Stops get her going
- Updated: November 24, 2017
Williams’ defense helps Jacksonville girls win their Thanksgiving Classic, Munford edges Sacred Heart in consy
Friday’s results
Girls games
Jacksonville 47, Holly Pond 38
Munford 52, Sacred Heart 50
Piedmont 39, Crossville 38
J.B. Pennington 47, Wellborn 39
Boys game
Holiday Hoopsgiving, Atlanta
Miller School (Va.) 61, Sacred Heart 53
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
JACKSONVILLE — It’s real easy to see the points in the box score, but the thing that really got Jacksonville girls coach Tres Buzan excited Friday afternoon was Kyra Williams’ steals line.
Williams, a senior point guard who still might not be on anyone’s recruiting radar yet, had 12 steals to go along with 21 points as the Lady Golden Eagles beat Holly Pond 47-38 to win their own Thanksgiving Classic.
She had six steals in the Lady Golden Eagles’ tournament-opening win over Munford. The Lady Lions edged Sacred Heart 52-50 in the consolation game.
“Kyra is the kind of player who can score whenever she wants,” Buzan said. “And a lot of times when you have a scorer like that they think the defensive end is just time to take off. She has never had that in her. She works super hard on defense.
“We count on her to kind of set the tone on defense, along with some other seniors. Our defense, especially early in the season, drives our offense. It’s a work in progress, but she’s definitely the example we want on defense.”
The Lady Golden Eagles (2-0) scored 15 points off the 36 Holly Pond turnovers they forced. They forced 67 turnovers in the two games of the tournament.
Williams is really good at reading and anticipating an opponent’s move and was particular active in the fourth quarter Friday to help Jacksonville extended its lead.
She scored 11 of her team’s 17 points in the quarter before retiring with 1:21 to play after landing hard in her right hip. In one exchange early in the quarter she made a free throw to extend the lead to 33-27, then converted her steals into fast-break layups on the next two trips down the floor.
“I love playing defense,” Williams said, “because defense wins games. The first half I felt like we were playing slow, so the second half I made sure we picked it up. It was a tight game so I was just trying to do anything I could to help the team and get a bigger lead.”
Munford 52, Sacred Heart 50: The Lady Cardinals (2-3) came from seven down at the start the fourth quarter of the consolation game and got as close as one, but could never get the crucial basket down the stretch.
Myiah Harris’ 3-pointer with 1:12 left made it a 50-49 game. The Lady Cardinals had four shots in the final minute to tie it or grab the lead, but couldn’t get it.
Harris did get a rolling pass into Ayanna Foster underneath with two seconds left for the potential go-ahead basket, but the Lady Lions tied up the ball and had the possession arrow. Tatanna Johnson then made the first of two free throws with one second left for the final score.
On the prior three possessions Foster couldn’t get a go-ahead putback up, Alexis McKenzie blocked a potential Foster game-tying shot and Foster made one of two free throws in a game-tying situation.
“We’re just trying to create a very competitive environment amongst our basketball team,” Lady Cardinals coach Marcus Harrell said. “We’re trying to compete, we’re trying to be physical, and I saw that today.
“We’re short handed, but, man, we fought with only six players.we had every opportunity to do it, it just didn’t fall for us. I liked the way we responded today after a tough loss a couple days ago (Wednesday to Holly Pond) when we didn’t play our best game, but today we came out to fight and I love it.”
With the limited personnel, the Lady Cardinals couldn’t play their style early for fear of wearing down and couldn’t risk foul trouble. When they finally got the freedom to play their way in the fourth quarter, they got back into the game.
Foster led the Lady Cardinals with 24 points; she has had 24 or more in three of her first four games this season. Harris had 17 points, including four 3-pointers.
McKenzie led Munford (1-2) with 22 points. Johnson had 18.
BOYS GAME
Miller School (Va.) 61, Sacred Heart 53: Murdock Simmons scored 23 points and Victor Wilson had 15 on five 3-pointers for Sacred Heart in their Holiday Hoopsgiving opener in Atlanta. DaeDae Heard scored 28 for Miller School, including all eight of his free throws, and grabbed eight rebounds.
The Cardinals play Greenforest (Ga.) Saturday. Greenforest lost to St. Pius X (Ga.), 73-52, shooting 26 percent from the field. Jaylyn Clark was its only scorer in double figures, hitting for 23 points with five 3-pointers.
FRIDAY’S BOX SCORES
GIRLS GAMES
Jacksonville Thanksgiving Classic
Championship game
Jacksonville 47, Holly Pond 38
HOLLY POND (1-3) – Maddie Heatherly 3-8 4-7 10, Lili Harris 3-8 2-5 9, Elizabeth Miller 3-3 0-2 6, Presley Marks 2-7 2-5 6, Tess Duke 2-4 0-2 4, Makenna Folds 0-1 2-2 2, Kirsten Campbell 0-1 1-2 1, Kara Hollis 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 13-34 11-25 38.
JACKSONVILLE (2-0) – Kyra Williams 9-20 2-7 21, Essence Hutchinson 3-8 2-5 9, Elizabeth Poe 3-10 0-1 6, Patience Carr 1-6 0-0 2, Maddie Hall 1-1 0-0 2, TiAsia Williams 1-3 0-0 2, Malijah Goggins 0-0 2-2 2, Brenna Stone 0-2 2-2 2, Aniya Jefferson 0-1 1-2 1. Totals 18-51 9-19 47.
Holly Pond 13 8 4 12 — 38
Jacksonville 11 10 9 17 — 47
3-point goals: Holly Pond 1-12 (Harris 1-5, Marks 0-3, Duke 0-1, Campbell 0-1, Hollis 0-2); Jacksonville 2-9 (Williams 1-6, Hutchinson 1-2, Carr 0-1). Rebounds: Holly Pond 37 (Heatherly 11); Jacksonville 35 (Poe 11). Total fouls: Holly Pond 17, Jacksonville 19. Officials: Warren, Douthitt, Wright.
Consolation game
Munford 52, Sacred Heart 50
MUNFORD (1-2) – Tatanna Johnson 8 2-7 18, Kamara Sudduth 0 0-1 0, Kennedy Reeves 3 0-0 7, Justine Calhoun 1 0-2 2, Alexis McKenzie 10 2-6 22, Jameyla Caldwell 0 3-6 3, Cheyenne Batey 0 0-0 0, Tiara Johnson 0 0-0 0. Totals 22 7-22 52.
SACRED HEART (2-3) – Myiah Harris 6 1-2 17, Ayanna Foster 8 8-11 24, Tasin Senusi 0 0-0 0, Jacque Beyerle 0 0-0 0, Alyssa Bell 3 0-0 8, Joelle Tillery 0 1-5 1. Totals 17 10-18 50.
Munford 12 12 16 12 — 52
Sacred Heart 15 11 7 17 — 50
3-point goals: Munford 1 (Reeves); Sacred Heart 6 (Harris 4, Bell 2). Fouled out: Calhoun. Total fouls: Munford 17, Sacred Heart 14. Officials: Douthitt, Hughes, Whiteside.
Crossville Hardwood Invitational
J.B. Pennington 47, Wellborn 39
WELLBORN – Taliyah Kirby 1 0-0 2, Vanessa Carter 5 3-3 14, Anaya Lowe 1 0-2 2, Itiania Weatherly 6 1-6 13, McKenzie Raines 1 0-0 2, Katessa Carter 1 0-4 2, Markeisha Jones 2 0-0 4. Totals 17 4-15 39.
JB PENNINGTON – Lessie Allison 2 0-0 4, Heather Wood 2 0-0 4, MaKayla Head 1 1-2 3, Holli Benefield 1 1-2 3, Madison Lipscomb 8 7-8 23, Samantha Oritz 1 6-6 8, Jenna Ogle 1 0-2 2. Totals 16 15-20 47.
Wellborn 7 10 12 10 — 39
JB Pennington 16 11 8 12 — 47
3-point goals: Wellborn 1 (V. Carter). Fouled out: Jones. Total fouls: Wellborn 18, J.B. Pennington 11. Notes: J.B. Pennington was 10-of-12 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter; Ortiz was 6-for-6.
BOYS GAME
Holiday Hoopsgiving, Atlanta
Miller School (Va.) 61, Sacred Heart 53
SACRED HEART – Quin Riggins 1-8 0-0 2, Victor Wilson 5-8 0-0 15, Murdock Simmons 11-19 1-3 23, Stephen Stansil 1-1 0-0 3, Khalil Watkins 2-8 0-0 4, Jack Miller 0-1 0-0 0, Caleb Brown 1-5 2-2 4, Joshua Brown 1-3 0-0 2, JonRiley Miller 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-53 3-5 53.
MILLER SCHOOL – Dae Dae Heard 10-15 8-8 28, Jaylin Reed 1-8 0-0 2, Aundre Hyatt 5-10 3-6 15, Tariq Balogun 1-1 0-2 2, Deshaun Wade 4-7 0-1 9, Brent Rice 1-4 0-0 3, Jordan Brown 0-0 2-3 2, Ethan Rohan 0-1 0-0 0, Teemu Tumanoff 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 22-50 13-20 61.
Sacred Heart 9 19 7 18 — 53
Miller School 15 16 15 15 — 61
3-point goals: Sacred Heart 6-18 (Riggins 0-2, Wilson 5-7, Simmons 0-4, Stansil 1-1, Watkins 0-2, C. Brown 0-2); Miller School 4-20 (Heard 0-2, Reed 0-3, Hyatt 2-7, Wade 1-3, Rice 1-3, Tumanoff 0-2). Rebounds: Sacred Heart (Simmons 8); Miller School 38 (Heard 8, Balogun 8). Total fouls: Sacred Heart 18, Miller School 15.
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