Comeback kids strike again
- Updated: December 18, 2017
Jacksonville comes from behind again to beat Saks, rally includes 7 FTs during bizarre stretch in the fourth quarter; scores and box scores
Jacksonville’s Donovan McCain (32) looks to clear one of his 11 rebounds as two Saks defenders close in on him. On the cover, Jacksonville coach Cordell Hunt tries to set the next sequence during a timeout. (Photos by B.J. Franklin/GungHo Photos)
MONDAY’S RESULTS
Boys Games
Alexandria 65, Cleburne County 25
Jacksonville 67, Saks 66
Donoho 59, JCA 57
Ohatchee 74, Wellborn 25
Fort Payne 78, Oxford 64
Piedmont 62, Westbrook Christian 52
Sacred Heart 92, Faith Christian 30
Weaver 73, Spring Garden 73 (OT)
Talladega 79, Benjamin Russell 53
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
Free throws made at the appropriate time apparently trump 3-pointers every day of the week. At least on Monday they did.
Jacksonville made 13 of 18 free throws in the fourth quarter — seven in a bizarre stretch to take the lead — to offset a dozen 3-pointers in the game by Saks and rallied from an eight-point halftime deficit to beat the Wildcats 67-66.
“We’re comeback kids as Coach (Cordell) Hunt says,” sophomore Donovan McCain said.
To see a photo gallery from the game, visit www.bjfranklin.smugmug.com
“I knew deep down we could do it,” his cousin, senior DeAndre McCain added, “because we always fight back to the finish. We always come back. I think that’s our theme.”
Indeed. It was the fourth time this season the Golden Eagles (9-2) have won when they trailed going into the fourth quarter and the fifth time they’ve won trailing at halftime or later. They also trailed Weaver, Cherokee County and White Plains going into the fourth quarter and trailed Ashville at the half.
Saks led throughout the first three quarters behind some dead-eye 3-point shooting by Dee Bell and DeVaughan Beason, but the Wildcats hit only one — at the buzzer — in the final 90 seconds of the game.
Jacksonville ultimately grabbed the lead for good with a bizarre 9-0 run on two possessions early in the fourth quarter.
The whole crazy thing unfolded when Ron Wiggins missed the second of a two-shot foul and Jacksonville down 56-50. The Golden Eagles rebounded the miss, DeAndre McCain hit a jumper and Donovan McCain was fouled away from the ball. Donovan made both ends of that one-and-one and now the margin was two, 56-54.
Donovan then was fouled by Marreo Thomas going for a rebound at the other end and Thomas was hit with a technical foul after the play. Donovan hit his one-and-one to tie the game, then DeAndre stepped up and calmly hit both technical foul shots to put the Golden Eagles ahead for good.
“I knew we had to do a big play to help us win the game,” DeAndre said. “When (Wiggins) missed the free throw, I got the rebound and shot it and then I saw (Donovan) hit the ground and I thought that’s two more points, five on the possession if we made those free throws. Then they got the tech and I got the extra two and then we got the ball back. That’s what got us the lead, those free throws.”
The Golden Eagles then scored on their next two possessions to extend the lead to 62-56 with 2:27 to play.
“The biggest thing right there was free throws,” Hunt said. “I thought we shot very well from the free throw line today against a very good team. Saks was shooting the lights out today and in order to come back like that you’ve got to hit the shots that are free shots. That little exchange there, the free throws were the biggest thing there.”
DeAndre McCain led Jacksonville with 21 points; he was 5-of-9 from 3-point range. Donovan McCain had 12 points, going 6-for-6 from the line (all in the fourth quarter), and 11 rebounds.
The loss spoiled big games by Bell and Beason. Bell scored 19 points with six 3-pointers; he hit two in the opener and was scoreless in his last game against Anniston. Beason led all scorers with 32 points and had five 3-pointers. Together, they were 11-of-21 from behind the arc.
“One of the things I told the team at half is they (Saks) have to cool down from the 3-point line,” Hunt said. “Well, they never did. You usually don’t see a team shoot great in the first half and great in the second half. That Saks team did but we were able to do some things … that kept us in the game.”
Jacksonville’s Cade Landers (5) tries to drive past Saks’ Darien Briskey. (Photo by B.J. Franklin/GungHo Photos)
BOYS BOX SCORES
Jacksonville 67, Saks 66
JACKSONVILLE (9-2) – DeAndre McCain 7-11 2-3 21, Donovan McCain 3-6 6-6 12, Macey Carr 3-13 4-6 11, Alex Gilbert 4-8 0-0 8, Alex Davis 3-5 0-0 6, Cade Landers 2-6 0-0 4, DeMarien Stewart 1-5 0-0 2, DeDarien Savage 0-0 2-2 2, Ron Wiggins 0-0 1-4 1, Jacob McCarley 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-53 15-21 67.
SAKS (1-2) – DeVaughan Beason 12-20 3-3 32, Laderrick Bell 6-12 1-2 19, Darien Briskey 4-8 0-0 9, Daveon Dukes 2-2 0-0 4, Tyler Smith 1-1 0-6 2, Zay Elston 0-5 0-0 0, C.J. Lauderdale 0-1 0-0 0, Eley Downes 0-0 0-0 0, Marreo Thomas 0-0 0-0 0, Jaylen Young 0-1 0-0 0, Brent Clark 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 25-51 4-11 66.
Jacksonville 14 14 14 25 — 67
Saks 21 15 14 16 — 66
3-point goals: Jacksonville 6-19 (De. McCain 5-8, Carr 1-7, Landers 0-1, Stewart 0-3); Saks 12-26 (Beason 5-9, Bell 6-12, Briskey 1-2, Elston 0-3, Lauderdale 0-1, Clark 0-1). Rebounds: Jacksonville 38 (Do. McCain 11, Gilbert 5, Landers 5); Saks 32 (Smith 8, Elston 6, Briskey 6). Technical fouls: Thomas. Fouled out: Thomas. Total fouls: Jacksonville 12, Saks 14. Officials: Woods, Smith, Montgomery.
Alexandria 65, Cleburne County 25
ALEXANDRIA – Joe Tucker 3 0-0 7, Adam Young 2 0-0 5, Jake Weathington 3 1-1 7, Dru Davis 4 0-0 9, Grayson Chaffin 5 1-2 11, Dalton Dodd 2 3-4 8, Romeo Dye 2 0-0 4, Khahlil Francis 1 2-2 4, Jalen Borders 3 0-0 6, Landan Williams 2 0-0 4. Totals 27 7-9 65.
CLEBURNE COUNTY – A.J. Brown 3 1-2 7, T. Hall 1 1-1 3, Chase Smith 1 0-0 2, Bradley Smith 1 0-0 2, Justin Epps 0 1-3 1, Reese Morrison 3 2-2 8, Gage Harcron 0 0-0 0, Ben Casey 0 0-0 0, Parker Freeman 1 0-0 2. Totals 10 5-8 25.
Alexandria 24 20 11 10 — 65
Cleburne County 8 0 10 7 — 25
3-point goals: Alexandria 4 (Tucker, Young, Davis, Dodd). Total fouls: Alexandria 14, Cleburne County 9.
Piedmont 62, Westbrook Christian 52
WESTBROOK CHRISTIAN – Andrew Lockridge 0 0-0 0, Cullen Stafford 1 0-0 2, Garrett Kennedy 2 1-3 6, Stuart Douglas 0 1-2 1, Joseph Gilcrest 0 0-0 0, Alex Burnett 3 2-5 8, Jackson Cox 0 0-0 0, Grant Martin 1 0-1 3, Braden Beecham 12 1-1 27, Jackson Luttrell 1 3-5 5. Totals 20 8-17 52.
PIEDMONT – Carl Myers 3 3-4 10, Kaedon Jenkins 0 0-0 0, Delo Foster 2 0-2 4, Ryley Kirk 7 0-0 17, Logan Pruitt 0 1-2 1, Lee Stanley 3 2-4 8, Silas Thompson 2 1-1 5, T.J. Fairs 5 5-7 17. Totals 22 12-20 62.
Westbrook 18 2 10 22 — 52
Piedmont 25 14 16 7 — 62
3-point goals: Westbrook 4 (Kennedy, Martin, Beecham 2); Piedmont 6 (Myers, Kirk 3, Fairs 2). Fouled out: Beecham, Luttrell, Thompson. Total fouls: Westbrook 18, Piedmont 17. Officials: Miller, Pratt, Williams.
Sacred Heart 92, Faith Christian 30
SACRED HEART – Quin Riggins 5 0-1 12, Diante Wood 6 2-2 16, Vic Wilson 1 0-0 3, Jack Miller 1 0-0 2, Murdock Simmons 10 2-2 24, Caleb Brown 4 0-0 10, Joshua Brown 3 0-0 6, Stephen Stansil 4 0-0 9, JonRiley Miller 0 2-2 2, Khalil Watkins 3 0-0 6, Kendarious Harris 1 0-0 2. Totals 38 6-7 92.
FAITH CHRISTIAN – Malcolm Carlisle 0 1-2 1, Mike McGraw 4 6-10 14, Seth Cravens 1 0-0 2, Jacques Prater 2 0-1 6, Jacob Cleckler 2 1-4 5, Bailey Thomas 1 0-1 2, Dalton Rogers 0 0-0 0. Totals 10 8-18 30.
Sacred Heart 35 26 21 10 — 92
Faith Christian 10 4 8 4 — 30
3-point goals: Sacred Heart 10 (Riggins 2, Wood 2, Wilson, Simmons 2, C. Brown 2, Stansil). Faith Christian 2 (Prater 2). Total fouls: Sacred Heart 16, Faith Christian 9. Officials: Howell, Ethredge, Dickson. Notes: The Cardinals won their 51st straight game against Alabama Class 1A teams. They scored as many points on 3-pointers tonight as Faith Christian scored in the game.
Talladega 79, Benjamin Russell 53
TALLADEGA – Fred Dickerson 5 3-3 14, Chaztin Tanner 7 0-0 17, Tyrese Scales 0 0-0 0, Ashton Duncan 6 4-7 19, Rontavious Barclay 1 0-0 2, Jay Patterson 2 0-0 4, J.Q. Wilson 3 3-4 9, Kobe Simmons 7 0-0 14. Totals 31 10-14 79.
BENJAMIN RUSSELL – Jaikobie Gamble 6 1-2 13, Desmond Bishop 3 0-0 6, Charlie Morris 0 2-4 2, Nicolas McGhee 1 0-0 2, Davede Herron 0 0-0 0, Kobi Crabb 0 1-2 1, Quintavious Burroughs 3 0-2 6, Jaden Tuck 1 0-0 2, Richard Heard 2 0-0 4, Alexander Doss 3 0-4 6, Xzavia Stowes 3 5-9 11. Totals 22 9-23 53.
Talladega 21 14 21 23 — 79
Benjamin Russell 6 11 17 19 — 53
3-point goals: Talladega 7 (Dickerson, Tanner 3, Duncan 3). Technical fouls: Dickerson. Fouled out: Morris. Total fouls: Talladega 18, Benjamin Russell 12. Notes: Duncan and Dickerson each had six assists. Simmons grabbed seven rebounds.
Saks’ DeVaughan Beason (2) shoots over Jacksonville’s DeAndre McCain during the second half of their game Monday night. Beason led all scorers with 32 points, including three of his five 3-pointers in the fourth quarter. (Photo by B.J. Franklin/GungHo Photos)
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