Bouncing back
- Updated: January 7, 2019
White Plains’ Ponder, Bozarth come back big against Cleburne County; Cortez’ 20 leads Weaver over Wellborn
Monday’s scores
Weaver 56, Wellborn 21
White Plains 55, Cleburne County 38
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
After being shut out in their last game, White Plains’ Lily Ponder and Angel Bozarth bounced back in a big way Monday.
Bozarth hit four 3-pointers and scored 22 points and Ponder scored 14 as the Lady Wildcats handled Cleburne County 55-38 in what coach Chris Randall called “not even close, our best game of the year as a team.”
The two scorers were the focus of Weaver’s triangle-and-2 Friday night and they didn’t score. They were eager to make up for it the next time they got on the floor.
“I just felt since we didn’t play good we had to bring it this game,” Bozarth said. “I just hadn’t been playing good so I felt like I had to show coach I could play.”
“I had more poise tonight,” Ponder said. “I just had to calm down, take care of the ball, press my teammates more. Weaver’s a big rival, but Heflin is, too, and I just had to come out with that in my system and use it to score more.”
Randall got an indication Bozarth was ready to play right away. She scored the first points of the game on a put-back flying through from the back side to follow Callyn Martin’s missed shot against Cleburne County’s zone. She had three offensive rebounds in the first quarter.
“The whole thing was Angel’s effort,” Randall said. “When she plays that kind of effort she’s special. She can be one of the best players who ever played here.
“And Lily, she conducted. She orchestrated things. She ran the show. She made great decisions. She made the simple boring pass over and over again. She just took what the defense gave her every single time, and then late in the game it opened up for her and she started scoring.”
Strong defense was an equally important element to the Lady Wildcats’ victory. They held Cleburne County without a field goal in the second quarter and to only three after Olivia McDaniel’s third straight basket gave the Lady Tigers opened a 16-12 lead late in the first quarter.
McDaniel was Cleburne County’s leading scorer with 15 points. Kendall Houston had nine points in the first quarter, but only one the rest of the game.
“We went red on 22 for them (Houston) and wanted to make somebody else make a shot,” Randall said. “(Adrianna) Sotelo, Callyn and Camden (Wilson) all rotated every two minutes guarding her. Taking her out of the game was the whole key for us and the defensive effort of those three girls there (did the job).”
White Plains 55, Cleburne County 38
CLEBURNE COUNTY (13-7) – Haley Roberts 0 0-0 0, Olivia McDaniel 5 5-8 15, Annie Brown 1 0-0 2, Kyeli Hazzard 0 0-0 0, Jacy Littleton 1 0-0 2, Haley Price 0 2-2 2, Micha Pentacost 0 0-0 0, Kendall Houston 3 4-7 12, Brooklyn McDaniel 0 4-8 4, Haven Freeman 0 1-2 1, Cayden Lindsey 0 0-0 0. Totals 10 16-27 38.
WHITE PLAINS (9-10) – Callyn Martin 1 0-0 3, Cheyenne Cochran 0 0-0 0, Ary Rosario 2 1-4 5, Camden Wilson 0 0-2 0, Lily Ponder 5 2-4 14, Adriana Sotelo 0 0-0 0, Jocelyn Harris 4 0-0 8, Angel Bozarth 8 2-3 22, Kylee Johnson 0 3-4 3. Totals 20 8-17 55.
Cleburne County 17 6 8 7 – 38
White Plains 13 13 14 15 – 55
3-point goals: Cleburne County 2 (Houston 2); White Plains 7 (Martin, Ponder 2, Bozarth 4). Total fouls: Cleburne County 15, White Plains 16. Officials: Miller, Burroughs, Taylor.
WEAVER 56, WELLBORN 21
WEAVER – Caleigh Cortez scored 20 points and Maleah Foster chipped in 11 as the Lady Bearcats (12-5) won their third in a row and sixth in their last seven games. They improved to 8-1 against in-county competition.
Weaver 56, Wellborn 21
WELLBORN (1-12) – Amaya Myles 1 2-4 5, Itiania Weatherly 3 2-6 8, McKenzie Raines 2 0-2 5, Arissa Nolley 0 0-0 0, Annelies Boot 0 0-0 0, Cloie Adkison 0 3-4 3. Totals 6 7-16 21.
WEAVER (12-5) – Caleigh Cortez 8 4-6 20, Kiese Hubbard 1 0-0 2, Lorilei Brown 0 0-0 0, Maleah Foster 4 3-6 11, Trinity Pulliam 4 0-0 8, Dijinea Anderson 0 0-0 0, Abby Gaines 3 0-0 6, Haley Homesley 4 1-2 9. Totals 24 8-14 56.
Wellborn 7 6 6 2 – 21
Weaver 12 18 11 15 – 56
3-point goals: Wellborn 2 (Myles, Raines). Fouled out: Myles. Total fouls: Wellborn 14, Weaver 14. Officials: Brambelow, Robinson, Oden.
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