Monday basketball

Groovin’ Oxford runs past Alexandria, Piedmont’s Foster blocks 23 shots in loss to Weaver, Ohatchee’s Glass passes 1,000, PV’s Parris goes for 30

Monday’s Boys Games
Pleasant Valley 62, Faith Christian 51
Jacksonville 72, Ohatchee 57
JCA 61, Appalachian 56
Clay Central 65, Lincoln 36
Oxford 77, Alexandria 59
Weaver 55, Piedmont 51
Saks 88, Cleburne County 59
Donoho 73, Wellborn 54

Monday’s Girls Games
Spring Garden 53, Anniston 39
Pleasant Valley 60, Faith Christian 49
Jacksonville 37, Ohatchee 25
Appalachian 76, JCA 32
Lincoln at Clay Central
Alexandria 72, Oxford 58
Piedmont def. Weaver
Cleburne County 44, Saks 34
Wellborn 59, Donoho 43

To see a photo gallery from the Oxford-Alexandria games, visit www.bjfranklin.smugmug.com

By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today

Eugene Leonard has been Oxford’s starting point guard for the last four seasons and the steadying force through some pretty incredible stretches of play, but he had to say this run the Yellow Jackets are on is the best they’ve played in his career.

The Jackets won for the seventh time in their last eight games Monday night, taking down Alexandria 77-59 in one of the marquee matchups within the county this season.

Oxford coach Joel Van Meter calls it being in a groove. The only loss in this latest run, which once again coincides with its return from a holiday tournament in Huntsville, came to Sacred Heart in an intense Calhoun County Tournament final.

“This group is way more closer and we practice so hard and play so together and coach is letting us play more freely,” Leonard said. “Everybody’s found a role and everybody’s just playing their game. It’s fun. You’ve got nothing to think about and you’re just playing basketball.”

It started Monday night with Roc Taylor scoring seemlessly off the opening tip and continued with limited interruption the rest of the night. There were smooth back-to-back dunks by Braden Mack and Markise Davis shortly after that and 8-, 9- and 10-point runs to stretch the lead.

Oh, there was a drop off in a five-point second quarter when they sort of forgot the plan, but the Jackets regained their touch after halftime and pulled away from an opponent that played them to the buzzer earlier this year.

“I’ll be honest with you, I think our guys are in a groove,” Van Meter said. “As a coach you work 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year to try to get your team in a groove and for these guys, I’ll be honest with you, it’s hard to get them in a groove just because of all the adversity and changes and switching and all that stuff, and I think now they’re in a groove. It’s fun as a coach to sit back (and watch that).”

Every Oxford player scored. Leonard, who recently picked up his first scholarship offer (Pearl River CC), had 19 points and nine of the Jackets’ 19 assists. Davis had 15 points and nine rebounds. And Taylor had nine points and 10 boards.

The Jackets also neutralized Alexandria ace Dalton Dodd, holding the UAH signee without a field goal until he hit a 3 in the first minute of the fourth quarter. Landan Williams (19) and Jake Weathington (15) picked up the slack but it wasn’t enough to overcome Oxford’s groove.

“Last year I thought we probably were maybe a little more talented, but I never thought that we were as connected last year as we are this year in terms of 1 through 11,” Van Meter said. “I just feel like this group is just all on the same page. We’ve got no agendas, no selfishness and I think is as well as we’ve played probably since a run in 2013 (that included their first win ever over Gadsden City, a win over Clay-Chalkville and a one-point loss to Mountain Brook).”

Weaver 55, Piedmont 51: The Bearcats won the game but the story of the night was Piedmont’s Delo Foster. The Bulldogs’ junior post blocked 23 shots in the game, the tentatively the second most in state history.

William Lee of Dallas County blocked 26 shots in a game during the 2011-12 season. State records don’t indicate the opponent.

Flyswatter Foster beat back 16 shots against the Bearcats the first time the teams played this season.

“The game tempo was very fast-paced so Delo had a lot of opportunities to get blocks,” Piedmont assistant coach Matt Glover said. “He used great timing and was able to avoid body contact to get his blocks.”

Foster had 12 in the first half; he had 10 in the first quarter of the earlier meeting. The Piedmont coaches plan to pick through the film to make sure there weren’t any they might have missed.

“He was blocking everything,” Weaver coach Daryl Hamby said.

The game was close throughout. Amardric Elston scored six of his 13 points in the third quarter as the Bearcats took the lead.

“He’s been playing great for us,” Hamby said of Elston. “He probably had six or eight blocked shots himself. He’s come a long way. He’s playing really well right now.”

Jacksonville 72, Ohatchee 57: Donovan McCain led the Golden Eagles with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Ohatchee’s Ben Glass led all scorers with 19 points and went over the 1,000-point plateau in the second half.

Glass, who recently committed to play at Montevallo, scores his milestone point in the third quarter. He scored 15 points in the second half and now has 1,009 for his four-year varsity career that still has at least two more weeks to go.

“They told me before the game I needed 10 to get it, so I kind of knew what I needed,” Glass said. “It just means everything to me because I worked so hard. I really didn’t realize I was going to be able to get it until last year and that’s when I wanted to get it more and started working for it; so yeah, it means a lot.”

Pleasant Valley 62, Faith Christian 51: Caden Turner had 23 points, Ethan Johnson had 14 and the Raiders had a little more balance than the Lions. Faith got the majority of its points from Malcolm Carlisle (25) and Michael McGraw (20), but only one other player scored.

PV has now back-to-back games for the first time since Jan. 9-11, 2016. The Raiders go to Donoho Tuesday looking to avenge a two-point loss in their season opener and extend the winning streak to their longest in at least five years.

Saks 88, Cleburne County 59: DeVaunghn Beason returned to the place he won holiday tournament MVP honors two years in a row and scored 29 points to lead the Wildcats. He had 15 in the first half as the Wildcats opened a 46-31 lead. Darien Briskey had 19 for the Wildcats.

Parris lights up the night

JACKSONVILLE — With Pleasant Valley down three starters, the Lady Raiders turned to Mac Parris and the senior shooter didn’t disappoint.

Parris drained eight 3-pointers and scored a career-high 30 points as the Lady Raiders dumped Faith Christian 60-49. The eight treys was one off her career high — she hit nine in a 27-point game against West End in December.

“Before the game coach (Brad) Hood told me that I needed to shoot as much as possible tonight and that’s what I did,” Parris said.

Alyssa Cash had 14 and Brooke Perry added 13 for PV.

Alexandria 72, Oxford 58: Allison Bonds nailed four 3-pointers in the second quarter and came off the bench to provide a calming influence in the second half as the Lady Cubs beat Oxford for the first time in coach Craig Kiker’s tenure.

Bonds hit three 3s in Alexandria’s area-clinching victory over Boaz Thursday night and continued her sharp shooting Monday, extending the Valley Cubs’ five-point first-quarter lead to 42-28 at halftime. The Cubs hit eight 3-pointers in the first half.

“Coach tells me all the time just to fire it up whenever I’m open,” Bonds said. “The other night I hit three in a row again. It gave us a lot of momentum.”

But Bonds isn’t in the game just for her shooting touch. The Lady Jackets cut their deficit to nine in the fourth quarter and Kiker sent her back in the game to combat the Oxford press. She’s quite good at putting the baseball pass on the money and immediately after re-entering the game she caught Sarah Kilgore in stride for a layup that put Alexandria back ahead by double digits.

“Tonight was not anything different,” Kiker said. “She shoots it like that every day in practice. She’s a great shooter, probably the best shooter on our team. Her minutes have increased because teams have been playing us a lot of zone, but she’s taking care of the ball and she’s playing real good defense.”

MONDAY’S BOYS BOX SCORES

Jacksonville 72, Ohatchee 57
JACKSONVILLE – Donovan McCain 9-12 6-7 14, Macey Carr 6-10 2-2 15, DeMarien Stewart 3-5 0-0 7, Alex Gilbert 2-2 1-3 5, Alex Davis 2-2 1-4 5, Ron Wiggins 1-3 3-4 5, DeDarien Savage 2-3 0-0 4, DeAndre McCain 1-3 0-0 3, Cade Landers 1-5 0-0 2, Jay Davis 0-1 2-2 2, Carter Landers 0-0 0-0 0, Jacob Tucker 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-46 15-22 72.

OHATCHEE – Ben Glass 9-16 0-0 19, Kevin Williamson 8-13 0-0 18, Briley Hale 1-4 5-7 7, Domonique Thomas 3-10 0-2 7, Grayson Alward 1-2 0-0 2, Blake Buckelew 1-6 0-0 2, Aaron Moore 1-3 0-0 2, Andrew Roberts 0-1 0-0 0, Bayley Tillison 0-0 0-0 0, Carson Stone 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 24-56 5-9 57.

Jacksonville 19 16 17 20 — 72
Ohatchee 10 13 18 16 — 57

3-point goals: Jacksonville 3-14 (Carr 1-5, Stewart 1-3, Wiggins 0-1, De. McCain 1-2, Cd. Landers 0-3); Ohatchee 4-19 (Glass 1-7, Williamson 2-7, Thomas 1-3, Buckelew 0-2). Rebounds: Jacksonville 37 (Do. McCain 11, Carr 5, Gilbert 5); Ohatchee 24 (Hale 5). Fouled out: Hale. Total fouls: Jacksonville 12, Ohatchee 20. Officials: Stubbs, Burroughs, Kelly. Notes: J. Davis had 4 assists for J’ville, Thomas had 4 assists for Ohatchee. J’ville scored 16 second-chance points off 13 offensive rebounds.

Oxford 77, Alexandria 59
OXFORD – Markise Davis 6 0-0 15, Simeon Shadrix 2 0-0 6, Mont McClendon 2 0-0 4, Roc Taylor 4 1-1 9, Kendrick Foster 4 0-0 10, Eugene Leonard 8 0-0 19, Kobe Warren 2 0-1 4, Braden Mack 3 1-1 7, Trafton Houck 0 1-2 1, Tacorrie Russell 1 0-1 2. Totals 32 3-6 77.

ALEXANDRIA – Joe Tucker 4 0-3 8, Adam Young 0 0-1 0, Jake Weathington 6 2-2 15, Dru Davis 1 1-1 3, Grayson Chaffin 0 0-0 0, Dalton Dodd 2 4-6 10, Romeo Dye 1 0-0 3, Jared Ponder 0 0-0 0, Jalen Borders 1 0-0 2, Josh Tucker 0 0-0 0, Landan Williams 8 2-3 18. Totals 23 9-16 59.

Oxford 26 5 29 17 — 77
Alexandria 10 11 16 22 — 59

3-point goals: Oxford 10 (Davis 3, Shadrix 2, Foster 2, Leonard 3); Alexandria 4 Weathington, Dodd 2, Dye). Total fouls: Oxford 18, Alexandria 11. Officials: Evans, Ware, Wood.

Weaver 55, Piedmont 51
PIEDMONT – Carl Myers 7 4-5 19, Kaedon Jenkins 2 1-2 5, Delo Foster 1 0-2 2, Ryley Kirk 2 1-2 5, Lee Stanley 5 5-7 16, T.J. Fairs 2 0-2 4, Malachi Jackson 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 11-20 51.

WEAVER – London Knight 2 5-11 9, Robert Gaines 5 1-5 12, Shamar Spinks 4 5-8 14, Nick Torres 0 0-0 0, Alex Perry 1 0-0 3, Dalton Hamby 2 0-1 4, Amardric Elston 6 1-2 13. Totals 20 12-27 55.

Piedmont 17 9 10 15 — 51
Weaver 14 11 16 14 — 55

3-point goals: Piedmont 2 (Myers, Stanley); Weaver 3 (Gaines, Spinks, Perry). Fouled out: Fairs, Stanley, Elston. Total fouls: Piedmont 21, Weaver 18.

Pleasant Valley 62, Faith Christian 51
FAITH CHRISTIAN – Malcolm Carlisle 9 5-9 25, Michael McGraw 8 3-4 20, Jacques Prater 0 0-0 0, Dalton Rogers 0 0-0 0, Jacob Cleckler 3 0-0 6, Bailey Thomas 0 0-0 0, Andrew Huie 0 0-0 0, Joshua Rutledge 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 8-13 51.

PLEASANT VALLEY – Austin Johnson 2 2-2 6, Jake Malsy 1 0-0 2, Caden Turner 9 5-10 23, Ethan Johnson 6 2-4 14, Josh Bellew 1 0-0 3, Colby Gaines 2 2-2 6, Coleman Haynes 0 2-2 2, Connor Wolfe 3 0-1 6. Totals 24 13-21 62.

Faith Christian 12 8 19 12 — 51
Pleasant Valley 15 16 16 15 — 62

3-point goals: Faith 3 (Carlisle 2, McGraw); PV 1 (Ballew). Technical fouls: Carlisle. Fouled out: Carlisle. Total fouls: Faith 21, PV 16. Officials: Hinkle, Chambers, Howell.

Saks 88, Cleburne County 59
SAKS – Darien Briskey 8 3-4 19, DeVaunghn Beason 11 3-5 29, Laderrick Bell 3 2-3 10, Brent Clark 0 0-0 0, C.J. Lauderdale 1 0-0 3, Zay Elston 2 0-0 4, Daveon Dukes 0 1-2 1, Marreo Thomas 3 1-4 7, Jaylen Young 3 2-2 8, Eley Downes 1 0-0 2, Tyler Smith 2 1-2 5. Totals 34 13-22 88.

CLEBURNE COUNTY – A.J. Brown 4 4-5 13, Chase Smith 0 0-0 0, Zaye Brown 0 0-0 0, Bradley Smith 2 0-0 4 Rico Jordan 0 0-0 0, Reese Morrison 2 1-3 5, Isavia Brown 2 0-0 5, Gage Harcrow 0 0-0 0, Ben Casey 5 6-7, Taishun Hall 5 0-0 13. Totals 20 11-15 59.

Saks 26 20 18 24 — 88
Cleburne Co. 15 16 16 12 — 59

3-point goals: Saks 7 (Beason 4, Bell 2, Lauderdale); Cleburne Co. 8 (A.J. Brown, I. Brown, Casey 3, Hall 3). Total fouls: Saks 14, Cleburne Co. 22.

MONDAY’S GIRLS BOX SCORES

Jacksonville 37, Ohatchee 25
JACKSONVILLE – Kyra Williams 6-12 1-2 16, Aniya Jefferson 2-3 5-10 9, Destoni Edwards 2-3 0-0 5, Kayla Broom 2-7 0-0 4, Malijah Goggins 1-3 0-0 2, Maddie Hall 0-0 1-2 1, Elizabeth Poe 0-0 0-0 0, Essence Hutchinson 0-3 0-0 0, Brenna Stone 0-2 0-0 0, Idea Gray 0-0 0-2 0, Sarah Quinn 0-0 0-0 0, Patience Carr 0-2 0-0 0, Amia Montgomery 0-1 0-0 0, TiAsia Williams 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 13-37 7-16 37.

OHATCHEE – Tori Vice 5-19 7-10 17, Jazmine Adams 3-4 0-0 6, Millie Rainwater 1-1 0-1 2, Marli Hanks 0-3 0-0 0, Reagan Snow 0-1 0-0 0, Gracyn Snow 0-1 0-0 0, Kourtney Shuler 0-2 0-0 0, Gracie George 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 9-31 7-13 25.

Jacksonville 8 12 10 7 — 37
Ohatchee 0 4 8 13 — 25

3-point goals: Jacksonville 4-16 (K. Williams 3-7, Edwards 1-1, Broom 0-3, Goggins 0-2, Hutchinson 0-2, Montgomery 0-1); Ohatchee 0-6 (Vice 0-6). Rebounds: Jacksonville 25 (Broom 5, Poe 5); Ohatchee 31 (Vice 7, Hanks 6). Total fouls: Jacksonville 12, Ohatchee 15. Officials: Deffron, Stubbs, Kelley. Notes: K. Williams had five assists for Jacksonville. Vice had five steals for Ohatchee.

Alexandria 72, Oxford 58
OXFORD – Anna Bolton 2 0-0 4, Makayla Kidd 4 5-7 13, Ashleigh Jackson 3 0-0 6, Tremeria Britt 5 2-5 12, Akiera Robinson 2 1-6 6, Aumaria Lindsey 0 0-0 0, Jamyia Byrd 3 0-0 6, Justyce Smith 4 0-1 8, Kaylyn Hendrix 1 1-2 3. Totals 24 9-21 58.

ALEXANDRIA – Ashley Phillips 1 0-0 3, Destiny Heathcock 2 0-1 4, Kayleigh Steen 2 0-0 6, Kameron Simpson 5 0-2 12, Sarah Kilgore 6 0-0 12, Brie Bradford 9 5-16 23, Allison Bonds 4 0-0 12, Maggie Phillips 0 0-0 0. Totals 29 5-19 72.

Oxford 10 18 13 17 — 58
Alexandria 15 27 10 20 — 72

3-point goals: Oxford 1 (Robinson); Alexandria 9 (A. Phillips, Steen 2, Simpson 2, Bonds 4). Fouled out: Smith. Total fouls: Oxford 19, Alexandria 17. Officials: Tillery, Evans, Ware.

Wellborn 59, Donoho 43
WELLBORN – Taliyah Kirby 2 1-1 6, Vanessa Carter 7 3-4 18, Itiania Weatherly 9 0-1 18, Katessa Carter 5 3-10 15, Kristyne Haisch 0 0-2 0, Markeisha Jones 1 0-0 2. Totals 24 7-18 59.

DONOHO – Constance Hodges 6 1-3 13, Jenna Stremmel 1 0-0 2, Anastasia O’Neill 2 2-2 7, Campbell Hagan 6 0-0 12, Savannah Frickey 4 1-1 9, Victoria O’Neill 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 4-6 43.

Wellborn 18 12 16 13 — 59
Donoho 12 10 10 11 — 43

3-point goals: Wellborn 4 (Kirby, V. Carter, K. Carter 2); Donoho 1 (A. O’Neill). Technical fouls: Frickey. Total fouls: Wellborn 13, Donoho 14. Officials: Oden, Smith, Warren.

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