A tall order

With biggest lineup in school history, Alexandria opens season of high expectations with win over Ohatchee

Monday’s scores
Boys Games
Alexandria 65, Ohatchee 36
Jacksonville 76, Faith Christian 52
Ramsay 59, Oxford 50
Sacred Heart 118, JCA 46

Girls Games
Alexandria 66, Ohatchee 35
Jacksonville 62, Faith Christian 27
Sacred Heart 56, JCA 49

By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today

OHATCHEE – Jason Johnson heard the talk all summer. It got to be a running gag in the Alexandria coaches lounge on winning football Friday nights.

With the biggest lineup in school history at his disposal, his colleagues would tell him if the Valley Cubs didn’t win a state championship this year it would be a disappointing season.

It was all in good fun, of course, but there did ring an element of truth in the ribbing. The expectations are high.

To see a gallery of photos from the Alexandria-Ohatchee games, visit www.bjfranklin.smugmug.com

The Valley Cubs have an abundance of size this year the likes of which has rarely been seen on Calhoun County basketball courts. They have two 6-foot-7 starters, bring a 6-6 off the bench and have at least two other regulars pushing 6-3, Heck, there are some college teams that don’t boast that kind of length.

It’s just going to make them a tall order for anyone to handle. They put the group of the floor for the first time this season Monday and got the expected result, taking down Ohatchee, 65-36.

Dalton Dodd and Landon Williams, the two 6-7s, and 6-6 Jalen Borders combined to outscore the Indians themselves by three points. Williams, a freshman who played significant minutes last year as an eighth-grader, led all scorers with 19 points. Dodd, who signed with UAH two weeks ago, had 13 points, seven rebounds and three blocked shots before retiring with foul trouble early in the third quarter. Borders made it a trio of tall when he came over from Saks.

“It’s been exciting,” Johnson said. “Our kids are very excited about this season and that’s great; that’s what you want. The community seems to be excited. The student body’s excited. We’re excited about the opportunity, but we still have to get out there and work hard.

“The size helps. It goes back to Coach (Larry) Ginn. He always told us when I played that whoever shot the easy shots usually won the ballgames, so we tried to get the ball down there real close to the goal and when you’ve got big guys you get a lot more of those shots and you can make a lot more of those shots. I thought we got a lot more one-footers than Ohatchee did because of our size.”

The Valley Cubs attacked the rim right from the start. The first bucket they scored in the game came when Dodd dropped a ball over the Ohatchee defense into paint, where Williams was waiting and easily deposited it in the basket.

From there, they continued feeding the post and attacking the rim and soon had control of the game.

“It should be unstoppable,” Williams said. “It’s fun.”

Dodd, Williams and, later, Borders combined for all but one of Alexandria’s 15 points – the first point – in the first quarter, and all the Valley Cubs’ points in the first half except their three 3-pointers came on plays close to the basket.

There was another stretch where Dodd and Williams combined for 17 Cubs points in a 25-4 run that gave them a 22-point lead in the second quarter.

“It’s special playing with them because you’ve got so many more choices to go to in the offense,” Dodd said. “It gives me more space, really. Last year we didn’t have that and teams could play like box-and-ones on me and focus on me more, but with Landon and Jalen down there, they’re so big, teams can’t really do that any more; well, I don’t think they’ll be able to do that.

“I know we have a target on our back because we’re so big, but it’s just special to be a part of. I think we’re going to be real good this season.”

There won’t be many teams the Valley Cubs come up against that will be able to challenge their size. The best resistance the Indians could muster was a couple six-footers. The Indians had a 6-5 sophomore in street clothes who could have helped, but they aren’t expected to have Aaron Moore available until January at the earliest.

“It just allows them to do so many things,” said Ohatchee coach Bryant Ginn, who was the tallest player on his Alexandria teams of the early 2000s at 6-1. “It’s hard to throw over them. It’s hard to throw around them. I almost compare them to what Oxford was last year with all their big, long guys. They’re going to wreak havoc as long as they are.”

Jacksonville 76, Faith Christian 52: Coach Cordell Hunt welcomed the six football players on their roster back on the floor and they carried the Golden Eagles to a big victory.

Hunt typically gives his team’s football players the first week after their season off to recover. In their first basketball games of the season, Macey Carr and Ron Wiggins scored 12 points each, Alex Davis had eight, Cade Landers had six and Carter Landers had four points and seven rebounds.

The Golden Eagles really got it going in the second half, outscoring the Lions 43-27 to extend their halftime lead.

Donovan McCain led Jacksonville with 12 points and 15 rebounds. Malcolm Carlisle led Faith with 23 points and seven boards.

Ramsay 59, Oxford 50: A three-minute turnover-fueled 19-0 run proved to be Oxford’s undoing. Braden Mack had his third double-double in five games for the Yellow Jackets, scoring 17 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Eugene Leonard had 12 points and five assists. Markise Davis grabbed 11 boards.

Lady Cubs rally from slow start

The Alexandria girls team hit the intensity switch in the second quarter and pulled away from an early nine-point deficit to earn a 66-35 victory.

The Lady Cubs trailed 17-8 after the first quarter, then outscored Ohatchee 43-1 until late in the third quarter. Ohatchee’s Tori Vice converted a three-point play late in the first quarter to give her team a 17-8 lead, but the Lady Indians didn’t make another basket until Kourtney Shuler’s 3-pointer with 1:26 left in the third quarter.

Shuler’s free throw with 2:14 left in the first half was the only thing that interrupted the Lady Cubs’ run until her third-quarter 3-pointer.

“I don’t know if we thought we were just going to come in here and win or what, but I know they didn’t think that and weren’t going to give us anything and we just came out with some intensity in the second quarter,” Alexandria coach Craig Kiker said. “We weren’t real intense in the first quarter, didn’t look like we really wanted to be here.”

Kiker got the starters’ attention by pulling them en masse with 4:18 left in the first quarter down 5-1 and sitting them the rest of the period. The reserves scored six points, but behind Shuler and Vice the Lady Indians were able to build nearly a double-digit lead.

Bre Bradford, KayLeigh Steen and Destiny Heathcock sparked a run of 22 straight Lady Cubs points before Ohatchee scored again. They Lady Cubs zipped off 21 in a row before Shuler got Ohatchee back on track.

“That’s how we’re supposed to play — and they know that,” Kiker said. “Maybe we won’t come out like that (Tuesday) night.”

On the cover: Josh Tucker (32), Dalton Dodd (21) and Landon Williams (33) combined for 40 points, mostly inside, for Alexandria Monday night. (Photo by B.J. Franklin/GungHo Photos)

BOYS BOX SCORES

Alexandria 65, Ohatchee 36
ALEXANDRIA (1-0) – Joe Tucker 2 0-0 4, Adam Young 1 1-3 3, Jake Weathington 2 1-1 6, Dru Davis 0 1-2 1, Grayson Chaffin 1 0-0 2, Dalton Dodd 6 0-0 13, Romeo Dye 0 0-0 0, Jared Ponder 1 0-0 2, Kahlil Francis 0 0-0 0, Jalen Borders 2 3-4 7, Josh Tucker 3 1-2 8, Landon Williams 7 5-6 19. Totals 25 12-16 65.

OHATCHEE (0-1) – Andrew Roberts 0 1-2 1, Blake Buckelew 2 1-2 6, Ben Glass 5 4-6 16, Carson Stone 0 0-0 0, Grayson Alward 1 0-1 2, Landon Key 0 0-0 0, Kevin Williamson 1 0-0 3, Bailey Tillison 0 0-0 0, Parker Alexander 0 0-0 0, Evan Keller 1 0-0 3, Domonique Thomas 1 0-1 2, Briley Hale 1 0-0 2, Jordan Lowe 0 1-2 1. Totals 12 7-14 36.

Alexandria 15 19 15 16 — 65
Ohatchee 7 11 10 8 — 36

3-point goals: Alexandria 3 (Weathington, Dodd, Js. Tucker); Ohatchee 5 (Buckelew, Glass 2, Williamson, Keller). Total fouls: Alexandria 17, Ohatchee 17. Officials: Phillips, Chambers, Kelly.

Jacksonville 76, Faith Christian 52
FAITH CHRISTIAN – Maclcom Carlisle 7-20 6-11 23, Michael McGraw 4-14 7-9 15, Seth Cravens 2-4 2-2 8, Jacob Cleckler 1-1 1-2 3, Banks Cotton 0-0 2-2 2, Jacques Prater 0-1 1-2 1, Ben Conley 0-2 0-0 0, Dalton Rogers 0-0 0-0 0, Joshua Rutledge 0-0 0-0 0, David Thomas 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 14-42 19-28 52.

JACKSONVILLE (2-1) – Donovan McCain 6-10 0-0 12, Macey Carr 5-12 2-3 12, Ron Wiggins 5-9 0-0 12, DeDarien Savage 4-7 0-0 8, Alex Davis 4-6 0-0 8, DeAndre McCain 2-8 1-2 6, Cade Landers 3-7 0-0 6, Carter Landers 2-6 0-0 4, Alex Gilbert 2-4 0-0 4, DeMarien Stewart 2-4 0-0 4, Jacob McCarley 0-0 0-0 0, Jewels Gray 0-0 0-0 0, Jacob Tucker 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 35-72 3-5 76.

Faith Christian 10 15 11 16 — 52
Jacksonville 14 19 21 22 — 76

3-point goals: Faith Christian 5-18 (Carlisle 3-12, McGraw 0-1, Cravens 2-3, Prater 0-1, Conley 0-1); Jacksonville 3-11 (Carr 0-2, Wiggins 2-2, De. McCain 1-4, Cd. Landers 0-1, Gilbert 0-1, Stewart 0-1). Rebounds: Faith Christian 22 (Carlisle 7); Jacksonville 53 (McCain 15, Landers 7). Total fouls: Faith Christian 11, Jacksonville 24.

GIRLS BOX SCORES

Alexandria 66, Ohatchee 35
ALEXANDRIA (3-1) – Ashley Phillips 0 0-0 0, Laurie McLaughlin 0 0-0 0, Destiny Heathcock 1 3-6 5, KayLeigh Steen 3 0-0 8, Kaitlin Harvey 2 5-6 9, Kameron Simpson 2 0-0 4, Sarah Kilgore 1 1-2 3, Bre Bradford 7 3-6 17, Aleria Bradford 3 0-3 6, Sarah Pelham 1 0-0 2, Janazia Ross 0 2-2 2, Zoe Biggs 0 0-0 0, Allison Bonds 1 0-0 3, Maggie Phillips 3 1-1 7. Totals 24 15-26 66.

OHATCHEE (1-3) – Gracyn Snow 0 0-0 0, Jazmine Adams 1 0-0 2, Rachel Dunaway 1 0-0 2, Tori Vice 4 5-7 13, Kourtney Shuler 5 2-6 17, Marli Hanks 0 1-2 1, Gracie George 0 0-0 0, Millie Rainwater 0 0-0 0, Regan Snow 0 0-0 0. Totals 11 8-15 35.

Alexandria 8 25 20 13 — 66
Ohatchee 17 1 8 9 — 35

3-point goals: Alexandria 3 (Steen 2, Bonds); Ohatchee 5 (Shuler 5). Fouled out: R. Snow. Total fouls: Alexandria 17, Ohatchee 19. Officials: Kelly, Stubbs, Barber.

Jacksonville 62, Faith Christian 27
FAITH CHRISTIAN – Sydnee Johnson 5-7 2-6 13, Kristen Covington 2-8 2-4 6, Montana Huie 2-3 1-1 5, Emily Sills 1-3 0-0 2, Kassidy Nix 0-0 1-2 1, Logan Boyd 0-1 0-0 0, Sarah McVeigh 0-0 0-1 0, Sydney Parker 0-0 0-0 0, Charley Setters 0-0 0-0 0, Victoria Waldrop 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 10-22 6-13 27

JACKSONVILLE (3-0) – Kyra Williams 9-14 0-0 20, Kayla Broome 5-8 1-2 11, Aniya Jefferson 3-8 1-2 7, Elizabeth Poe 2-5 0-0 4, Maddie Hall 2-4 0-0 4, Brenna Stone 2-5 0-0 4, Essence Hutchinson 2-10 0-0 4, Patience Carr 2-3 0-0 4, Destoni Edwards 1-1 0-0 2, Malijah Goggins 1-2 0-0 2, Idea Gray 0-0 0-0 0, Lydia Crow 0-1 0-0 0, Amia Montgomery 0-0 0-0 0, Sarah Quinn 0-0 0-0 0, TiAsia Williams 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 29-64 2-4 62

Faith Christian 4 6 13 2 — 27
Jacksonville 12 30 17 3 — 62

3-point goals: Faith Christian 1-3 (Johnson 1-1, Covington 0-1, Boyd 0-1); Jacksonville 2-5 (Williams 203, Broome 0-1, Crow 0-1). Rebounds: Faith Christian 14 (Boyd 3); Jacksonville 36 (Jefferson 7). Total fouls: Faith Christian 9, Jacksonville 17.

Sacred Heart 56, Jacksonville Christian 49
JCA – Kylie Cupp 3 2-5 9, Rebekah Carter 0 1-2 1, Briah Cupp 4 7-11 16, Amelia Morales 2 0-0 4, Elizabeth Goss 0 2-2 2, Sidney Hancock 7 3-7 17. Totals 16 15-27 49.

SACRED HEART (3-3) – Myiah Harris 8 3-7 20, Abbie Vingers 1 1-3 3, Ayanna Foster 8 3-5 19, Tosin Sanusi 1 0-0 2, Jacque Beyerle 0 0-0 0, Alyssa Bell 0 0-0 0, Joelle Tillery 3 1-2 9. Totals 21 8-17 56.

JCA 13 10 11 15 — 49
Sacred Heart 17 9 11 19 — 56

3-point goals: JCA 2 (K. Cupp, B. Cupp); Sacred Heart 3 (Harris, Tillery 2). Fouled out: Morales, Vingers. Total fouls: JCA 14, Sacred Heart 24. Officials: Batey, Hinkle, Hundado.

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