Coming together
- Updated: January 28, 2017
Boys roundup: After early-season growing pains, Oxford is sharpening for stretch run; Brazier a best for Piedmont, Saks bounces back
Markise Davis led four Oxford double-figure scorers with 21 points. He also grabbed eight rebounds. (Photo by B.J. Franklin/GungHo Photos)
By Brant Locklier
For East Alabama Sports Today
OXFORD – Oxford coach Joel Van Meter is liking what he’s starting to see at this most important time in the season.
“We are locking in to what we need to be doing down the stretch,” Van Meter said after his Yellow Jackets swamped No. 7 4A Cherokee County 84-47 Saturday in the Oxford Sports Arena. “I think we played pretty well.”
The Jackets, 16-7, are on the verge of climbing into the Top Ten of the 6A rankings themselves.
Growing along with their freshmen and sophomores in the early part of the season, the Jackets have since seen senior Jakolbe McClendon return to the line-up and the team is beginning to come together.
They have lost five games by less than four points and are coming off a Calhoun County Championship last week. They were a tired bunch earlier in the week, but a few days off paid dividends Saturday.
“I gave them two complete days off this week,” said Van Meter. ”This time of the year it is legs and minds that give away, so some time off was good. I was very pleased with how well we were able to do what we wanted to do tonight. Cherokee County is a very good basketball team.”
The Warriors, coming off a tough area loss to White Plains the night before, welcomed a big piece of their plan for their own stretch run.
Tyren Dupree was coming off a foot injury and made his season debut Saturday. It’s a big return given the Warriors recently lost Quartez Henderson to a broken wrist.
Dupree dressed on Friday for the White Plains game, but didn’t get on the floor. He scored seven points Saturday, hitting one field goal and going 5-for-5 from the line.
Kyle Burgess led Cherokee County (15-7) with nine points, all on 3-pointers. Chris Roden added eight points.
Oxford, meanwhile, dressed eight players and all scored at least five points in the game as the Jackets exploded out to a 32-9 lead and never looked back. They buried nine 3-pointers in the game, led by 26 at halftime and 31 after three quarters.
Markise Davis led Oxford with 21 points. Eugene Leonard had 12, Calhoun County Tournament MVP freshman Zondrick Garrett and Braden Mack 11 each and Simeon Shaddrix nine. Davis and Garrett each had nine rebounds.
The Yellow Jackets will host Pell City Monday night. A win will force a coin flip with Southside to determine who will host the Class 6A Area 13 tournament and get a pass into the subregion tournament.
Tyren Dupree (L) made his season debut for Cherokee County Saturday after suffering a foot injury in football. Teammate Zae Wright and Oxford’s Markise Davis (R) are all focused on the rim. (Photo by B.J. Franklin/GungHo Photos)
Saks 61, Cleburne County 48
The Wildcats bounced back from a tough loss the night before at Handley that threw their area race into a three-way tie calling for a coin flip Monday.
They trailed 15-14 in the first quarter despite eight points from Tray Huguley, but then steadily pulled away. DeVaunghn Beason hit two of his four 3-pointers in the second quarter as the Wildcats opened a 27-20 lead and finished with 24 points. Darien Briskey scored 10 of his 12 points in the second half.
Piedmont 61, Hokes Bluff 43
PIEDMONT — No one should be worried whether Austin Brazier has made the transition to basketball from a state championship football season.
The senior post has been downright exceptional in the Bulldogs’ current run that has gotten them back to .500 for the season.
Tommy Lewis’ team has won eight of its last 10 games to get to 12-12 for the season, and Brazier’s ability to get to the basket has been a big part of it. Brazier has averaged 15 points in those 10 games, but he’d been nothing but awesome in their five games this week.
Brazier has averaged 19.4 in those five games (4-1) – and that was dulled by a four-point night against Saks. In the three games since that anomaly, he scored 18 against Jacksonville, 29 against Weaver and 24 against Hokes Bluff.
It took him a little while to get started Saturday. He scored only two points in the first quarter as the Bulldogs trailed 17-5, but he had nine in a 24-point second quarter that earned them a 29-24 halftime lead and nine more in the third when they pulled away.
The Bulldogs never let Hokes Bluff mount any kind of comeback in the fourth quarter, hitting 10 of 11 free throws.
Austin Brazier (22) has been an absolute beast for Piedmont this past week. He has averaged 19.4 points in the Bulldogs’ five games this week, 15 over their last 10.
SATURDAY’S BOYS BOX SCORES
Oxford 84, Cherokee County 47
CHEROKEE COUNTY (15-7) – Zae Wright 0 0-0 0, Jacob Graves 1 0-0 3, Cade Gossett 0 0-0 0, Chris Roden 4 0-0 8, Josh Dobbs 0 0-0 0, Kyle Burgess 3 0-0 9, Colin Edwards 1 0-0 2, Ivory Moore 2 2-4 6, Tyren Dupree 1 5-5 7, Jy Lockridge 2 0-0 5, Riley Russell 0 2-2 2, William Hawkins 2 1-4 5. Totals 16 10-15 47.
OXFORD (16-7) – Markise Davis 7 5-7 21, Jakolbe McClendon 2 0-0 5, Simeon Shadrix 3 0-0 9, Kendrick Foster 2 0-0 7, Eugene Leonard 5 0-0 12, Zondrick Garrett 3 5-6 11, Braden Mack 5 1-1 11, Ty Davis 4 0-0 8. Totals 32 11-14 84.
Cherokee County 9 12 17 9 — 47
Oxford 25 22 22 15 — 84
3-point goals: Cherokee County 5 (Graves, Burgess 3, Lockridge); Oxford 9 (M. Davis 2, McClendon, Shadrix 3, Foster, Leonard 2).
Saks 61, Cleburne County 48
CLEBURNE COUNTY – Stashun Henson 3 3-8 10, Brock Swafford 2 2-2 6, Josh Brown 4 0-0 12, Chad Brown 2 1-2 5, Caleb Brown 1 1-2 3, Isavia Brown 1 0-0 3, A.J. Brown 0 0-2 0, Avery Gentry 2 5-6 9, John Robinson 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 12-22 48
SAKS – Darien Briskey 3 6-8 12, DeVaunghn Beason 5 10-12 24, LaDerrick Bell 0 0-0 0, Alfonza Ward 2 3-4 7, Tray Huguley 6 2-2 14, Jamal Stone 0 2-2 2, Brent Clark 0 0-0 0, Jaylen Young 0 2-2 2, Jalen Borders 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 25-30 61.
Cleburne Co. 15 5 9 19 — 48
Saks 14 13 10 24 — 61
3-point goals: Cleburne Co. 6 (Henson, I. Brown 4, B. Brown); Saks 4 (Beason 4). Fouled out: Gentry, Robinson. Total fouls: Cleburne Co. 24, Saks 16. Officials: Askew, Stringer, Morris.
Piedmont 61, Hokes Bluff 43
HOKES BLUFF – Fisher Simmons 0 0-1 0, Allen Gossett 0 0-0 0, Riley Payton 0 0-0 0, Jeremy Black 0 1-2 1, Jace Stewart 1 2-2 5, Alex Cashman 1 1-4 3, Robert Greaves 2 2-2 8, Peyton Moore 1 0-0 3, Andrew Harp 0 0-0 0, Gulledge 1 0-0 2, Adam Patterson 2 0-0 4, Brayden Hill 2 0-0 6, Hayden Lipscomb 5 1-5 11. Totals 15 7-16 43.
PIEDMONT (12-12) – A.J. Fairs 2 1-1 5, Cardavion Myers 3 1-3 10, Taylor Hayes 1 3-4 5, Derrick Baer 1 0-0 2, Easton Kirk 2 2-3 7, Carl Myers 0 2-2 2, Lee Stanley 0 2-2 2, Shane McCord 0 0-0 0, Austin Brazier 8 6-11 24, Weston Kirk 0 3-4 3, T.J. Fairs 1 0-0 3, Kaedon Jenkins 0 0-0 0, Gage Boatner 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 20-30 61.
Hokes Bluff 17 7 8 11 — 43
Piedmont 5 24 15 17 — 61
3-point goals: Hokes Bluff 6 (Stewart, Greaves 2, Moore, Hill 2); Piedmont 5 (Cd. Myers, E. Kirk, Brazier 2, T. Fairs). Total fouls: Hokes Bluff 22, Piedmont 17. Officials: Miller, Killingsworth, Strott.
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