Monday girls basketball
- Updated: December 10, 2018
Spring Garden finds a post presence and identity in comeback against Anniston; White Plains smothers Saks; Oxford, Jacksonville, Faith, Wellborn fall
Girls games
Cherokee County 54, Jacksonville 33
Cleburne County 49, Wellborn 21
Coosa Christian 66, Faith Christian 28
Fort Payne 63, Oxford 35
Spring Garden 51, Anniston 44
White Plains 35, Saks 12
By East Alabama Sports Today
SPRING GARDEN – Spring Garden girls basketball coach Ricky Austin has been fortunate to have an inside presence the past few seasons with Tykeah and Tiyonna Rogers.
With both of them now gone, there’s a new big on the block. It’s freshman forward Neely Welsh’s turn to be that cog inside, and she didn’t disappoint Monday night in a 51-44 come-from-behind victory over Class 4A Anniston.
Welsh connected on 7-of-15 shots from the floor and sank 8-of-10 free throw attempts to finish with 22 points. She also had seven rebounds. And when she wasn’t attacking on the inside, she tossed it out to junior shooting guard Macy Reedy, who hit 5-of-7 3-pointers on her way to a 24-point night.
“The game plan was for Neely to be the go-to,” Austin said. “We’ve been trying to develop her all year, and we thought we might have the matchup with (Toniah) Foster and the way they lined up. We got it early, but we kind of got away from it, but then when we dialed it back up, she was still there again scoring.
“When they started helping (on Welsh), Macy got hot. That’s an inside-out game and that’s how we want to play.”
Welsh and Reedy scored all of the Lady Panthers’ points in the first three quarters. Anniston (4-1) still managed to hold a 35-34 lead, but momentum was slowly shifting to the Lady Panthers (6-2).
Anniston coach Eddie Bullock said his team began to “get a little scattered out” in the second half and that helped make things a little easier for Welsh and Reedy.
“We kept leaving the shooter open,” Bullock said. “I think at one point we gave up three straight 3s in the corner, and you can’t do that against them. I told them I’d rather close out and make them beat us off the dribble. It’s just not being disciplined in certain areas.”
Anniston’s Anna Garrett tied the game at 42 with a 3 around the six-minute mark of the fourth quarter, but then the Lady Panthers began finding their way to the foul line. Reedy was fouled on a 3-point shot with 4:20 to go and sank all three of her shots from the line. Senior forward Payton McGinnis hit five free throws in the final 1:30 for all her points.
“It was not all pretty. We didn’t play great, but Anniston forces you to do that,” Austin said. “They’re so scrappy, so physical, so aggressive, but what I told (his players) after the game is if we can take that game and polish it up, then we’ve got something, a better foundation than we had coming into this game.
“I was proud of the whole team’s grind and grit. That looked more like a Spring Garden girls team than anything I’ve seen this year.”
Allasha Dudley led Anniston with 11 points, but the Lady Bulldogs’ big outside threat was held scoreless in the second half. –Shannon Fagan
Spring Garden 51, Anniston 44
ANNISTON (4-1) – Allasha Dudley 5 0-0 11, Anna Garrett 1 0-0 3, Jordyn Johnson 1 0-0 3, Airrana Colley 1 0-0 3, Shiwanna Jackson 4 2-3 10, Kiana Montgomery 0 0-0 0, Unrayasia Barclay 3 2-5 8, Toniah Foster 2 2-2 6. Totals 17 6-10 44.
SPRING GARDEN (6-2) – A.J. Broome 0 0-1 0, Macy Reedy 7 5-5 24, Neely Welsh 7 8-10 22, Payton McGinnis 0 5-6 5, Madison Jennings 0 0-1 0. Totals 14 18-25 51.
Anniston 15 14 6 9 – 44
Spring Garden 8 12 14 17 – 51
3-point goals: Anniston 4 (Dudley, Garrett, Johnson, Colley); Spring Garden 5 (Reedy 5). Total fouls: Anniston 20, Spring Garden 13. Officials: Burroughs, Holloway, McElreeth.
Fort Payne 63, Oxford 35
OXFORD – Fort Payne used a smothering full-court press to create turnovers and pull away from the Lady Jackets.
The Wildcats (7-4) had four players in double figures led by Logan Neil’s 14 points. Justyce Smith had 18 points and 10 rebounds to lead Oxford (1-8).
Smith was the only offense for Oxford in the first quarter as she scored six points and grabbed four rebounds. Fort Payne’s Kori Willingham countered with a pair of 3s in a seven-point run to give the Wildcats a 13-6 lead.
Turnovers shut down the Oxford offense in the second quarter as it was held to six points. Five Fort Payne players scored as the Wildcats opened up 17-point halftime lead. The Lady Jackets had 13 turnovers in the half.
The Yellow Jackets got off to a fast start in the third and cut their deficit to 34-19, but the Wildcats took advantage of eight Oxford turnovers to go on a 16-2 run. –Brant Locklier
Fort Payne 63, Oxford 35
FORT PAYNE (7-4) – Isabelle Goggains 6 0-0 12, Mattie Prewitt 0 3-4 3, Madison Goodwin 1 0-0 2, Kori Willingham 3 0-0 9, Logan Neil 4 0-0 11, Kylie Neil 3 0-0 6, Alysabeth Sheppard 3 4-7 10, Teeanna Kerley 3 2-2 10 Totals 23 9-13 63.
OXFORD (1-8) – Kierstin Woods 0 0-0 0, Kaleah Taylor 0 0-0 0, Lisa Montgomery 0 4-4 4, Sara Paulson 0 0-0 0, Ashleigh Jackson 1 1-2 3, Akiera Robinson 3 2-4 8, Amirea McLeod 0 2-2 2, Justyce Smith 8 2-2 18. Totals 12 11-14 35.
Fort Payne 14 15 27 7 – 63
Oxford 6 6 18 5 – 35
3-point goals: Fort Payne 8 (Willingham 3, L. Neil 3, Kerley 2).
White Plains 35, Saks 12
Lily Ponder scored eight of her 10 points in the second quarter as the Lady Wildcats pulled away. Angel Bozarth scored six of her nine in the third quarter as they extended the lead.
White Plains 35, Saks 12
WHITE PLAINS – Callyn Martin 3 2-5 8, Cheyenne Cochran 1 0-0 2, Ary Rosario 0 0-4 0, Camdyen Wilson 0 1-4 1, Lily Ponder 4 2-2 10, Adriana Sotelo 0 0-1 0, Jocelyn Harris 2 1-1 5, Angel Bozarth 4 1-2 9, Kaylee Johnson 0 0-0 0. Totals 14 7-19 35.
SAKS – Amya Carlise 1 0-2 3, DeAvian Stewart 0 0-0 0, Destini Elston 0 0-2 0, Takeirra Hudson 0 0-0 0, Deja Almon 1 0-1 2, Halimah Binyamin 1 0-2 2, Teana Edwards 2 0-2 5, Alicia Gooden 0 0-2 0. Totals 5 0-11 12.
White Plains 6 15 10 4 – 35
Saks 5 2 3 2 – 12
3-point goals: Saks 2 (Carlise, Edwards). Total fouls: White Plains 13, Saks 19. Officials: Smith, Stringer, Cunlee.
Cleburne County 49, Wellborn 21
HEFLIN – Kendall Houston scored 10 of her 17 points in the first half and the Lady Tigers didn’t allow a point in the second quarter to open a 20-point halftime lead. McKenzie Raines led Wellborn with 10.
Cleburne County 49, Wellborn 21
WELLBORN – Amya Myles 1 0-1 2, Alyssa Morgan 0 0-0 0, Itiania Weatherly 3 0-6 6, McKenzie Raines 4 0-0 10, Arisa Nelly 1 1-2 3, Chloe Adkison 0 0-0 0. Totals 9 1-9 21.
CLEBURNE COUNTY – Haven Freeman 0 1-2 1, Kendall Houston 8 0-0 17, Micha Pentacost 3 0-0 6, Jacy Littleton 1 1-2 4, Brooklyn McDaniel 4 1-6 9, Haley Price 3 1-3 8, Haley Roberts 1 2-2 4, Shanna Brown 0 0-0 0, Annie Brown 0 0-1 0, Kyeli Hazzard 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 6-16 49.
Wellborn 6 0 9 6 – 21
Cleburne County 16 10 14 9 – 49
3-point goals: Wellborn 2 (Raines 2); Cleburne County 3 (Houston, Littleton, Price). Total fouls: Wellborn 12, Cleburne County 12. Officials: Kelley, Courtney, Evans.
Cherokee County 54, Jacksonville 33
CENTRE – The Lady Warriors held a one-point lead after the first quarter then held Jacksonville scoreless in the second to open an eight-point pad at halftime. Kayleigh Hunter led Cherokee County with 15 points, 15 rebounds, three steals and two assists. Kayla Broom led Jacksonville with 17 points, eight rebounds and three blocked shots.
Cherokee County 54, Jacksonville 33
JACKSONVILLE – Kayla Broom 6-11 4-4 17, Patience Carr 1-6 4-6 6, TiAsia Williams 1-1 2-2 5, Amarie Curry 2-2 0-1 4, Malijah Goggins 0-2 1-4 1, Brenna Stone 0-4 0-1 0, Rebekah Gannaway 0-4 0-0 0, Amia Montgomery 0-0 0-0 0, Ashlynn Farr 0-0 0-0 0, Sarah Quinn 0-0 0-0 0, Khadajah Richardson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 10-30 11-18 33.
CHEROKEE COUNTY – Kayleigh Hunter 4-10 7-10 15, Laney Johnson 4-10 4-6 13, Crimson Mahannah 3-7 5-7 11, Jordyn Starr 5-13 0-0 11, Aubrie Williams 0-10 2-2 2, Alexia Wood 1-1 0-0 2, Carson Mahannah 0-2 0-0 0, Audrey Wester 0-2 0-0 0, Caitlyn Elrod 0-0 0-0 0, Sydney Whisenant 0-1 0-2 0. Totals 17-56 18-27 54.
Jacksonville 14 0 12 7 – 33
Cherokee County 15 7 16 16 – 54
3-point goals: Jacksonville 2-8 (Broom 1-3, Carr 0-2, Williams 1-1, Goggins 0-1, Gannaway 0-1); Cherokee County 2-14 (Hunter 0-1, Johnson 1-2, Cr. Mahannah 0-4, Starr 1-5, Ca. Mahannah 0-1, Wester 0-1). Rebounds: Jacksonville 34 (Broom 8, Curry 5, Stone 5); Cherokee County 36 (Hunter 15). Fouled out: Carr. Total fouls: Jacksonville 21, Cherokee County 15.
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