Saks wins opener

Boys roundup: Wildcats hit 3s early, free throws late and hold it together in end-game scenario to win long-awaited season opener

MONDAY’S RESULTS
Jacksonville 61, Ohatchee 53
Oxford 81, Pell City 37
Pleasant Valley 65, Wellborn 39
Saks 56, Piedmont 53

By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today

Jonathan Miller wasn’t exactly sure what he was going to see from his Saks basketball team in its long-awaited season-opener Monday night.

The Wildcats were the last boys team in Calhoun County to play a basketball game this season and they had been practicing for only a week, but they handled the toughest part for a new team to grasp like a team that had been on the floor for months.

They made clutch free throws and several defensive plays in the final minute of a game that became tight and pulled away from Piedmont 56-53.

Enjoy a photo gallery from the Piedmont-Saks game at www.bjfranklin.smugmug.com.

The start of both teams’ basketball seasons was delayed by semifinal runs in the state football playoffs. Piedmont broke free for basketball last week and split two games, but the Wildcats – with all but two of their players on the football team – took the week after they were eliminated to transition and practice.

“I didn’t expect us to play great; we’re both (teams) still rusty,” said Miller, who also is the Wildcats’ football coach. “All we can do from here is get better. It’s good to win. A lot of guys played hard and if they’re playing hard then you can correct all those mistakes and get the rust out of them. We’ve just got to play. You can practice all you want to, but you’ve gotta have game situations to get better.”

“We had a long football season, so I knew it was going to be a little hard to get back into the (basketball) season,” football quarterback Dee Bell said. “We took today’s game and just moved around a little bit to see what we had. I feel like I can play any time it comes up, but as team it’s going to take time.”

Based off what they showed in the opener, the Wildcats must have worked on their outside shot and free throws in that developmental week. They hit four 3-pointers in the first quarter – two by Bell – and all six of what they had in the game en route to a 28-16 lead.

But then they went cold and Piedmont climbed back in it, eventually taking the lead on Kaedon Jenkins’ 3-pointer with 4:02 left in the third quarter. After it became a game again, the Wildcats hit 8 of 12 free throws in the fourth quarter and were 4-for-4 in the final minute.

“That win comes from football season,” Bell said. “All our basketball players, they play football. Our whole football season we’ve been going through adversity and this game today was one of those games that we had to close out.”

Saks led 52-51 with 52 seconds to play. Over the next 30 seconds Darien Briskey and DeVaughan Beason each made a pair of free throws and in between Briskey delivered the defensive play of the game, blocking a shot by Ryley Kirk with 32 seconds left that could have cut the margin to one.

“I wasn’t surprised because I have so much faith in not only myself but all my teammates that we’re going to be able to bring it in and pull it out at the end of the game, because, to me, I feel like we’re one of the best teams in the county,” Briskey said. “At the end of the game I was never rattled. That’s what my dad’s been preaching to me since I’ve been in seventh grade – when times get tough like that you’ve got to be able to pull it out. I knew after that block it was over.”

Briskey finished with nine points and three blocked shots. Beason led the Wildcats with 19. Kirk was Piedmont’s top scorer with 14 points. T.J. Fairs had 11 points, getting to double figures with a layup at the buzzer that brought the final margin.

Jacksonville 61, Ohatchee 53: The teams shot the same from the field (22-of-52, four 3-pointers), but the difference was the Golden Eagles’ 13 (of 25) to five edge at the free throw line.

The Golden Eagles were missing one of the main weapons as Donovan McCain was down with the flu and several others are ill, but Macey Carr picked up the slack with 11 points and 12 rebounds. DeAndre McCain also scored 11 points and Alex Davis grabbed 11 rebounds. Ohatchee’s Kevin Williamson led all scorers with 18 points. Ben Glass added 14.

“We didn’t shoot free throws very well tonight; not close to our goal,” Jacksonville coach Cordell Hunt said. “We had many opportunities to pull away, but we kept getting in our own way. Hopefully we’ll have (Donovan) back tomorrow (Tuesday at White Plains), not sure how many minutes though.”

Pleasant Valley 65, Wellborn 39: Caden Turner went for 21 points and Dakota Herron scored all 11 of his points in a 28-point third quarter that gave the Raiders control of the game.

The game was tied at 22 at halftime, but PV came out sharp on both ends of the floor in the third quarter. Ked Harris kept the Panthers in it in the first half with 10 of his 11 points. Khavion Wesley also scored 11 for Wellborn.

“We came out at half and really believed in each other and got our press going,” Turner said. “The young guys really stepped up, like Josh Ballew, Jake Malsy and Coleman Hayes. We really were just upset about the last loss against Glencoe.”

Oxford 81, Pell City 37: Braden Mack scored 17 points and Antwon Fegans came off the bench to score 14 points in the second half as the Yellow Jackets won their fifth in a row. Simeon Shadrix scored nine on three 3-pointers.

Mack and Fegans combined for 20 points in a 28-point third quarter that stretched the Jackets’ 17-point halftime lead to 36 points. Fegans, a 6-foot sophomore, was 6-of-9 from the free throw line.

“I thought (Fegans) came in and did a great job for us,” Oxford coach Joel Van Meter said. “He was really good around the rim, did a great job of getting fouled and playing with energy – something we thought he could help us with.”

MONDAY’S BOYS BOX SCORES

Saks 56, Piedmont 53
PIEDMONT (1-2) – Kaedon Jenkins 2 1-3 6, Delo Foster 2 0-5 4, Ryley Kirk 5 2-4 14, Logan Pruitt 0 0-0 0, Lee Stanley 3 2-2 8, Silas Thompson 4 1-2 10, T.J. Fairs 4 1-3 11. Totals 20 7-19 53.

SAKS (1-0) – Darien Briskey 2 5-7 9, Devaughan Beason 7 4-6 19, Laderrick Bell 2 0-0 6, Brent Clark 0 0-0 0, C.J. Lauderdale 2 1-2 5, Zay Elston 3 0-0 6, Daveon Dukes 1 0-0 3. Marreo Thomas 2 0-0 4, Jaylen Young 0 0-0 0, Tyler Smith 1 0-0 2, Jakorius Watkins 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 10-15 46.

Piedmont 12 13 14 11 — 53
Saks 14 16 10 16 — 56

3-point goals: Piedmont 6 (Jenkins, Kirk 2, Thompson, Fairs 2); Saks 6 (Beason, Bell 2, Lauderdale 2, Dukes). Total fouls: Piedmont 14, Saks 16. Officials: Lemon, Stringer, Ware.

Jacksonville 61, Ohatchee 53
OHATCHEE – Kevin Williamson 8-16 0-1 18, Ben Glass 6-17 0-0 14, Grayson Alward 4-6 1-1 9, Evan Keller 2-4 1-2 5, Briley Hale 1-2 1-2 3, Carson Stone 1-2 0-0 2, Domonique Thomas 0-2 1-2 1, Blake Buckelew 0-1 1-2 1, Parker Alexander 0-1 0-0 0, Jordan Lowe 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 22-52 5-10 53.

JACKSONVILLE – Macey Carr 5-13 1-6 11, DeAndre McCain 3-8 3-6 11, Alex Gilbert 3-6 2-2 9, Cade Landers 3-10 2-3 9, Alex Davis 3-6 0-1 6, DeDarien Savage 3-4 0-0 6, DeMarien Stewart 1-2 4-4 6, Ron Wiggins 1-3 1-2 3, Carter Landers 0-0 0-1 0. Totals 22-52 13-25 61.

Ohatchee 10 9 17 17 — 53
Jacksonville 17 12 18 14 — 61

3-point goals: Ohatchee 4-15 (Williamson 2-8, Glass 2-5, Keller 0-1, Buckelew 0-1); Jacksonville 4-12 (Carr 0-2, McCain 3-8 3-6 11, Gilbert 1-1, Cd. Landers 1-3, Stewart 0-1). Rebounds: Ohatchee 32 (Glass 6, Thomas 5); Jacksonville 45 (Carr 12, Davis 11). Total fouls: Ohatchee 15, Jacksonville 13. Officials: Douthitt, Oden, Evans.

Pleasant Valley 65, Wellborn 39
WELLBORN – Chuck Taylor 1 0-0 2, Jeremiah Nolen 1 0-0 2, Coby Adams 0 1-2 1, Khavion Wesley 5 0-0 11, Ked Harris 4 1-2 11, Chase Carroll 2 0-0 4, Austin Cooper 2 0-0 4, Dylan Grubbs 2 0-0 4. Totals 17 2-4 39.

PLEASANT VALLEY – Caden Turner 10 1-2 21, Dakota Herron 5 0-0 11, Jake Malsy 1 0-0 2, Conner Wolfe 2 0-0 4, Colby Gaines 3 2-4 8, Drew Bonds 1 0-0 3, Ethan Johnson 1 0-0 2, Brooks Davis 1 0-0 2, Caleb Parker 1 0-0 2, Coleman Haynes 4 0-0 8, Josh Ballew 1 0-0 2. Totals 30 3-6 65.

Wellborn 7 15 8 9 — 39
Pleasant Valley 11 11 28 15 — 65

3-point goals: Wellborn 3 (Wesley, Harris 2); Pleasant Valley 2 (Bonds, Herron). Total fouls: Wellborn 11, Pleasant Valley 8. Officials: Hollingsworth, Evans, Battles.

Oxford 81, Pell City 37
OXFORD – Markise Davis 3 1-1 8, Simeon Shadrix 3 0-0 9, Mont McClendon 2 0-0 4, Rock Taylor 4 0-0 8, Kendrick Foster 2 2-4 7, Eugene Leonard 2 2-2 6, William Warren 0 0-0 0, Braden Mack 5 5-6 17, Trafton Houck 2 1-1 5, Antwon Fegans 4 6-9 14, Tacorrie Russell 1 1-5 3. Totals 28 18-28 81.

PELL CITY – Jacob Allbritton 2 0-0 4, Cody Williams 0 0-0 0, Andrew Pender 2 0-1 5, Jacob Hull 1 0-0 2, Kelton Seals 1 0-0 2, Logan Estell 2 1-1 5, Jabriel Beckett 2 0-0 5, Brandon Calhoun 3 1-2 7, Quinton Burkhalter 1 1-2 3, Tyler Locklar 2 0-0 4. Totals 16 3-6 37.

Oxford 20 19 28 14 — 81
Pell City 17 5 9 6 — 37

3-point goals: Oxford 7 (Davis, Shadrix 3, Foster, Mack 2); Pell City 2 (Pender, Beckett).
Total fouls: Oxford 11, Pell City 22. Officials: Horn, Watkins, Pretnar.

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