Second-half surge
- Updated: December 13, 2018
Saks girls find inspiration at halftime and pull away from Clay Central for their second win; Piedmont swamps Wellborn behind Kirk’s 30, Ohatchee falls
THURSDAY’S GIRLS GAMES
Coosa Christian 66, Ohatchee 47
Saks 49, Clay Central 41
Cleburne County at Bowden (Ga.)
Lincoln at Talladega
Piedmont 71, Wellborn 16
By Al Muskewtiz
East Alabama Sports Today
The Saks girls basketball team found a little incentive at halftime of their game with Clay Central Thursday afternoon. There’s nothing like the threat of a little extra practice after already playing a game to get a team’s motor going.
The Lady Wildcats found themselves down by nine at halftime to a team that had only five players. Coach Michelle Morgan knew her team could do better and that’s when she hit them with the notion of going to the old gym for another two-hour workout if they didn’t pick up the pace.
That’s all it took. The Lady Wildcats came back out and scored nearly half their points in the game in the third quarter and rallied for their second win of the season, 49-41.
“We tend to play the same type (style) as the competition we’re playing,” Morgan said. “If our competition is playing so, we want to try to play slow, and that’s not what winners do. Winners go for the throat, the kill punch.
“I walked in there and said I can’t believe you have a chance to prove to everybody how good you are and you’re laying down. You’re making it easy. This is your gym. If we can’t fix it we’re going to go over there in the old gym and practice for two hours, and here we are.”
The Lady Wildcats outscored their visitors 24-11 in the third quarter to take the lead for good. Halimah Binyamin really took Morgan’s message to heart, scoring 10 of her 21 points in the third quarter and 16 in the second half.
Morgan called Binyamin the “glue holding us together right now,” and likened the senior captain to the good cop when Morgan turns into “the hard coach to play for.”
“It was embarrassing and I made sure I let them know that,” Binyamin said of the halftime deficit. “They had five players and we were playing at their level. They were tired, we weren’t but we slowed down. But after we had that talk we really got it together.
“You want to play a game and then go practice? After we heard that everybody really started getting their stuff together then.”
That’s when the Binyamin and Lady Wildcats started to attack down low took control of the game.
It’s not like the Lady Vols played five and had some reserves on the bench just in case; they only brought five to play. They were in danger of playing the whole second half with four after Ashley McNeil turned an ankle 1:13 before halftime. The trainers worked got her back in the game and she was able to continue and once play resumed the Lady Vols extended their lead to nine.
The third-quarter resurgence helped Saks take a 38-34 lead into the fourth quarter. The Lady Wildcats extended their lead to a safe margin with a 7-0 run in the first three minutes of the fourth.
“That’s the team I know that can play,” Morgan said. “What they just showed that second half is what I see every day in practice, how I see how they work hard, and I just can’t find a way to get them to play a whole game like that or come out like that, come out with that passion, with that fire.
“We’re still a brand-new team and we’re adjusting to a new system, but that shouldn’t matter with your heart. It shouldn’t matter how much passion you play with, like that should never stop. We’re not a very talented shooting team yet, we’re working on it, but what we’re going to win off of is our athleticism on defense and our quickness and speed and if we do the right things and play with heart and passion on defense that’s where we’re going to win a lot of the ballgames.”
Saks 49, Clay Central 41
CLAY CENTRAL (0-1) – Ashley McNeil 4 0-0 10, Cierra Lanier 1 0-0 2, Ahnyah Denney 5 3-9 17, Adrienna Jones 0 0-0 0, Angel Jennings 6 0-2 12. Totals 16 3-11 41.
SAKS – Amya Carslie 1 1-4 3, Penelope Dudley 0 0-0 0, Teona Williams 0 0-0 0, DaArian Stewart 1 0-0 3, Takeirra Hudson 0 0-0 0, Deja Almon 2 0-0 4, Halimah Binyamin 10 1-4 21, Teana Edwards 5 1-5 11, Alicia Gooden 0 0-0 0, Destini Elston 2 3-5 7. Totals 21 6-18 49.
Clay Central 6 17 11 7 – 41
Saks 5 9 24 11 – 49
3-point goals: 6 (McNeil 2, Denney 4); Saks 1 (Stewart). Total fouls: Clay Central 12, Saks 16. Officials: Hall, Davis, Robinson.
Piedmont 71, Wellborn 16
PIEDMONT – Kayley Kirk hit four 3-pointers and erupted for 30 points as the Lady Bulldogs won their area opener. Sydney Prater had 17 points, seven rebounds and six assists for Piedmont. went for 17. The Lady Bulldogs held Wellborn to one field goal over the final three quarters.
Piedmont 71, Wellborn 16
WELLBORN – Amaya Myles 1 4-9 6, Alyssa Morgan 0 0-0 0, Itiania Weatherly 1 2-6 4, McKenzie Raines 0 0-1 0, Arissa Nolley 0 0-0 0, Cloie Adkison 2 2-2 6, Becca Salter 0 0-0 0. Totals 4 8-18 16.
PIEDMONT (3-0) – Kayley Kirk 13 0-0 30, Lele Ridley 1 0-0 2, Hannah Barbee 0 0-0 0, Armani Perry 2 0-0 6, McKenzie Tolbert 3 0-0 7, Madison Tyree 2 0-1 5, Amber Raney 0 0-0 0, Z’Hayla Walker 2 0-1 4, Sydney Prater 6 3-5 17. Totals 29 3-7 71.
Wellborn 9 4 2 1 – 16
Piedmont 20 20 21 10 – 71
3-point goals: Piedmont 10 (Kirk 4, Perry 2, Tolbert, Tyree, Prater 2). Fouled out: Weatherly. Total fouls: Wellborn 16, Piedmont 14. Officials: Kelley, Batey, Weeks.
Coosa Christian 66, Ohatchee 47
OHATCHEE – India Brown scored 19 of her 21 points in the second half as the Lady Conquerors erased a five-point halftime deficit. Jazmine Adams led Ohatchee with 14 points, including three 3-pointers in the second quarter.
Coosa Christian 66, Ohatchee 47
COOSA CHRISTIAN – Claire Davidson 6 7-9 19, Chloe Davidson 3 4-4 11, Sidnee Courington 2 1-2 5, Kaylie Reeves 1 0-0 2, Isabella Millirons 3 0-0 6, Emma Justus 1 0-0 2, India Brown 10 1-4 21. Totals 26 13-19 66.
OHATCHEE – Gracyn Snow 2 0-0 5, Jazmine Adams 5 1-2 14, Tori Vice 3 2-4 9, Marli Hanks 3 0-0 6, Gracie George 2 1-2 5, Millie Rainwater 1 1-2 4, Regan Snow 0 0-0 0, Jorda Crook 2 0-0 4. Totals 18 5-10 47.
Coosa Christian 4 17 24 21 – 66
Ohatchee 9 17 7 14 – 47
3-point goals: Coosa Christian (Ch. Davidson); Ohatchee 6 (G. Snow, Adams 3, Vice, Rainwater). Total fouls: Coosa Christian 12, Ohatchee 12. Officials: Burroughs, McElreeth, Barber.
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