Lady Wildcats in the zone

White Plains rides zone defense to season-opening win in Champions Girls Classic; includes scores, full boxes, Monday schedule

SATURDAY RESULTS
BOYS GAMES
Spartan Turkey Jam, Mountain Brook
Huntsville 72, Sacred Heart 55

GIRLS GAMES
Hartselle Classic
Cullman 59, Jacksonville 22
Russellville 41, Jacksonville 24

Champions Sports Academy Girls Thanksgiving Classic
Coosa Christian 56, Pleasant Valley 51
Hokes Bluff 51, Lincoln 31
Cherokee County 56, Ohatchee 25
White Plains 30, Saks 17

By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today

Chris Randall figures he played more zone defense in the White Plains girls’ season opener Saturday than he has in all of his previous 23 years in coaching.

Get used to it because there’s more coming, because he’s convinced it’s the best thing for the limited roster makeup of this year’s Lady Wildcats girls basketball team.

And it took a little convincing to convince him. But the way new assistant Darian Gaines, the former Spring Garden standout, presented it, it made sense.

Besides, he said, “if it’s good enough for Spring Garden it ought to be good enough for us.”

The Lady Wildcats broke it out in their first game of the Champions Girls Thanksgiving Classic and worked like they had been using it for years. They held Saks to five points over the first three quarters — none in the third — in an eventual 30-17 victory.

The win sends them to play, ironically, Spring Garden, the program where their new assistant and defense have their genesis.

“All the credit goes to Darian for putting that zone in,” Randall said. “The kids really bought into it. They like it, it fit this team well.”

Through the first three quarters that new defense held Saks to a two-point basket early in the first quarter and a 3-pointer early in the second

In addition to the defensive effectiveness, the other thing Randall was happy about in the victory was all nine players on the roster made some kind o contribution to the cause. Specifically of note were Ary Rosario’s play on the glass, Angel Bozarth’s 3-point shooting off the bench and Callyn Martin’s defense.

Rosario scored the first two baskets of the game and finished with eight points. Bozarth buried three 3s in the first half for all nine of her points.

“We’re going to rely on all nine of them,” Randall said. “They all practice hard, they all pull for each other, get along great. On this team everybody knows their role, already.

“That comes from playing about 35 games together in the summer time. This nine was together all summer and so we really defined those roles during the summer. It’s like we kind of went from the summer right into the first game of the year.”

Coosa Christian 56, Pleasant Valley 51: The Lady Raiders were in catch-up mode all game and could never grab the lead. After trailing by as many as 15 in the first half, they rallied from a 14-point deficit midway through the third quarter to tie the game at 51 on Emma Hood’s breakaway layup with 2:24 to play but never scored again.

Claire Davidson put Coosa Christian back on top with a three-point play on the next possession and scored the final five points of the game. She led the Lady Conquerors (3-1) with 23. India Brown dominated the post and had 20, but fouled out midway through the fourth quarter. Hood led PV with 19 points, but when she fouled out with two minutes to go it took away the leader of their defensive pressure.

“I know we’re going to be sloppy the first game, that’s part of it, but the biggest thing is to get the girls to understand to hustle as a team for four quarters,” PV coach Brad Hood said. “I know they’re not going to be polished, in midseason form, but the lack of effort as a unit, that’s the part you don’t have an answer for.

“I told them if we combined everybody’s hustle for the whole game we maybe had 6-8 minutes of team effort. That’s not saying nobody was hustling, but it takes everybody as a unit doing it. We just didn’t have it. They outhustled us.”

The Lady Raiders also were hurt by going only 13 of 32 from the free throw line. To see more photos from this game visit www.bjfranklin.smugmug.com

Hokes Bluff 51, Lincoln 31: The Lady Eagles broke away from a close game with a big third quarter. Jayden Presley and Gracie West combined for 18 points as their team outscored the Lady Bears 19-3 in the third quarter. Presley had 14 of her game-high 20 and West nine of her 10 in the second half. Kristen Shields had 12 of her 15 in the first half.

Cherokee County 56, Ohatchee 25: The Lady Warriors held Ohatchee scoreless in the first quarter and led 26-0 before the Lady Indians got their first points of the season. Gracie Snow’s basket finally got on Ohatchee on the board with 4:38 left in the first half. Kayleigh Hand led Cherokee County’s balanced scoring attack with 12 points. Ohatchee’s Tori Vice led all scorers with 14.

CHAMPIONS GIRLS THANKSGIVING CLASSIC
Coosa Christian 56, Pleasant Valley 51
COOSA CHRISTIAN (3-1) – Claire Davidson 6 9-13 23, Emily Snow 0 0-0 0, Chloe Davidson 1 1-2 3, Sidnee Courington 2 2-4 6, Kaylie Reeves 0 0-0 0, Bella Millirons 1 0-0 2, Gemma Littlejohn 1 0-0 2, Emma Justus 0 0-0 0, India Brown 10 0-0 20. Totals 21 12-19 56.

PLEASANT VALLEY (0-1) – Brooke Perry 4 0-0 8, Lindsey Pritchett 1 1-5 3, Ava Boozer 0 2-2 2, Rylee Haynes 2 1-1 5, Chandler Dorsett 1 2-2 4, Emma Hood 7 5-11 19, Marlie Wright 0 0-0 0, Karmyn Sparks 4 2-11 10. Totals 19 13-32 51.

Coosa Christian 20 17 11 8 – 56
Pleasant Valley 11 15 11 14 – 51

3-point goals: Coosa 2 (Cl. Davison 2). Fouled out: Ch. Davidson, Brown, Hood. Total fouls: Coosa 22, Pleasant Valley 19. Officials: Stringer, Lemon, Hall.

Hokes Bluff 51, Lincoln 31
LINCOLN (0-1) – Bailey Gowers 0 0-0 0, Makayla Groce 2 2-7 6, Jayla Morris 4 5-10 15, Jaycee Woods 0 0-0 0, Jayla King 1 1-1 3, Keshauna Strown 1 0-0 3, Genesis McClellan 0 0-0 0, Abby Smith 0 1-2 1, Clark Cunningham 0 0-0 0, Zoria Orr 0 0-0 0, Taylor Conway 1 1-2 3. Totals 9 10-22 31.

HOKES BLUFF (1-0) – Madison Wolfe 0 1-4 1, McKenzie Bates 0 0-0 0, Maddie Smith 0 0-0 0, Taylor Horne 0 0-0 0, Kristen Shields 3 8-9 15, Gracie West 3 4-9 10, Jayden Presley 5 10-12 20, Madison Ingram 1 3-3 5. Totals 12 26-37 51.

Lincoln 9 9 3 10 – 31
Hokes Bluff 9 11 19 12 – 51

3-point goals: Lincoln 3 (Morris 2, Strown); Hokes Bluff 1 (Shields). Technical fouls: Hokes Bluff coach Shields. Fouled out: Groce. Total fouls: Lincoln 23, Hokes Bluff 18. Officials: Lemon, Hall, Stringer.

Cherokee County 56, Ohatchee 25
CHEROKEE COUNTY (1-1) – Belle Mahannah 1 0-0 3, Caitlyn Elrod 0 0-0 0, Aubrie Williams 3 4-8 10, Laney Kate Johnson 1 2-5 4, Audrey Wester 1 0-0 2, Jordyn Starr 5 0-2 10, Kayleigh Hand 5 2-5 12, Crimson Mahannah 1 1-5 3, Sydney Whisenant 2 2-2 7, Alexia Wood 2 1-2 5. Totals 21 12-29 56.

OHATCHEE (0-1) – Grayson Snow 1 0-0 2, Jazmine Adams 2 0-0 5, Reyna Brown 0 0-1 0, Tori Vice 5 2-4 14, Morgan Foushee 0 0-1 0, Marli Hanks 0 0-2 0, Gracie George 1 0-0 2, Millie Rainwater 0 0-2 0, Regan Snow 1 0-0 2, Jorda Crook 0 0-2 0, Karson Coppock 0 0-0 0. Totals 10 2-12 25.

Cherokee County 14 19 11 12 – 56
Ohatchee 0 9 7 9 – 25

3-point goals: Cherokee County 2 (B. Mahannah, Whisenant); Ohatchee 3 (Adams, Vice 2). Fouled out: Hanks, R. Snow. Total fouls: Cherokee County 18, Ohatchee 21. Officials: Dupree, Roberts, Wright.

White Plains 30, Saks 17
WHITE PLAINS (1-0) – Callyn Martin 2 0-0 5, Cheyenne Cochran 0 0-0 0, Ary Rosario 2 4-6 8, Camden Wilson 0 0-0 0, Lily Ponder 1 2-2 4, AD Sotelo 0 0-0 0, Jocelyn Harris 2 0-4 4, Angel Bozarth 3 0-0 9, Kaylee Johnson 0 0-0 0, Totals 10 6-12 30

SAKS (0-1) – Amya Carslie 2 0-1 4, Penelope Dudley 0 0-0 0, Teona Williams 0 0-0 0, DeAvian Stewart 1 0-2 2, Deja Almon 2 0-0 4, Halimah Binyamin 0 0-2 0, Teana Edwards 2 0-0 6, Alicia Gooden 0 1-4 1, Destini Elston 0 0-0 0. Totals 7 1-9 17.

White Plains 12 5 7 6 – 30
Saks 2 3 0 12 – 17

3-point goals: White Plains 4 (Martin, Bozarth 3); Saks 2 (Edwards 2). Total fouls: White Plains 10, Saks 15. Officials: Dupree, Horn, Wright.

HARTSELLE CLASSIC
Cullman 59, Jacksonville 22
CULLMAN – Alexandria Barker 8-10 0-0 16, Anna Katherine Eastman 3-4 5-4 13, Kortlin Cuellar 4-5 1-2 9, Olivia Neal 3-6 0-0 6, Sadie Young 2-3 0-0 5, Jaden Winfrey 2-3 0-0 4, Hannah Hoffman 2-4 0-0 4, Anne Grace Murphy 1-6 0-0 2, Kinslee Borden 0-1 0-0 0, Regan Quattlebaum 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 25-46 5-7 59.

JACKSONVILLE – Brenna Stone 4-9 3-6 11, Patience Carr 2-8 1-4 5, Malijah Goggins 1-4 0-0 3, Rebekah Gannaway 1-2 0-0 2, TiAsia Williams 0-3 1-2 1, Amarie Curry 0-1 0-1 0, Amia Montgomery 0-0 0-0 0, Sarah Quinn 0-0 0-0 0, Ashlynn Farr 0-2 0-0 0, Khadajah Richardson 0 0-0 0. Totals 8-29 5-13 22.

Cullman 19 19 15 6 – 59
Jacksonville 1 8 8 5 – 22

3-point goals: Cullman 3-12 (Eastman 2-3, Cuellar 0-1, Young 1-1, Hoffman 0-2, Murphy 0-3, Quattlebaum 0-2); Jacksonville 1-9 (Stone 0-1, Carr 0-3, Goggins 1-3, Williams 0-1, Farr 0-1). Rebounds: Cullman 28 (Barker 3, Neal 3, Winfrey 3, Borden 3); Jacksonville 24 (Stone 9). Fouled out: Quattlebaum. Total fouls: Cullman 12, Jacksonville 10.

Russellville 41, Jacksonville 24
JACKSONVILLE – Patience Carr 3-10 1-2 7, Brenna Stone 3-11 0-0 6, TiAsia Williams 3-7 0-0 6, Malijah Goggins 1-5 0-0 3, Amarie Curry 1-2 0-0 2, Rebekah Gannaway 0-3 0-0 0, Ashlynn Farr 0-2 0-0 0, Amia Montgomery 0-0 0-0 0, Sarah Quinn 0-0 0-0 0, Khadajah Richardson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 11-40 1-2 24.

RUSSELLVILLE – Madison Murray 7-17 6-7 22, Autumn Logan 2-7 4-6 8, Alexis Taylor 2-3 1-3 5, Alexis Glass 0-4 4-8 4, Krista Sykes 1-4 0-0 2, Alivia Clemmons 0-5 0-2 0, Chalee Clemmons 0-1 0-0 0, Lauren Hammond 0-0 0-0 0, Fallin Fox 0-6 0-0 0, DonKyiah Ramson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 12-47 15-26 41.

Jacksonville 6 8 5 7 – 24
Russellville 11 7 13 10 – 41

3-point goals: Jacksonville 1-12 (Carr 0-1, Stone 0-2, Williams 0-1, Goggins 1-4, Gannaway 0-2, Farr 0-2); Russellville 2-15 (Murray 2-6, Sykes 0-3, C. Clemmons 0-1, Cox 0-5). Rebounds: Jacksonville 25 (Patience Carr 8); Russellville 44 Logan 7, Glass 7). Total fouls: Jacksonville 17, Russellville 5.

MONDAY GAMES
Donoho at B.B. Comer
Glencoe at Alexandria
Weaver at Southside
Winterboro at Fayetteville
Cherokee County vs. Gordon County, Sonoraville, Ga.
Oxford vs. Ramsay at Dekalb Civic Center
Sacred Heart vs St. Pius X-Demopolis loser in Spartan Turkey Jam, Mountain Brook, 5:30 p.m.

Champions Sports Academy Girls Thanksgiving Classic
Pleasant Valley vs. Lincoln, noon
Ohatchee vs. Saks, 1:30 p.m.
Collinsville vs. Coosa Christian, 3 p.m.
Weaver vs. Hokes Bluff, 4:30 p.m.
Alexandria vs. Cherokee County, 6 p.m.
Spring Garden vs. White Plains, 7:30 p.m.

Marble City Classic, Sylacauga
Boys games
Talladega vs. Smiths Station, 11:30 a.m.
Chelsea vs. Childersburg, 2:30 p.m.
Wetumpka at Sylacauga, 5:30 p.m.
Girls games
Cleburne County at Sylacauga, 10 a.m.
Smiths Station vs. Calera, 1 p.m.
Chelsea vs. Childersburg, 4 p.m.

Coy Smith Memorial Tournament
at Ashville
Ragland vs. Vincent, 5 p.m.
Jacksonville at Ashville, 7 p.m.

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