All about confidence
- Updated: January 12, 2019
Girls roundup: PV’s Dorsett continues to increase her efficiency as her confidence grows
Saturday’s girls games
Coosa (Ga.) at Cherokee County
Southside 55, Guntersville 32
Piedmont 71, Westbrook Christian 40
Pleasant Valley 52, Ohatchee 39
Ramsay at Anniston
Spring Garden 49, Plainview 36
Sumter Central 57, Munford 47
Sacred Heart 53, Sylacauga 18
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
JACKSONVILLE – Brad Hood isn’t the kind of coach who pours over piles and piles of analytics looking for the tiniest of edges for a game, but when the numbers speak to him he does listen.
The Pleasant Valley girls basketball coach did notice a striking trend developing as the season went along as it related to one player on his roster.
Chandler Dorsett wasn’t a starter for the Lady Raiders at the beginning of the season – actually, she was the sixth man – but every post-game statistic report Hood looked at through the first three games of the season told him she was the fifth most efficient player on the team. How do you ignore that?
Once Dorsett became a starter her status continued to rise. Fourth most efficient. Third. Then second. The past five games she’s been at the top of the chart, moving past top scorer Emma Hood and top rebounder Karmyn Sparks.
And it wasn’t just from what she brought to games. The assessment spilled into things in workouts and practice.
Dorsett was at the top of her game Saturday scoring 18 points on four 3-pointers and six free throws – three off another 3-point attempt – in the Lady Raiders’ 52-39 win over Ohatchee.
Her rise has been about confidence.
“It is pretty much night and day,” Dorsett said. “At the beginning of the year I wasn’t starting and whenever I went in I didn’t have much confidence in my shot or anything. Whenever I’d go in I would be scared to mess up or if I shot and didn’t make it I wouldn’t play as much.
“As the season has gone on Coach Hood has taught me just to shoot and even when it’s not going in just keep shooting and have confidence and that’s just what I’ve done. The more I’ve shot I’ve gotten more confidence so now I tell myself every time it’s going in.”
Dorsett hit her four 3s against the Lady Indians in the first three quarters. You could give the junior a fifth one from the fourth quarter because she was fouled on the shot and made all three free throws she was awarded. She hit back-to-back 3s late in the third quarter that gave the Lady Raiders a 39-24 lead.
She now has 32 3-pointers this season, but 21 have come after Christmas.
“A big turnaround was the Talladega Central game,” Hood said. “That game she had six 3s, but what my favorite part was not the six she hit, it was the three in a row she missed, which included an air-ball, and she never looked at the bench. She caught it, shot it and hit her fourth, fifth and sixth one after that. Right then I knew that Mac Parris mentality that the next one’s going in was in her.”
The Lady Raiders hit six 3-pointers in the game. Rylee Haynes had the other two – both in the first half, and she finished with 13 points.
Just as big for the Lady Raiders was the defensive job they did in the game. They held Ohatchee leading scorer Tori Vice without a basket until early in the second quarter and to only 11 points total. Eighth-grader Jorda Crook was the Lady Indians’ leading scorer with 13 points.
Pleasant Valley 52, Ohatchee 39
OHATCHEE (7-10) – Gracyn Snow 1 2-2 4, Jazmine Adams 0 0-4 0, Tori Vice 5 1-2 11, Gracie George 3 1-2 7, Millie Rainwater 1 0-0 2, Regan Snow 1 0-1 2, Jorda Grook 4 5-8 13. Totals 15 9-19 39.
PLEASANT VALLEY (12-8) – Brooke Perry 3 0-0 6, Lindsey Pritchett 1 0-0 2, Ava Boozer 0 0-0 0, Rylee Haynes 4 3-5 13, Chandler Dorsett 4 6-7 18, Emma Hood 1 2-4 4, Karmyn Sparks 3 3-6 9. Totals 16 14-22 52.
Ohatchee 6 12 12 9 – 39
Pleasant Valley 14 10 15 13 – 52
3-point goals: Pleasant Valley 6 (Haynes 2, Dorsett 4). Fouled out: Vice. Total fouls: Ohatchee 19, Pleasant Valley 15. Officials: Hinkle, Pratt, Poole.
PIEDMONT 71, WESTBROOK CHRISTIAN 40
PIEDMONT – Kayley Kirk and Sydney Prater outscored Westbrook by themselves and the Lady Bulldogs scored more points in the first half that Westbrook managed in the game.
Kirk scored 25 points, going 10-of-24 from the floor and had six rebounds, four assists and four steals. Prater scored 23 points on 6-for-17 shooting and going 9-of-13 from the line. Lele Ridley grabbed 11 rebounds and blocked two shots.
Piedmont 71, Westbrook Christian 40
WESTBROOK – Brooke Seawright 0 0-0 0, Brielle Wood 7 4-7 18, Jenah Goosby 0 0-0 0, Autumn Ingle 3 0-0 8, Liana Shah 3 0-0 7, Kinsley Gupta 1 0-0 2, Ember O’Sullivan 0 0-0 0, Sierra Hyfield 0 0-2 0, Sara King 0 2-2 2, Allie Blevins 1 1-2 3. Totals 15 7-13 40.
PIEDMONT (8-8) – Cayla Parris 1 0-0 3, Kayley Kirk 10 2-3 25, Lele Ridley 2 2-4 6, Ava Pope 1 0-0 3, Hannah Barbee 0 0-0 0, Armoni Perry 2 0-2 4, MacKenzie Tolbert 1 0-0 3, Madison Tyree 0 0-0 0, Amber Raney 0 0-2 0, Z’Hayla Walker 2 0-0 4, Sydney Prater 6 9-13 23, Kiara Jackson 0 0-0 0. Totals 25 13-24 71.
Westbrook 9 11 13 7 – 40
Piedmont 22 20 14 15 – 71
3-point goals: Westbrook 3 (Ingle 2, Shaw); Piedmont 8 (Parris, Kirk 3, Pope, Tolbert, Prater). Technical fouls: Westbrook coach Ostendorf. Total fouls: Westbrook 19, Piedmont 12. Officials: Phillips, Kelley, Poole.
SACRED HEART 53, SYLACAUGA 18
Ayanna Foster got the Lady Cardinals off to a fast start with 10 of her 15 points in the first quarter. It helped them open a 16-2 Senior Night lead. Seven of their nine scorers hit at least one 3-pointer in the game.
Sacred Heart 53, Sylacauga 18
SYLACAUGA – Aurielle Turner 1 1-4 3, Christina Keith 0 1-2 1, Gabrielle Cox 0 0-0 0, Destiny Brown 1 1-6 4, Zamar’ya Cook 0 0-2 0, Taylor Murphy 0 0-1 0, Cierra Dates 1 0-2 2, Dakota Johnson 2 1-2 5, Jashante Edwards 1 1-2 3. Totals 6 5-21 18.
SACRED HEART (16-2) – Alisia Person 3 0-0 8, Myiah Harris 2 0-0 5, Ayanna Foster 7 0-0 15, Cearia Jenkins 1 0-0 3, Joelle Tillery 2 0-0 5, Jordan Sabree 0 1-2 1, Serena Hardy 2 4-6 9, Alyssa Ball 1 0-0 3, Elizabeth Morris 0 0-0 0, Taysia West 2 0-0 4. Totals 20 5-6 53.
Sylacauga 2 3 8 5 – 18
Sacred Heart 16 13 17 7 – 53
3-point goals: Sylacauga 1 (Brown); Sacred Heart 8 (Person 2, Harris, Foster, Jenkins, Tillery, Hardy, Ball). Technical fouls: Foster. Total fouls: Sylacauga 5, Sacred Heart 20 Officials: Hall, Oden, Wesley.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login