Piedmont goes to 5-0

By EASportsToday.com
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Updated: December 14, 2019

Bulldogs rally behind Thompson, Odam to complete first week undefeated; Garrett gives Oxford bragging rights in Huntsville

Saturday’s boys scores
ASD 48, Mississippi SD 34
Oxford 56, Greenforest Christian (Ga.) 48
Piedmont 64, Mt. Zion (Ga.) 52

Saturday’s girls scores
Mississippi SD 64, ASD 20
Mt. Zion (Ga.) 66, Piedmont 33

By East Alabama Sports Today

PIEDMONT – Silas Thompson scored 14 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter and Alex Odam had a career-high 31 as Piedmont rallied from a five-point deficit in the fourth quarter to beat Mt. Zion (Ga.) 64-52 Saturday.

Odam and Thompson had 29 and 23, respectively, against Mt. Zion when the teams played in the Bulldogs’ season-opener last Saturday.

Mt. Zion opened the fourth quarter with a 9-2 run to take a 50-45 lead, then the Bulldogs (5-0) went to work.

“Those two guys did a great job down the stretch,” Piedmont coach JoJo Odam said of Thompson and his son. “Alex was hot early and got us going and the defense started focusing on him so it opened things up for Silas to score inside late.

“Malachi Jackson also played really well tonight and hit three big 3-pointers for us when we needed them.”

Odam scored 13 of the Bulldogs’ 16 points in the first quarter. He was 10-of-21 from the floor in the game. Thompson was 7-of-14 from the field and grabbed 11 rebounds. Jackson was 3-for-3 from behind the arc.

The Bulldogs were 14-for-14 from the free throw line as a team and have made 19 straight over the last two games and were 19-of-20 in the fourth quarter in their five games this past week.

J.D. Hindsman led Mt. Zion with 22 points.

Oxford 58, Greenforest Christian 48:The Yellow Jackets got their piece of bragging rights in the Alabama-Georgia Challenge in Huntsville behind a game-high 23 points by Zondrick Garrett. Mont McClendon and Justin Moore both had 11.

“I thought he played like a Division I signee at South Alabama,” Oxford coach Joel VanMeter said of Garrett. “He competed hard. He was the best player in the paint. I thought his motor was really good. But I also thought he was so good was because the guys around him were so good at getting him the ball and getting him in situations to be successful.”

It took the Jackets a while to get adjusted to Greenforest’s length; the Eagles have a 6-foot-9 forward, Christian Fassell, heading to Middle Tennessee and 6-6 Lamar Oden Jr. heading to Drexel. Oden had 21 points and Fussell had 18.

The Jackets led by two after the first quarter, then opened a 34-20 halftime lead. Greenforest got as close as one, then McClendon kept it at arm’s length by making free throws down the stretch.

Mt. Zion 66, Piedmont girls 33: Jordan Kierbow scored all but three of Mt. Zion’s points in the first half and went for 43 in the game. Ava Pope led Piedmont with 12 points behind 4-of-7 shooting from the floor. Lele Ridley had 10 points and seven rebounds. The Lady Bulldogs had 33 field goal attempts in the game and were 20-of-36 from the free throw line.

BOYS BOX SCORES
Piedmont 64, Mt. Zion 52
MT. ZION – Darius Hudgins 1 0-0 3, Jayden Perkins 2 0-0 8, J.D. Hindsman 7 5-10 22, Christian Terrell 4 0-0 9, Kendrick Brownlow 3 1-3 7, Tristian Jordan 0 0-0 0, Cade Webb 0 0-0 0, Anton Thompson 0 0-0 0, Fisher 1 0-0 3. Totals 19 6-13 52.
PIEDMONT (5-0) – Alex Odam 10 8-8 31, Omarion Foster 0 0-0 0, Luke Bussey 0 2-2 2, Trey McFarland 2 0-0 4, Silas Thompson 7 4-4 18, Jack Hayes 0 0-0 0, Malachi Jackson 3 0-0 9, Jakari Foster 0 0-0 0. Totals 22 14-14 64

Mt. Zion 11  13 17  11  –  52
Piedmont             16  10 17  21  –  64
3-point goals: Mt. Zion 8 (Hudgins, Perkins 2, Hindsman 3, Terrell, Fisher); Piedmont 6-20 (Odam 3-9, Bussey 0-3, McFarland 0-1, Thompson 0-2, Jackson 3-3, J. Foster 0-2). Total fouls: Mt. Zion 12, Piedmont 11.

Oxford 56, Greenforest 48
OXFORD – Zondrick Garrett 8 5-8 23, Rylan Houck 0 0-0 0, Mont McClendon 2 6-6 11, Kobe Warren 2 0-2 5, Rock Taylor 3 0-0 6, Justin Moore 5 0-0 11, Milas Jackson 0-0-0. Totals 20 11-16 56.
GREENFOREST – Kai Cook 2 0-0 4, Jalen Forrest 1 0-0 3, Eric Smith 0 0-0-0, Florian Tenebay 1 0-0 2, Ben Pack 0 0-0 0, Christian Fussell 6 4-7 18, Lamar Oden 8 4-6 21, Keon Hampton 0 0-0 0, John Platt 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 8-13 48.

Oxford 11  23  5   17  –  56
Greenforest         9    11 11 17  –  48
3-point goals: Oxford 5 (Moore, Warren, McClendon, Garrett 2); Greenforest 4 (Forrest, Fussell 2, Oden). Total fouls: Oxford 11, Greenforest 18.

GIRLS BOX SCORE
Mt. Zion 66, Piedmont 33
MT. ZION – Whitney Payton 0 0-0 0, Shanaiah Farley 1 2-4 5, Katelynn Hindsman 0 0-0 0, Jordan Farley 1 0-0 2, Holland 0 0-0 0, King 0 0-0 0, Aleisha Hutton 1 0-1 2, Haley Bankston 2 0-0 4, Bailey Raney 0 0-0 0, Mareisha Rowe 0 0-0 0, Nasaiah Farley 2 0-0 5, Jordan Kierbow 16 8-9 43, Phillips 2 0-0 5. Totals 25 10-14 66.
PIEDMONT – Emma G. Todd 0 0-0 0, Whitney McFry 0 0-2 0, Lele Ridley 2 4-6 10, Ava Pope 4 3-4 12, Hannah Barbee 0 0-0 0, Armani Perry 0 1-2 1, Jenna Calvert 0 2-2 2, Sarah Goss 0 0-0 0, Gracie Naugher 0 2-6 2, Jaycee Glover 0 2-2 2, Z’Hayla Walker 0 4-6 4. Totals 6 20-36 33.

Mt. Zion 12  13 24  17  –  66
Piedmont             10 6  10   7    –  33
3-point goals: Mt. Zion 6 (S. Farley, N. Farley, Kierbow 3, Phillips); Piedmont 1 (Pope). Fouled out: Hindsman. Total fouls: Mt. Zion 27, Piedmont 10.