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The beat goes on

Weaver’s Cortez back on the basketball floor after marching with the county band in Chicago, sparks Lady Bearcats to their first victory

CHAMPIONS GIRLS THANKSGIVING CLASSIC
Monday’s results
Weaver 45, Saks 42
Ohatchee 36, Lincoln 24
Collinsville 52, Pleasant Valley 27
Hokes Buff 51, Cleburne County 22
Spring Garden 62, Ashville 23
Alexandria 43, White Plains 28

Tuesday’s games
Saks vs. Lincoln, noon
Weaver vs. Ohatchee, 1:30 p.m.
Pleasant Valley vs. Cleburne County, 3 p.m.
Ashville vs. White Plains, 4:30 p.m.
Collinsville vs. Hokes Bluff, 6 p.m.
Spring Garden vs. Alexandria, 7:30 p.m.

By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today

The Weaver girls basketball team had its floor general back Monday and the Lady Bearcats were better for it, and they’ll be a lot better once she gets her legs back under her.

Caleigh Cortez, the guard through whom most of her team’s offense runs, missed the Lady Bearcats’ season-opener Saturday — and the Weaver football team’s playoff loss the night before — because she was marching with a Calhoun County Schools all-star band in the Mag Mile Christmas Parade in Chicago.

But she returned to the floor Monday and led Weaver to its first victory of the season.

Cortez is not just another player in the band. She’s the drum major and, much like she does on the basketball court, keeps the beat going.

Weaver junior guard Caleigh Cortez wears one of the souvenirs from her band trip to Chicago after the Lady Bearcats’ basketball victory Monday.

Back on the floor less than 12 hours after getting home from the parade, she was admittedly and understandably rusty with only three partial days of practice, but the junior’s presence on the floor helped the Lady Bearcats beat Saks 45-42 in the Champions Girls Thanksgiving Classic.

Cortez scored only eight points, which likely will be her season low, but she grabbed 11 rebounds and had four steals and an assist.

“What I saw out there today was a winner who was a little rusty and she knows it,” Weaver coach Gary Atchley said. “She’s a floor general of what we try to do and she gives every girl in that locker room a feeling of the chance that we’re going to win when she’s back. She controls the floor. We fit better tonight.”

Cortez has long been interested in band; she played the trumpet in seventh grade. Last year she tried out to be Weaver’s drum major for the first time and lost the spot to a senior, but “fell in love like in a way I’ve never fell in love with band before.”

This year, the spot was hers and she has led the band at halftime of every football game this fall, except this past week, of course, when she was in Chicago. The Weaver group was getting reports from the game throughout the night and actually got to see the start and finish of it on the bus via the webcast.

There wasn’t much drum majoring to be done while the band marched in the Windy City, so she held a flag – all the time thinking about the game being played back home.

“I talked about it a lot; they probably got a little annoyed about it,” she said. “I actually called Mariah (Thompson) after the parade and we talked a good 30 minutes about the game.”

She couldn’t wait to get back on the floor with her teammates Saturday, but it took a while to get up to speed. She didn’t score her first basket of the season until a fast-break layup midway through the second quarter. She made back-to-back baskets to start a run midway through the third quarter that produced the Lady Bearcats’ biggest lead of the game, hit two free throws with 2:26 to play that broke a 38-all tie and gave her team the lead for good.

“It was weird at first,” she said. “I wasn’t there all the way and then I started getting myself back together. I was like this is basketball, band season’s over, time to get my head back into a basketball state of mind.”

Ohatchee 36, Lincoln 24: Kourtney Shuler, the team’s only senior, hit four 3-pointers and finished with a game-high 16 points. On a team that counts four eighth-graders and a seventh-grader among its regulars, it was just what the doctor ordered.

“That’s two games in a row now she’s shot the ball well,” Lady Indians coach Bryant Ginn said. “Her confidence is up and she’s playing at a high level. She’s being a senior leader for us and that’s huge. We’ve got to have that on a young team like we’ve got.”

MONDAY’S BOX SCORES
CHAMPIONS GIRLS THANKSGIVING CLASSIC
Weaver 45, Saks 42
SAKS (0-2) – Amya Carlise 1 4-5 6, Takeidra Borden 0 0-2 0, Teana Edwards 3 0-0 6, Deja Almon 1 0-0 3, Jortaysia West 3 0-1 7, Miracle Dennard 3 0-0 8, Christi Gooden 1 0-0 2, DeArian Stewart 1 0-0 3, Alexis Petty 0 0-0 0, Miracle Bass 3 0-0 7, Destini Elston 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 4-8 42.

WEAVER (1-1) – Caleigh Cortez 3 2-5 8, Kylee Jordan 0 0-0 0, Rayne Beck 4 3-7 11, Emily Reed 2 0-0 4, Amira Carter 3 2-2 8, Mariah Thompson 1 4-8 6, Abby Gaines 3 2-2 8. Totals 16 13-24 45.

Saks 5 16 8 13 — 42
Weaver 7 12 17 9 — 45

3-point goals: Saks 6 (Almon, West, Dennard 2, Stewart, Bass). Technical fouls: Carlise. Fouled out: Carlise. Total fouls: Saks 21, Weaver 11. Officials: David Robinson, Lewis Roberts, Roger Lemon.

Ohatchee 36, Lincoln 24
OHATCHEE (1-1) – Jazmine Adams 0 0-0 0, Rachel Dunaway 0 0-0 0, Tori Vice 5 0-0 11, Kourtney Shuler 5 2-6 16, Marli Hanks 2 0-0 4, Gracie George 2 0-1 4, Regan Snow 0 1-2 1. Totals 14 3-9 36.

LINCOLN (0-3) – Bailey Gaines 0 0-2 0, Kaziyah Gaston 0 1-3 1, Jayla Morris 1 0-0 2, Genesis McClellan 0 0-0 0, Hannah Carmichael 5 4-6 14, Taylor Conway 3 1-2 7. Totals 9 6-13 24.

Ohatchee 7 9 10 10 — 36
Lincoln 6 5 6 7 — 24

3-point goals: Ohatchee 5 (Shuler 4, Vice). Total fouls: Ohatchee 19, Lincoln 13. Officials: David Robinson, Lewis Roberts, Roger Lemon.

Collinsville 52, Pleasant Valley 27
PLEASANT VALLEY (3-1) – Lindsey Pritchett 1 0-0 3, Mac Parris 3 0-0 8, Rylee Haynes 1 0-3 2, Alissa Cash 0 1-2 1, Bailey Dollar 0 0-0 0, Emma Dollar 0 0-0 0, Chandler Dorsett 1 0-0 2, Emma Hood 3 1-2 7, Karmyn Sparks 1 0-0 2, Brooke Perry 1 0-0 2. Totals 11 2-7 27.

COLLINSVILLE (3-0) – Kayla Beene 2 0-0 6, Maggie McKinney 1 0-0 2, Caroline Brannon 2 0-0 4, Hadley Hamilton 0 0-0 0, Hannah Glenn 1 0-0 2, Brittany Rivera 8 3-6 19, Trinity Garner 3 0-0 8, Kallie Kilgro 3 0-0 7, Brittany Aul 1 0-0 2, Cadence Amison 1 0-0 2. Totals 22 3-6 52.

Pleasant Valley 3 10 12 2 — 27
Collinsville 20 9 7 16 — 52

3-point goals: PV (Pritchett, Parris 2); Collinsville 5 (Beene 2, Garner 2, Kilgro). Total fouls: PV 6, Collinsville 11. Officials: Smith, Baker, Douthitt.

Hokes Buff 51, Cleburne County 22
CLEBURNE COUNTY – Alisia Person 1 0-2 3, Briana Roberts 0 0-0 0, Olivia McDaniel 1 0-0 2, Micha Pentacost 0 0-2 0, Brooklyn McDaniel 0 5-8 5, Haven Freeman 1 0-0 2, Alex Casey 1 2-2 4, Tatiana Ervin 0 0-0 0, Kendall Houston 3 0-0 6. Totals 7 7-14 22.

HOKES BLUFF – ReRe Payton 0 0-0 0, Kelsee Otwell 1 1-2 3, Haley Simpson 1 4-5 7, Maddy Wolfe 1 1-3 3, Amanda Noah 3 6-8 11, Kristen Shields 0 5-6 5, Margaret Wetzel 1 1-2 4, Logan Black 3 0-0 9, Jayden Presley 0 1-1 2, Madison Ingram 2 2-4 6. Totals 12 21-31 51.

Cleburne County 1 2 11 8 — 22
Hokes Bluff 13 19 14 5 — 51

3-point goals: Cleburne County 1 (Person); Hokes Bluff 6 (Simpson, Noah, Wetzel, Black 3)
Fouled out: O. McDaniel. Total fouls: Cleburne County 18, Hokes Bluff 11. Officials: Douthitt, Walker, Smith.

Spring Garden 62, Ashville 23
SPRING GARDEN – Katie Williams 0 0-0 0, Macy Reedy 5 1-2 14, Kerstin Bryant 3 2-3 10, Kristin Tierce 1 0-0 3, Payton McGinnis 2 5-7 11, Tyonna Rogers 5 7-8 17, Chloe Jarrett 1 0-0 2, Madison Jennings 1 2-2 4, Breanna Rogers 0 1-2 1. Totals 18 18-24 62.

ASHVILLE – Erika Williams 2 0-0 4, Carley Thompson 1 0-0 2, Riley Wilbanks 4 0-0 8, Francis Landaverde 1 0-0 2, Lexi Beatty 3 1-3 7, Jada Wills 0 0-2 0, Amari Bothwell 0 0-0 0. Totals 11 1-5 23.

Spring Garden 19 12 22 9 — 62
Ashville 9 6 8 0 — 23

3-point goals: Spring Garden 8 (Reedy 3, Bryant 2, Tierce, McGinnis 2). Fouled out: Wilbanks, Landverde. Total fouls: Spring Garden 9, Ashville 19. Officials: Warren, Cunningham, Walker.

Alexandria 43, White Plains 28
ALEXANDRIA – Ashley Phillips 0 0-0 0, Destiny Heathcock 3 1-3 7, KayLeigh Steen 1 2-2 3, Kaitlin Harvey 1 2-5 4, Kameron Simpson 1 0-1 3, Sarah Kilgore 2 1-2 5, Bre Bradford 4 0-0 8, Alierra Bradford 0 1-2 1, Sarah Pelham 0 0-0 0, Janizia Ross 0 0-0 0, Allison Bonds 1 0-0 3, Maggie Phillips 2 3-3 7. Totals 15 10-18 43.

WHITE PLAINS – Rian Chandler 0 1-6 1, Hanna Dyar 2 1-3 5, Callyn Martin 1 0-3 2, Jordan Sabree 2 1-2 5, Landry Bussey 0 1-5 1, Chasity Nelson 0 0-1 0, Lily Ponder 1 3-5 6, Jocelyn Harris 3 0-0 6, Angel Bozarth 1 0-0 2. Totals 10 7-25 28.

Alexandria 10 12 15 6 — 43
White Plains 7 6 9 6 — 28

3-point goals: Alexandria 3 (Steen, Simpson, Bonds); White Plains 1 (Ponder). Total fouls: Alexandria 26, White Plains 17. Officials: Baker, Robinson, Warren.

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