Boxed in
- Updated: February 1, 2019
Girls roundup: Weaver’s elevator goes all the way to the top, but doesn’t let anyone out; story will be updated
GIRLS GAMES
Anniston 55, Jacksonville 13
Ashville 54, Ragland 47
Cherokee County at Fort Payne
Faith Christian 42, Weaver 39
Glencoe 57, Pleasant Valley 39
Jacksonville Christian 57, ASD 37
Lincoln 43, Wellborn 12
Piedmont 62, Westbrook Christian 36
Pell City 60, Munford 25
Sand Rock at Hokes Bluff
Spring Garden 63, Collinsville 42
Talladega at Clay Central
White Plains 31, Ranburne 20
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
WEAVER – The first sign Gary Atchley had there was trouble came when he got to his seat on the bench right before the scheduled tip time of his game and none of his players were rushing in behind him.
The big tipoff, thought, was probably the phone call from Cincinnati moments later with the person on the other end asking the Weaver girls basketball coach if he had a daughter stuck in an elevator.
Not exactly the kind of “big-time distraction” you want five minutes before the scheduled start of a Senior Night game, especially not for a coach already on edge as much as Atchley.
But that was exactly the situation before the Lady Bearcats played Faith Christian Friday. All 11 Weaver players – and the manager – were stuck in an elevator for 30 minutes with everyone for a game.
The players did emerge in time for a five-minute warmup but the adventure – and missing two injured starters – eventually caught up to them and they lost to the Lady Lions 42-39.
The Lady Bearcats have been making their entrance by coming up from the basement in the elevator, installed during the current reconstruction of the school, and then running onto the court. The lift made it from the basement to the court level, but the door wouldn’t open.
The players called the number on the emergency phone and got someone in Ohio who then called Atchley on the bench.
Understandably some players became upset in the close quarters, but Atchley’s daughter Maddie – an eighth-grade guard on the team and the subject on that call from Cincinnati – said they passed the time playing games to keep their minds off their plight.
“It was kind of funny at first; we were all kind of laughing,” Maddie said. “We’ve made jokes before about what if we get stuck in the elevator, and that’s what happened today.
“It was really small and there were a lot of us in there, but we were pretty good … It just kind of shows you how good of a team we are. We just get through stuff.”
Fire trucks and tech support were arriving at the scene just about the time the doors started to open. When that happened, Maddie said, “it was awesome, we all just ran out.”
Watching how poorly his team played once the game began, Atchley said, “we should have never gotten out of the elevator.”
They actually led 14-4 after the first quarter and 20-13 at halftime, but the Lady Lions roared back in the second half. Sydnee Johnson scored eight points in the third quarter as the Lady Lions pulled to within 41-30 and Kristin Covington scored all 10 of their points in the fourth quarter when they grabbed the lead.
They were missing outside shooters Abby Gaines (ankle) and Maleah Foster (hamstring), which seriously curtailed their offense. Not are expected back Tuesday in time for the top-seeded host Lady Bearcats’ area tournament opener against either Saks or Wellborn. They only recently got back leading scorer Caleigh Cortez (flu), and she led them Friday with 15 points.
“This is a story I guess I’ll tell in 20 years and laugh about,” Atchley said. But there was nothing funny about the way they played.
Weaver principal Mike Allison said the elevator would be re-inspected Monday. Regardless of the findings, don’t look for the Lady Bearcats to be riding it up to the gym anytime soon.
“No, no, no, we’re done,” Atchley said. “Our elevator riding is over.”
Faith Christian 42, Weaver 39
FAITH CHRISTIAN – Emily Sills 1 0-1 2, Kristin Covington 5 7-8 17, Kassidy Nix 0 0-0 0, Elizabeth Bedford 0 0-0 0, Sydnee Johnson 4 6-10 16, C.J. Setters 2 0-0 4, Sarah Kate McVeigh 1 1-2 3, Savanna Gibbins 0 0-0 0. Totals 13 14-21 42.
WEAVER – Carleigh Cortez 7 1-3 15, Kiese Hubbard 1 0-0 2, Trinity Pulliam 5 0-2 10, Dijinea Anderson 0 0-0 0, Amira Carter 1 2-6 4, Haley Homesley 2 4-6 8. Totals 16 7-17 39.
Faith Christian 4 11 17 10 – 42
Weaver 14 6 11 8 – 39
3-point goals: Faith 2 (Johnson 2). Fouled out: Pulliam. Total fouls; Faith 15, Weaver 15. Officials: Askew, Oden, Carlee.
Lady Dawgs ready for playoffs
Anniston coach Eddie Bullock has his team’s defense is right where he wants it and that’s not a good sign of any of the Lady Dawgs’ potential playoff opponents.
The Lady Dawgs won their eighth in a row and held their third opponent in the last five games under 20 points in a 55-13 rout of Jacksonville. They gave up 46 points in the Calhoun County Tournament title game, 51 points in the three games since. Only one opponent in the winning streak has scored more than 30.
Remember when Bullock lamented about his team not being sharp in certain areas defensively even when it appeared they pretty sharp? They did those things against the Lady Golden Eagles, specifically as it related to ball pressure, positioning and not giving up layups.
Anniston forced Jacksonville into 19 turnovers, off which the Lady Dawgs scored 15 points. Of the turnovers, 10 were steals. Jacksonville took only 23 shots.
“They did a good job tonight,” Bullock said. “They did the job I wanted them to do tonight.”
That defense fuels the offense. Nine different players scored for Anniston, with Toniah Foster and Airriana Colley leading the way with 11 points each.
Anniston 55, Jacksonville 13
JACKSONVILLE – Kayla Broom 2-4 0-2 6, Amia Montgomery 1-4 0-2 2, Amarie Curry 1-4 0-0 2, Rebekah Gannaway 1-4 0-0 2, TiAsia Williams 0-1 1-2 1, Patience Carr 0-3 0-0 0, Brenna Stone 0-2 0-0 0, Malijah Goggins 0-1 0-0 0, Aly Meagher 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 5-23 1-6 13.
ANNISTON – Toniah Foster 5-9 1-1 11, Airriana Colley 4-6 0-0 11, Tekyia Jackson 4-7 1-1 9, Allasha Dudley 3-8 0-0 8, Jordyn Johnson 1-2 4-4 6, Kiana Montgomery 2-6 1-2 5, Anna-MeKetra Garrett 1-2 0-0 2, Asia Barclay 1-1 0-0 2, Shiwanna Jackson 0-0 1-2 1, Khyla Garrett 0-0 0-0 0, Measia Kelley 0-0 0-0 0, Charliese Simmons 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-41 8-10 55.
Jacksonville 2 3 2 6 – 17
Anniston 18 11 9 17 – 55
3-point goals: Jacksonville 2-5 (Broom 2-2, Gannaway 0-1, Carr 0-2); Anniston 5-13 (Colley 3-5, Dudley 2-6, Johnson 0-1, A. Garrett 0-1). Rebounds: Jacksonville 16 (Carr 5); Anniston 28 (T. Jackson 7). Total fouls: Jacksonville 8, Anniston 7.
White Plains 31, Ranburne 20
RANBURNE – Jasey Langley 0 0-0 0, Briley Merrill 3 3-4 9, Julianna Merrill 0 1-2 1, Chaney Merrill 0 0-0 0, Jennifer Howle 0 0-0 0, Natalie Merrill 1 0-0 2, Erica Lovvorn 0 0-0 0, Kayli Olds 4 0-4 8. Totals 8 4-10 20.
WHITE PLAINS – Callyn Martin 3 3-11 9, Ary Rosario 1 0-1 2, Camden Wilson 1 0-0 2, Lily Ponder 1 0-0 2, Adrianna Sotelo 1 0-0 3, Jocelyn Harris 3 2-4 8, Angel Bozarth 2 0-0 5, Kaylee Johnson 0 0-0 0. Totals 12 5-16 30.
Ranburne 6 5 2 7 – 20
White Plains 6 11 5 9 – 31
3-point goals: White Plains 2 (Sotelo, Bozarth). Fouled out: Langley. Total fouls: Ranburne 16, White Plains 12. Officials: Watson, Phillips, Elworth.
Piedmont 62, Westbrook 36
PIEDMONT – Cayla Parris 1 0-2 2, Kayley Kirk 4 4-5 13, Lele Ridley 3 6-9 12, Hannah Barbee 0 0-0 0, Armani Perry 0 0-0 0, MacKenzie Tolbert 0 0-0 0, Sadie Naugher 0 0-0 0, Madison Tyree 3 0-0 9, Amber Raney 0 0-0 0, Zhayla Walker 4 1-2 9, Sydney Prater 6 5-6 17,Kiara Jackson 0 0-0 0. Totals 21 16-24 62.
WESTBROOK CHRISTIAN – Brooke Seawright 1 0-0 2, Brielle Wood 4 11-15 20, Jenah Goosby 0 0-0 0, Autumn Ingle 2 0-2 5, Liana Shah 1 0-0 3, Kinsley Gupta 1 0-0 3, Emberlie O’Sullivan 0 1-1 1, Grace Hyfield 0 0-0 0, Sara King 0 2-2 2, McKayla Bean 0 0-0 0, Allie Blevins 0 0-0 0, Margaret Morgan 0 0-0 0, Kenna Stephens 0 0-0 0. Totals 9 14-20 35
Piedmont 21 13 17 11 – 62
Westbrook 9 15 5 7 – 36
3-point goals: Piedmont 4 (Kirk, Tyree 3); Westbrook 4 (Wood, Ingle, Shah, Gupta).
Fouled out: Prater, Ingle, Gupta. Total fouls: Piedmont 16, Westbrook 19. Officials: Davis, Harrell, Guyton.
Notes: Prater also had nine rebounds, seven steals and four assists. Walker grabbed 13 rebounds. Ridley also had 13 rebounds and two blocked shots.
Glencoe 57, Pleasant Valley 39
PLEASANT VALLEY – Brooke Perry 1 1-2 3, Lindsey Pritchett 2 0-0 5, Rylee Haynes 0 0-0 0, Chandler Dorsett 2 7-8 13, Emma Hood 2 1-2 5, Karmyn Sparks 5 3-7 13. Totals 12 12-19 39.
GLENCOE – Anna Claire Hipps 0 0-0 0, Anna Grace Goodwin 2 0-0 4, Anna Beth Giles 5 1-1 12, Abby Vice 2 5-8 9, Ali Silvey 0 1-2 1, Ashley Morgan 2 6-8 10, Asia Dennis 1 2-4 4, Lexi Gray 1 0-0 2 Lauren Cole 3 0-0 6, Crimson Silvey 0 2-2 2, Aubrey Gray 2 3-4 7, Cami Zahorscak 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 20-29 57.
Pleasant Valley 11 4 9 15 – 39
Glencoe 10 14 12 21 – 57
3-point goals: Pleasant Valley 3 (Pritchett, Dorsett 2); Glencoe 1 (Giles). Fouled out: Perry. Total fouls: Pleasant Valley 17, Glencoe 17.
Ashville 54, Ragland 47
RAGLAND – Ryleigh Waid scored 26 points and went 6-for-6 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter to lift the Lady Bulldogs. Waid had 15 in the first half. Cadence Buchanan led Ragland with an evenly distributed 22 points. Campbell Adams added 11.
Ashville 54, Ragland 47
ASHVILLE – Erika Williams 5 2-3 13, Ryleigh Waid 7 12-16 26, Meghan McCarthy 0 0-0 0, Carley Thompson 2 1-1 5, Sara Beth Potter 0 0-2 0, Callie Stewart 1 0-0 2, Kayla Simpson 1 0-0 2, Porsche Woods 3 0-0 6, Elizabeth Franklin 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 15-22 54.
RAGLAND – Samantha Day-Jones 3 0-2 6, Campbell Adams 3 3-3 9, Aubrey Ball 1 0-0 3, Cadence Buchanan 10 1-2 22, Giana Byers 0 3-5 3, Conya Brewster 1 0-2 2, Hannah Ragsdale 0 0-0 0, Shelby Spanyer 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 7-24 47.
Ashville 18 18 7 11 – 54
Ragland 13 13 12 9 – 47
3-point goals: Ashville 1 (Williams); Ragland 4 (Adams 2, Ball, Buchanan). Fouled out: Potter, Adams. Total fouls: Ashville 22, Ragland 20. Officials: Whisenant, Mulkey, Higdon.
Lincoln 43, Wellborn 12
Jayla Morris led Lincoln with 13 points.
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