Laying it on the line

Knight, Gaines clutch at the foul line to key Weaver’s second-half comeback on White Plains in Calhoun County Boys Tournament

CALHOUN COUNTY TOURNAMENT
Boys Bracket
Saturday’s Games
Faith Christian 73, Pleasant Valley 39
Jacksonville Christian 74, Donoho 56
Ohatchee 70, Wellborn 30
Weaver 59, White Plains 47
Monday’s Games
Faith Christian vs. Anniston, 1:30 p.m.
JCA vs. Saks, 4:30 p.m.
Ohatchee vs. Piedmont, 7:30 p.m.

By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today

OXFORD – The Weaver Bearcats work on their free throws every day in practice. The aim isn’t to see how many in a row they can make or run if they don’t make a prescribed number, it’s to get them as comfortable at the line as possible so when it gets tight in a real game situation they can handle it like second nature.

The Bearcats, particularly London Knight and Robert Gaines, looked right at home on the line Saturday, especially in the fourth quarter when they were nearly flawless. That success at the line helped them rally from a 13-point third-quarter deficit and beat White Plains 59-47 in the 8/9 game of the Calhoun County Boys Basketball Tournament.

The win sends them to play top-seeded three-time state champion Sacred Heart 8:30 p.m. Tuesday at Jacksonville State.

The Bearcats were 28 of 41 from the line for the game, 19 for 26 in the fourth quarter. Knight and Gaines were a combined 17 of 22, 13 of 14 in the fourth quarter. At one point in the fourth, after they took the lead for good and White Plains had to foul, the Bearcats made 11 in a row.

“We tell them all the time free throws are going to win or lose you games, there’s no doubt about it,” Weaver coach Daryl Hamby said. “We work on them every day, just as much or more than anybody else, but the ultimate coaching challenge with foul shots is you’ve got to be able to be relaxed during chaos and pressure.

“How do you simulate that? It’s almost just game time experience and they calm down and settle down. We’ll shoot 70 percent in practice. You come out here, you get a little nervous. I think this is going to help us how we shot in the fourth quarter.”

Five players hit free throws in the fourth quarter, but Knight and Gaines led the way. Knight was 7 of 8 and Gaines a perfect 6 for 6. Knight finished with a game-high 16 points. Gaines had 13, as did post Amardric Elston. Matthew Clay led White Plains with 12 points.

“At halftime coach told us we had to get right with our defense,” Knight said. “We know that they’re going to foul us when we’re going to the goal so he said keep attacking and we’ve just got to knock down free throws.”

White Plains’ patient approach frustrated the Bearcats early on and the Wildcats opened a 30-19 halftime lead on the strength of a 13-0 run to start the second quarter. The lead was 13 early in the third quarter, but then the Bearcats turned up their defensive pressure and the Wildcats just couldn’t handle it.

It would be easy to pin the collapse on playing five games in six days, but White Plains coach Chris Randall wouldn’t do it.

“It didn’t hurt us in the first half,” Randall said. “There’s no excuses; 16-, 17-year-old kids aren’t tired. We just weren’t tough with the ball. We didn’t want the ball. We didn’t try hard to get open. When they fronted us on the inbounds, we just let them. The toughest team won. They were tougher than us.

“Have you ever see the Discovery Channel when they have ‘Shark Week’ and they throw that bloody meat into the water? They weren’t frenzied in the first half; there was no blood in the water. But when they smelled blood in the water it was full-fledged attack mode. We didn’t make them pay; we took it. If you don’t stand up and show some toughness with the basketball, it’s going to keep happening over and over again. If we’re going to be soft with the ball word is going to get around.”

Big-time tournament debut

Malcolm Carlisle had heard so much about the Calhoun County Tournament he couldn’t wait to play in it.

The high-scoring Faith Christian freshman made his long-awaited tournament debut Saturday and he didn’t disappoint.

He scored 36 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and collected seven steals as the 12th-seeded Lions throttled No. 13 Pleasant Valley 73-39.

“It was fun,” he said. “We came in and did what we were supposed to do.”

Carlisle scored 18 points in the first quarter as the Lions (9-11) opened a 20-5 lead. He had 23 points in the first half and 32 points through three quarters. He was 12 of 14 from the free throw line in the game.

The victory sends Faith to face fifth-seeded Anniston 1:30 p.m. Monday at Jacksonville State.

“It’ll be different,” Carlisle said. “I’ve never played there. It’s so big and the court is bigger, so it’s going to be a good experience. I’m looking forward to it.”

JCA stays under control

The Jacksonville Christian players felt real good last year when they beat Jacksonville for their first-ever win in the Calhoun County Tournament, but Walker Messer admitted the feeling around Saturday’s dressing room was “right up there with it.”

The 14th-seeded Thunder won a game in the county tournament for the second year in a row when it took down area rival Donoho 74-56.

Three nights ago, it watched a 20-point first-half lead against Donoho turn into a 19-point loss. JCA coach Tommy Miller said the team didn’t talk “a lot” about that game coming into the rematch because “we realized what we had done.”

On this day, JCA came within a basket of having three 20-point scorers against the 10th-seeded Falcons. Kobe Messer had 24 points, Walker Messer 23 and Chase Vinson 18.

“If they stay under control we play well,” JCA coach Tommy Miller said. “That’s been the whole deal with us, staying under control. Tonight we were able to stay under control and Walker playing that second half after picking up three fouls … that was the biggest thing in the ballgame.”

“I was just trying to smart the whole time and trying not to pick up another foul,” Messer said.

Not to be overlooked, though, was the defensive job the Thunder did on Jacob LeCroy. Elijah McCormack, Nash Messer and Chase Cobb held who Miller called “the most savvy ballplayer we play against anywhere” scoreless in the first quarter and to 11 points in the game. LeCroy scored 25 against the Thunder Thursday night.

The win sends JCA to play sixth-seeded Saks Monday at 6:30 p.m.

“We’re enjoying the opportunity to move on to Jax State and get to play,” Miller said. “It’s an honor for us to get to play up there, but we know the chore that’s on the table is going to be an awful big one.”

Ohatchee 70, Wellborn 30: Ben Glass had 13 points, Aaron Moore had 11 and all 13 Ohatchee players who got in the game scored. Wellborn was coming off its best game of the season Friday night, a near-miss against Faith Christian, but the Panthers remained winless.

On the cover: Weaver’s London Knight brings the ball up against White Plains. (Photo by B.J. Franklin/GungHo Photos)

CALHOUN COUNTY BOYS TOURANAMENT BOX SCORES

Faith Christian 73, Pleasant Valley 39
PLEASANT VALLEY (3-16) – Caden Turner 6 0-3 12, Jake Malsy 1 0-0 3, Austin Johnson 4 1-1 10, Connor Wolfe 2 0-0 4, Colby Gaines 0 0-2 0, Dakota Herron 0 0-0 0, Drew Bonds 0 0-0 0, Josh Ballew 1 2-2 5, Coleman Haynes 0 3-4 3, Ethan Johnson 0 2-2 2, Brooks Davis 0 0-0 0, Caleb Parker 0 0-0 0. Totals 14 8-14 39.

FAITH CHRISTIAN (9-11) – Malcolm Carlisle 11 12-14 36, Mike McGraw 3 7-8 13, Jacques Prater 1 0-1 3, Seth Cravens 1 2-2 4, Jacob Cleckler 4 0-2 8, Chase Gibbens 0 0-2 0, Dalton Rogers 1 2-2 4, Bailey Thomas 0 0-0 0, Andrew Huie 1 1-4 3, Banks Cotton 1 0-0 2, Josh Rutledge 0 0-0 0, Bo Conley 0 0-0 0. Totals 23 24-35 73.

Pleasant Valley 5 9 22 3 — 39
Faith Christian 20 16 26 11 — 73

3-point goals: PV 3 (Malsy, A. Johnson, Ballew); Faith 3 (Carlisle 2, Prater). Technical fouls: Wolfe. Fouled out: Malsy, Wolfe. Total fouls: PV 25, Faith 15. Officials: Lail, Reece, Whitten.

Jacksonville Christian 74, Donoho 56
JCA (6-9) – Elijah McCormack 1 0-0 3, Walker Messer 9 3-3 22, Eli Fair 0 0-0 0, Nash Messer 3 1-3 7, Chase Vinson 9 0-0 18, Chase Cobb 0 0-0 0, Kobe Messer 10 2-3 24. Totals 32 6-9 74.

DONOHO (8-7) – Seth Ford 4 0-0 12, Amari Smedley 4 0-2 10, Saad Ibrahim 0 0-0 0, Jacob LeCroy 4 4-6 12, Joseph O’Neil 0 0-0 0, Rod Elston 4 3-3 12, Will Nelson 3 0-1 6, Edwin Connell 2 0-2 4. Totals 21 7-13 56.

JCA 14 20 15 25 — 74
Donoho 13 15 15 13 — 56

3-point goals: JCA 4 (McCormack, W. Messer, K. Messer); Donoho 7 (Ford 4, Smedley 2, Elston). Total fouls: JCA 17, Donoho 16.

Ohatchee 70, Wellborn 30
WELLBORN (0-14) – Chuck Taylor 0 0-0 0, Jeremiah Nolen 1 0-0 2, Eric Johnson 3 2-5 9, Coby Adams 0 0-1 0, Khavion Wesley 3 1-2 8, Ked Harris 2 2-6 6, Kameron Goodwin 0 0-0 0, Chase Carroll 0 0-0 0, Austin Cooper 2 1-1 5, Dylan Grubbs 0 0-0 0. Totals 11 6-15 30.

OHATCHEE (8-13) – Andrew Roberts 1 0-0 2, Blake Buckelew 2 0-3 4, Ben Glass 3 6-6 13, Carson Stone 1 0-0 2, Grayson Alward 2 0-0 4, Kevin Williamson 2 0-0 4, Bayley Tillison 1 0-0 2, Evan Keller 4 0-1 9, Domonique Thomas 3 1-3 7, Landon Key 1 0-0 3, Aaron Moore 4 3-4 11, Briley Hale 3 1-2 7, Jordan Lowe 1 0-0 2. Totals 28 11-20 70.

Wellborn 15 9 6 0 — 30
Ohatchee 22 15 23 10 — 70

3-point goals: Wellborn 2 (Johnson, Wesley); Ohatchee 3 (Glass, Keller, Key). Fouled out: Nolen, Johnson. Total fouls: Wellborn 20, Ohatchee 15. Officials: Hughes, Couch, Kendall.

Weaver 59, White Plains 47
WEAVER (13-6) – London Knight 3 10-13 16, Robert Gaines 3 7-9 13, Shamar Spinks 2 2-2 6, Nick Torres 0 3-4 3, Alex Perry 2 0-0 5, Dalton Hamby 0 3-4 3, Brandon Heath 0 0-0 0, Amardric Elston 5 3-9 13. Totals 15 28-41 59.

WHITE PLAINS (9-11) – Coleman Messer 0 0-0 0, Houston Conger 0 0-1 0, Chase Helms 3 0-1 7, Pierson Branham 2 1-2 5, Austin Bussey 1 0-0 2, Drake Preston 4 0-0 8, Matthew Clay 4 3-4 12, Jaden Harris 2 0-0 4, Ethan Bozarth 2 0-0 4, Gavin Burrage 2 0-0 5. Totals 20 4-8 47.

Weaver 13 6 15 25 — 59
White Plains 12 18 8 9 — 47

3-point goals: Weaver 1 (Perry); White Plains 3 (Helms, Clay, Burrage). Technical fouls: Knight. Fouled out: Spinks, Conger, Clay, Burrage. Total fouls: Weaver 15, White Plains 31.

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