Another step

By EASportsToday.com
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Updated: February 21, 2017

Despite lop-sided loss, trip to the regionals means progress for Wellborn’s girls team, provides motivation going forward

Pisgah leading scorer Annie Hughes (10) pulls up for a jumper between Wellborn’s Itiania Weatherly (15) and Markeisha Jones. (All photos by B.J. Franklin/GungHo Photos)

By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today

JACKSONVILLE – The Wellborn girls basketball team has wanted to get back to Jacksonville State to make amends for the way it finished in the Calhoun County Tournament finals, but Pisgah wouldn’t give it the satisfaction.

The Lady Panthers returned to the big stage Monday night all right, but Pisgah jumped on them early and stayed on them, rolling to an easy 69-27 victory in the girls Class 3A Northeast Regional at Pete Mathews Coliseum.

The only thing that made this one different than the county tournament final against Anniston was the Lady Panthers scored in the second half.

Pisgah coach Carey Ellison said everything his team had planned on doing in practice for this game “we did pretty well.” The Lady Eagles got out on the run “a little easier” than usual, bolted to a 17-2 lead and led 22-6 after the first quarter. It was 39-15 at halftime.

The Lady Panthers just got too far behind too quickly and couldn’t catch up.

“We didn’t come out with the energy we needed to come out with and that hurt us greatly,” Wellborn coach Shanese Morgan said. “And we just had a bad shooting night overall.”

That’s for sure. The Lady Panthers (20-11) hit only eight of 56 shots from the field (14.3 percent) and were just one for 21 from 3-point range. Vanessa Carter, with 16 points and 12 rebounds, was their only scorer in double figures.

Despite the margin of Monday’s result, the fact the Lady Panthers were here at all represents progress for a team Morgan said “a couple years ago wasn’t even thought of as competing in basketball and now (is) a team that can compete.”

They were held scoreless in the second half of the county tournament finals on this very floor, but with the goal from that point being a return to JSU, they won their area tournament and their sub-region game — two things they didn’t do a year ago.

“My team is still very young,” Morgan said. “We’ve had some big moments, like the Calhoun County championship. This is a big moment for us and I think this is going to be a learning tool for us for next year to understand as an older and experience team the type hustle, energy and effort they’re going to have to put in to make it where we want to go, and that’s being state champions.

“Even though we lost, it’s going to give great motivation coming in for next season.”

Pisgah simply had too much for the Lady Panthers. Annie Hughes drove through the seams in Wellborn’s zone and scored a game-high 30 points; she had 22 in the first half. When the Lady Eagles weren’t driving, they were pulling up for corner 3s.

“We came out in first half slow,” Carter said. “We weren’t acting like we wanted to win and we should’ve come out with effort, came out and hit them on the head, but just didn’t do it.”

The win sends Pisgah into the regional finals to play undefeated Plainview, a team it has lost to four times this season despite having it on the ropes in three of the games.

“I think both of us expected to be playing Thursday from Day One,” Ellison said. “They had the best of us for four games. We’ve had them on the ropes three times and just wasn’t able to close. Perhaps this time we’re able to close the deal. We ought to be loose. We have nothing to lose. If they beat us a fifth time they deserve it.”

Wellborn’s Vanessa Carter (3) puts up a shot over the defense of Pisgah’s Savannah Mason.

CLASS 3A GIRLS BOX SCORES
Pisgah 69, Wellborn 27
PISGAH (25-7) – Savannah Mason 1-3 0-0 2, Shelby Lacy 2-9 0-0 6, Annie Hughes 12-20 3-5 30, Presley Higdon 2-7 1-1 5, Chloe Womack 7-11 0-0 14, Madison Myers 1-5 0-0 3, Kaylee Vaught 0-0 0-0 0, Abbey Womack 2-5 0-0 4, Bailey Law 0-2 0-0 0, Layla Hatfield 0-3 1-2 1, Rhyli Arnold 0-2 0-0 0, Brooke Frost 2-2 0-0 4, Shalyn Smith 0-1 0-0 0, Alanna Paschal 0-2 0-0 0, Whitney Hullander 0-0 0-2 0. Totals 29-72 5-10 69.

WELLBORN (20-11) – Vanessa Carter 5-19 6-10 16, Katessa Carter 2-13 1-5 6, Itiania Weatherly 0-7 2-6 2, Aliyah Thrasher 0-10 0-0 0, Markeisha Jones 1-3 0-0 2, Taliyah Kirby 0-2 1-2 1, Loni Welch 0-0 0-0 0, McKenzie Raines 0-1 0-0 0, Amaya Myles 0-1 0-0 0, DaNasia Ackles 0-0 0-0 0, Jayla Lowe 0-0 0-0 0, Rebecca Salter 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 8-56 10-23 27.

Pisgah 22 17 21 9 — 69
Wellborn 6 9 6 6 — 27

3-point goals: Pisgah 6-18 (Lacy 2-7, Hughes 3-4, Higdon 0-2, Myers 1-1, A. Womack 0-1, Hatfield 0-1, Arnold 0-1, Paschal 0-1); Wellborn 1-21 (V. Carter 0-8, K. Carter 1-5, Weatherly 0-1, Thrasher 0-5, Kirby 0-2). Rebouns: Pisgah 58 (C. Womack 10, Hughes 9, Mason 8); Wellborn 43 (V. Carter 12, Weatherly 8). Total fouls: Pisgah 18, Wellborn 9. Officials: Louie Stoudmire, Wesley Brackett, Sonja Hard.

Plainview 57, Glencoe 50
PLAINVIEW (33-0) – Anabelle Brown 4-15 2-3 10, Katherine Thompson 7-17 4-6 21, Tobi Trotter 1-4 1-2 3, Olivia Graham 3-12 8-11 14, Jacey Bell 3-9 1-3 9, Bailee Smith 0-0 0-0 0, Ali Clark 0-5 0-0 0, Jayden Henderson 0-2 0-2 0, Catherine Jenkins 0-0 0-0 0, Avery Prince 0-0 0-0 0, Payton Blevins 0-0 0-0 0, Jenna Mayes 0-0 0-0 0, Lacee Kirk 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-64 16-27 57.

GLENCOE (17-14) – Anna Beth Giles 4-7 1-3 9, Ashley Morgan 7-12 1-3 15, Kenleigh Harper 3-4 0-1 7, Lauren Cole 2-5 0-0 4, Breia Little 2-8 0-0 5, Anna Gravce Goodwin 0-4 0-0 0, Abby Vice 1-1 1-2 4, Crimson Silvery 0-0 0-0 0, Lexi Gray 0-0 0-0 0, Kaylie Davis 0-0 0-0 0, Lauren Moore 1-1 1-1 3, Aubrey Gray 0-0 0-2 0, Skylar Thompson 0-0 0-0 0, Cami Zahorscak 1-2 0-0 3, Totals 21-44 4-12 50.

Plainview 8 19 19 11 — 57
Glencoe 14 13 8 15 — 50

3-point goals: Plainview 5-19 (Brown 0-1, Thompson 3-8, Trotter 0-1, Graham 0-1, Bell 2-4, Clark 0-4); Glencoe 4-11 (Harper 1-1, Cole 0-1, Little 1-4, Goodwin 0-2, Vice 1-1, Zahorscak 1-2). Rebounds: Plainview 41 (Thompson 9, Trotter 7, Graham 7); Glencoe 43 (Morgan 17). Fouled out: Giles, Morgan, Vice. Total fouls: Plainview 18, Glencoe 23. Officials: Jason Jones, Shane Corbitt, Sonja Hard.