Fred led the red
- Updated: February 3, 2017
Boys roundup: Point guard Dickerson makes the plays that make Talladega go; Ohatchee falls, Tucker denied milestone on Senior Night; and more
Junior point guard Fred Dickerson is the man who makes Talladega go. He was active from the jump Thursday and had 12 points and 10 assists against Anniston. (Photo by B.J. Franklin/GungHo Photos)
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
As Fred Dickerson goes, so apparently go the Talladega Tigers.
Dickerson, Talladega’s junior point guard, scores, runs the floor and finds the open man and did all three pretty well Thursday night as the Tigers took down Anniston on its Senior Night, 64-48.
Dickerson scored 12 points, but he dished 10 assists and whenever he was on the floor everything ran through him. That’s just the way it’s been and will continue to be.
“Fred’s our leader on the court; I believe he had seven assists at halftime,” Tigers coach Chuck Miller said after career win No. 707. “That’s seven assists and we weren’t really hitting shots.
“Look at all the work he did to get somebody a shot. Some times that is your most important player that game, (the player) who makes the plays to the ‘guy,’ because good ballplayers are supposed to score if they’re wide open.”
That’s what Ashton Duncan did. Duncan took a hard shot to the head after a driving layup in the first quarter. It parked him on the bench to clear his head, but he came back and hit several big shots later in the game. He finished with 17 points.
“His shots come in spurts where it can be a dagger,” Miller said.
The Tigers admitted came out flat to start the game, but don’t blame Dickerson for that. He seems to have his motor going from the minute the ball goes up. He did have four points in the first quarter, but he was active whether he was scoring or not.
And it’s not just Thursday’s game. Every game he jumps out of the gate in high gear.
“That just me,” he said. “That’s just how I like to play. I’ve got to start off fast; I don’t want to get behind. I always want to be up. I try to get everybody involved in the game so we can win.”
Anniston, meanwhile, has hit a bumpy stretch since the Calhoun County Tournament as it gets used to personnel changes and continues transitioning to the style first-year coach Torry Brown really wants to play.
Only Marrio Dobbins is left from former coach Schuessler Ware’s final team; of course, there were only three holdovers when the season began.
The Bulldogs battled back from an early deficit to take the lead with four minutes left in the second quarter, but then Talladega pulled away for an eight-point halftime lead. It was an eight-point game midway through the fourth quarter before the Tigers scored 10 straight points – with five different players scoring – to leave no doubt.
“Our team has gone through some changes,” Brown said. “Roles are changing and guys are having to do some more things that are new to them. It’s one of those things when you’re comfortable you can play a little better and because were changing out some things and adding guys and things like that, guys are still a little bit uncomfortable in their role right now.”
Joetavious Embry looked comfortable. He scored 10 points in the first half and finished with a team-high 16 in the game.
“He was really active, his energy was good,” Brown said. “I thought for the first time pretty much all year he ran the floor from baseline to baseline as good as he has all year, so that was one of the good signs, because we’ve been asking him to do some of those things in terms of running the floor consistently hard on made and missed shots and he did a good job. It was good to see him play well.”
Marrio Dobbins (4) gets stripped of the basketball trying to go between Talladega twin towers Jae-Lyn Russ (42) and Robert Houston. (Photo by B.J. Franklin/GungHo Photos)
To see more B.J. Franklin photos from the Talladega-Anniston game visit www.bjfranklin.smugmug.com
Piedmont 82, Wellborn 55
PIEDMONT – Easton Kirk hit three of the Bulldogs’ 10 3-pointers in a 22-point night and Austin Brazier keyed a second-quarter rally with 10 of his 17 points. The Bulldogs outscored their visitors 44-15 in the middle two quarters.
Blake Hanson and Jordan Montgomery led Wellborn with 19 and 16 points, respectively. They combined for 15 in the first quarter and 17 in the fourth, but Montgomery had their only other three in between.
A.J. Fairs also hit three 3-pointers for the Bulldogs and Derrick Baer hit two.
St. Clair County 64, Jacksonville 59
JACKSONVILLE – Grayson Beatty hardly missed a shot in leading four scorers in double figures with 18 points and the Saints staged a huge fourth-quarter rally to beat the Golden Eagles. Beatty was 5-of-6 from the field, hit all four of his 3-point attempts and was 4-of-4 from the foul line.
Jacksonville’s Rivan Hill led all scorers with 19 points. Cade Landers had a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. The Golden Eagles led 34-24 at halftime and 45-38 going into the fourth quarter.
Coosa Christian 54, Ohatchee 42
OHATCHEE – The Conquerors came out in a zone the Indians just couldn’t get inside of and it left senior Austin Tucker two points shy of 1,000 in his final home game.
Ben Glass was Ohatchee’s leading scorer and only scorer in double figures with 11 points. He hit three 3-pointers in the first half. Tucker needed six points to hit the milestone, but finished with only four – all in the fourth quarter. C.J. Ray scored eight points, all in the second half.
Tucker’s next chance for 1,000 will be in next week’s area tournament.
Robert Gaines soars to the goal for a slam in Weaver’s 67-59 loss to Spring Garden Thursday night. (Photo by Daniel Lee)
THURSDAY’S BOYS BOX SCORES
Talladega 64, Anniston 48
TALLADEGA – Fred Dickerson 5 2-3 12, Chaztin Tanner 2 3-3 8, Tyrese Seales 1 0-3 2, Jarvius McKenzie 0 0-0 0, Ashton Duncan 7 1-2 17, Chrishawn Williams 2 2-4 6, TraShaundez Bolden 2 0-0 4, Robert Houston 2 0-0 4, Jae-Lyn Russ 5 1-2 11. Totals 26 9-17 64.
ANNISTON – Marrio Dobbins 5 0-0 10, Jamaree West 1 0-0 2, James Haynes 1 1-2 4, Jimmy Felton 1 0-0 2, Jaylen Jackson 0 0-0 0, Diondra Harvey 1 2-3 4, Hunter Rouse 1 1-2 3, Stedman Orr 0 0-0 0, William Fairley 1 0-0 3, Dontevious Davis 2 0-0 4, Chance Young 0 0-0 0, Joetavius Embry 8 0-2 16. Totals 21 4-9 48.
Talladega 12 20 14 18 — 64
Anniston 12 12 11 13 — 48
3-point goals: Talladega 3 (Tanner, Duncan 2); Anniston 2 (Haynes, Fairley). Fouled out: Russ. Total fouls: Talladega 9, Anniston 16. Officials: Stringer, Stringer, Robinson.
Piedmont 82, Wellborn 55
WELLBORN – Mitchell Raines 2 2-2 6, Eric Johnson 0 0-0 0, Jordan Montgomery 6 2-3 16, Devin Machristie 3 1-2 8, Ked Harris 0 0-0 0, Kam Goodwin 0 0-0 0, Dennis Towns 1 0-0 2, Blake Hanson 8 3-4 19, Brennan Crow 0 0-0 0, Kelvin Evans 2 0-0 4. Totals 22 8-11 55.
PIEDMONT – A.J. Fairs 3 0-0 9, Cardavion Myers 1 0-0 2, Taylor Hayes 2 0-0 4, Derrick Baer 2 0-0 6, Easton Kirk 8 3-3 22, Carl Myers 2 0-0 4, Lee Stanley 1 0-0 2, Shane McCord 1 0-0 3, Austin Brazier 5 7-8 17, Weston Kirk 1 0-0 3, T.J. Fairs 0 1-2 1, Kaedon Jenkins 0 2-2 2, Gage Boatner 3 1-4 7. Totals 29 14-19 82.
Wellborn 20 8 7 20 — 55
Piedmont 17 21 23 21 — 82
3-point goals: Wellborn 3 (Montgomery 2, Machristie); Piedmont 10 (A. Fairs 3, Baer 2, E. Kirk 3, McCord). Technical fouls: Hanson. Fouled out: Hanson, A. Fairs. Total fouls: Wellborn 15, Piedmont 14. Officials: Batey, Allen, Kadle.
St. Clair County 64, Jacksonville 59
ST. CLAIR COUNTY – Grayson Beatty 5-6 4-4 18, Sam Bruce 3-7 3-6 12, Michael Fisher 4-11 0-0 11, Justin May 5-9 0-2 10, Temothee Smith 3-6 1-3 7, Garrett Sanders 1-2 1-3 3, Colby Smith 1-4 1-3 3, JaVarrius Johnson 0-2 0-0 0, Jalen Welch 0-0 0-0 0, Grayson Coupland 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-47 10-23 64.
JACKSONVILLE – Rivan Hill 5-10 8-10 19, Cade Landers 6-12 0-5 13, Alex Davis 5-9 1-4 11, Ron Wiggins 4-7 0-0 8, Tahj Kirkland 0-2 5-6 5, Alex Gilbert 1-1 0-0 2, Hunter Vinson 0-0 1-2 1, DeAndre McCain 0-2 0-0 0, Jay Davis 0-0 0-0 0, K.J. Satcher 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-43 15-27 59.
St. Clair County 12 12 14 26 — 64
Jacksonville 15 19 11 14 — 59
3-point goals: St. Clair County 10-22 (Beatty 4-4, Bruce 3-7, Fisher 3-7, May 0-1, T. Smith 0-1, C. Smith 0-1, Johnson 0-1); Jacksonville 2-8 (Hill 1-5, Landers 1-1, Kirkland 0-1, McCain 0-1). Rebounds: St. Clair County 31 (T. Smith 12); Jacksonville 34 (Landers 10, A. Davis 7). Total fouls: St. Clair County 18, Jacksonville 17.
Coosa Christian 54, Ohatchee 42
COOSA CHRISTIAN – Caleb Garrett 2 3 6 9, Ethan Wells 0 0-0 0, Alex Holman 2 0-0 4, Caleb Sanderson 0 2-4 2, Evan Delp 3 0-2 6, James Mills 3 2-4 19, Kyle Cunningham 0 0-0 0, Juston Waits 0 0-0 0, Caden Davidson 9 3-4 23, Jackson Justus 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 10-20 55.
OHATCHEE – Andrew Roberts 0 0-0 0, Ben Glass 4 0-3 11, Carson Stone 1 0-2 2, Grayson Alward 2 0-0 4, Domonique Thomas 1 1-3 3, Kevin Williamson 2 0-0 6, Brennan Wink 0 0-1 0, Austin Tucker 1 2-2 4, Bayley Tillison 1 2-3 4, C.J. Ray 4 0-1 8. Totals 16 5-14 42.
Coosa Christian 7 15 16 16 — 54
Ohatchee 8 9 12 13 — 42
3-point goals: Coosa 6 (Garrett 2, Mills 2, Davidson 2); Ohatchee 5 (Glass 3, Williamson 2). Fouled out: Ray, Tucker. Total fouls: Coosa 16; Ohatchee 17. Officials: Aaron Kelley, George Strott, Eric Ratliff.
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