weaver later in the game.

Sacred Heart 113, Donoho 44

Sacred Heart coach Ralph Graves leaped out of his chair and yelled at his players, ”Get your hands up. We want to steal the ball instead of getting a jump ball. Come on, we want the ball.”

That intensity is passed on to his two-time defending state 1A champions and it shows, regardless of the situation in the game. The episode illustrated above came with less than a minute to go in the lopsided victory.

The 14-7 Cardinals are starting to piece their season back together after the unusually harsh AHSAA suspensions of four starters (five players total) for six games during the Christmas holidays.

Let it be known the Cardinals are no worse for the wear since they’re players returned. They were 1-5 during the suspension and now 4-1 since their return with a four-game winning streak. They put on a first-half display for the ages Tuesday, scoring 43 points in the first quarter and jumping to an 80-22 halftime lead.

A remarkable full court press and half-court trap created 21 first-half turnovers that had to leave the Falcons feeling like they were in a sand storm with no escape. There were hands, flying bodies, waving arms, chest-bumping defense and an intense pace that pushed the Cardinals out to a 22-0 lead in the first 3:30 of the game.

That superb defense created offensive opportunities for eight first half 3-point baskets and ultimately a 54-9 lead early in the second quarter. The frenzied pace was so breath-taking a quiet buzz came over the gym. The Cardinals put together runs of 22, 10, 14, 10, 12 and 8 in the half.

The Falcons, meanwhile, battled hard in the game and hit six 3-pointers of their own — when they could get an open look at the basket. Eleven Falcons got on the board with Garret Steed leading their scorers with 10 points.

Diante Wood continued his strong run since returning from the suspension with 32 points and 13 rebounds. D.J. Heath and Dakota Myers had 23 apiece and Kevion Nolan had 17. Khalil Watkins was a fifth Cardinal in double figures with 11 points. — Brant Locklier

Alexandria 60, Boaz 42

The teams played for the second time in five days, and this time it was much different than the last meeting when Boaz drained 16 3-pointers to stun the Valley Cubs in the Glencoe Shoot-Out championship game.

This time, in a game that counted in the area standings, the Pirates managed only two baskets from beyond the arc and the Valley Cubs evened their area record at 1-1.

“We just played with a lot more intensity on defense and made it a little more tougher for them to get open shots,” Alexandria coach Jason Johnson said. “The kids just played with a lot more intensity on defense.

“It’s tough to shoot that high a percentage two nights in a row. Our guys just played at a different level in their intensity.”

The Valley Cubs didn’t have any trouble finding the range. They hit seven 3-pointers, with Austin Taylor hitting four – three in the third quarter — and finishing among four Valley Cubs in double figures.

Cleburne County 54, Munford 39

MUNFORD — Stashun Henson scored 22 points and Avery Gentry went for 13 as the Tigers moved back over .500 (7-6). Tanner Reeves led Munford with 14 and Micah Mitchell added 11.

TUESDAY’S BOX SCORES
Weaver 93, Wellborn 64
WELLBORN (5-6) — Chuck Taylor 0 0-0 0, Mitchell Raines 5 4-4 16, Eric Johnson 0 0-0 0, Jordan Montgomery 1 4-5 6, Devin Machristie 4 0-1 8, Ked Harris 0 2-2 2, Kam Goodwin 0 0-0 0, Pat Harris 0 0-0 0, Dennis Towns 0 1-2 1, Austin Cooper 1 0-0 2, Blake Hanson 10 7-11 29, Kelvin Evans 0 0-0 0. Totals 21 18-25 64.

WEAVER – Maurice Goodman 6 2-2 18, Landon Knight 1 2-6 4, Robert Gaines 4 2-4 10, Paul Hubbard 8 0-2 16, Chris Lemon 3 1-2 7, Dalton Hamby 2 0-2 4, R.J. Wooden 0 1-2 1, Shamar Spinks 9 6-10 24, Alardric Elston 4 1-2 9. Totals 37 15-32 93.

Wellborn 16 19 16 13 — 64
Weaver 30 28 20 15 — 93

3-point goals: Wellborn 4 (Raines 2, Hanson 2); Weaver 4 (Goodman 4). Fouled out: Montgomery. Total fouls: Wellborn 21, Weaver 20. Officials: Rusty Burroughs, Aaron Kelley, Scott Watson.

Sacred Heart 113, Donoho 44
SACRED HEART (14-7) – Diante Wood 11 10-14 32, Jaylin Croft 0 0-2 0, Murdock Simmons 1 0-0 2, D.J. Heath 7 7-11 23, Caleb Lafayette 0 0-0 0, Dakota Myers 7 8-11 23, Stephen Stancil 1 0-2 3, JonRiley Miller 0 0-0 0, Kevion Nolan 6 1-1 17, Kahlil Watkins 4 3-6 12. Totals 37 29-46 113.

DONOHO – Jason Howard 2 0-0 5, Jack Svensen 1 0-0 2, Garrett Steed 2 5-8 10, John Hutto 2 0-0 4, Jacob Lecroy 2 0-0 5, Mateen Ibrahim 1 0-0 2, Harrison Hughston 1 2-2 5, Ross Hagan 2 0-2 6, Joseph O’Neill 0 2-6 4, Saad Ibrahim 1 0-0 2, Seth Ford 0 1-2 1, Will Nelson 0 0-0 0. Totals 14 10-18 44.

Sacred Heart 43 37 26 7 — 113
Donoho 9 13 13 13 — 44

3-point goals: Sacred Heart 8 (Heath 2, Nolan 4, Stansil, Myers); Donoho 6 (Howard, Steed, Hughston, Lecroy, Hagan 2). Technical foul: Wood. Fouled out: Lecroy. Total fouls: Sacred Heart 22, Donoho 28. Officials: Holmes, Walker, Smith.

Alexandria 60, Boaz 42
BOAZ – Brody Segler 0 0-0 0, Brian Montgomery 1 0-0 3, Jacob Smith 2 2-3 6, Tyler Ray 1 0-0 2, Josh Strawn 1 1-2 3, Jace Ferguson 0 0-0 0, Ty Kirkland 9 4-6 23, Lucas Smith 0 0-0 0, Jesus Vazquez 1 0-0 2, Cade Pierce 1 1-1 3. Totals 16 8-12 42.

ALEXANDRIA – Devan Grant 0 0-0 0, Austin Taylor 4 0-0 12, Jake Weathington 3 2-2 10, Dru Davis 1 1-1 3, Dalton Dodd 5 3-6 13, Romeo Dye 2 0-0 4, Jamal Tucker 5 1-1 12, Landon Williams 3 0-0 6. Totals 23 7-10 60.

Boaz 12 13 12 5 — 42
Alexandria 19 19 16 6 — 60

3-point goals: Alexandria 7 (Taylor 4, Weathington 2, Tucker); Boaz 2 (Montgomery, Kirkland). Fouled out: Vasquez. Total fouls: Alexandria 11, St. Clair Co. Officials: Warren, Oden, Truss.

St. Clair County 60, Jacksonville 57 (OT)
JACKSONVILLE – Rivan Hill 7-11 4-5 19, Alex Davis 6-8 2-5 14, Alex Gilbert 3-11 0-0 6, Ron Wiggins 3-6 0-1 6, DeAndrea McCain 2-8 0-0 4, K.J. Satcher 2-2 0-0 4, Jay Davis 1-3 0-0 2, Hunter Vinson 1-2 0-0 2, Tahj Kirkland 0-1 0-0 0, Josh Glass 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-52 6-10 57.

ST. CLAIR COUNTY – Grayson Beatty 7-20 1-2 15, Temothee Smith 5-10 4-4 14, Michael Fisher 5-1 0-0 13, Sam Bruce 2-9 0-0 4, Jalen Welch 2-2 0-2 4, Colby Smith 2-5 0-0 4, Justin May 1-2 0-2 2, Garrett Sanders 0-2 2-2 2, JaVarrius Johnson 0-0 0-0 0, Jonah Tittle 0-0 0-0 0, Grayson Coupland 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 24-62 7-12 60.

Jacksonville 21 16 3 14 3 — 57
St. Clair Co. 16 9 19 10 6 — 60

3-point goals: Jacksonville 1-7 (Hill 1-2, Gilbert 0-1, Wiggins 0-1, McCain 0-1, J. Davis 0-1, Kirkland 0-1); St. Clair Co. 5-13 (Beatty 0-3, Fisher 3-5, Bruce 2-5). Rebounds: Jacksonville 33 (Hill 7, A. Davis 5); St. Clair Co. 40 (T. Smith 10, Bruce 7). Fouled out: A. Davis, Beatty. Total fouls: Jacksonville 15, St. Clair Co. 13. Notes: Gilbert blocked three shots, had two steals and two assists.