Wildcats pull one out

By EASportsToday.com
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Updated: December 17, 2019

White Plains finds a way to win a close game, edges Jacksonville 48-44 for important area victory; Piedmont remains unbeaten and more

White Plains’ Quin Wilson (5) takes a defensive stance against Jacksonville’s Kyrie Maynor. Maynor had a potential game-tying layup with six seconds left go in and out and Wilson hit two free throws at the other end to seal the victory. (Photo by Olivia Noell)

Tuesday’s boys scores
ASD 51, Talladega County Central 50
Cherokee County 49, Hokes Bluff 45
Glencoe at Gaston
Jacksonville Christian 71, Donoho 46
Munford 55, Clay Central 48
Piedmont 59, Saks 35
Pleasant Valley 68, Wellborn 47
Ragland 70, Ohatchee 38
Spring Garden 66, Coosa Christian 41
Talladega 88, Cleburne County 21
Wadley 59, Ranburne 42
White Plains 48, Jacksonville 44
Winterboro 65, Victory Christian 33

By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today

Close games haven’t been kind to White Plains the last couple seasons so coach Chris Randall was glad when his team finally got one to go its way.

The Wildcats pulled out a close one Tuesday night in a pretty important game, edging Jacksonville 48-44 to tighten up the Class 4A Area 10 race.

A loss would have dropped the Wildcats to 0-2 in the area and thrown them in a race to avoid the fourth seed in their area tournament. As it is, they are tied with Jacksonville, a game down in the loss column to league leader Cherokee County.

The Wildcats (7-4) won it when Kyrie Maynor’s potential game-tying layup over the defense of White Plains post Coleman Messer went down and came out with six seconds left and Quin Wilson hit two free throws two seconds later to seal it.

They have lost seven games by three points or less over the past two seasons, two this year, including a bitterly disappointing 54-51 setback to Cherokee County on Friday, so Tuesday’s result was welcome news.

“We’ve been in a lot of tough games,” Wilson said. “Last year we were young pups and now we’ve finally pulled one out; it feels good. We’d pull away and were ‘all right, it’s not going to be close,’ and they’d come back and it’s a close one again, here we go. But we were ready for it.”

“That means a lot and that should give the guys some confidence and belief,” Randall said. “And it’s a good lesson of being able to go next play. Quin had a couple crucial turnovers, but he was able to burn it and then still be confident enough to go to the line in just a war and be able to hit six in a row down the stretch and he never touched the rim. His job at the line, just staying calm, staying cool, just really got us over the hump.”

White Plains held a six-point lead with 1:09 to play, but Radanis Kirksey’s putback with 22 seconds left got Jacksonville within two, 46-44. The Golden Eagles trapped Wilson on the inbounds and he almost lost it, but the Wildcats retained possession out of bounds with 16.4 left. The Wildcats inbounded it again and this time they did lose the ball out of bounds.

In an inbounds situation similar to what resulted in the Wildcats’ last-second loss to Calvary Day (N.C.) in Chattanooga last month, Jacksonville’s Jaeden Barksdale got the ball into Maynor near midcourt. Maynor drove down the right side of the lane and put up a shot with Messer protecting the rim.

The ball went partly down the cylinder but spun back out and into Messer’s arms for his sixth rebound. The Golden Eagles fouled Wilson and the Wildcats’ guard calmly sank his two free throws for the final margin.

“I just felt like I failed my team; we needed that shot and I couldn’t make it,” Maynor said. “I didn’t take my eyes off it; I knew it was coming out. I looked at it the whole time.”

“That was tough, man,” Golden Eagles coach Cordell Hunt said. “You know, if I give Kyrie that layup 10 times, he’s gonna get it 10 times. It just didn’t stay down. It just wasn’t meant to be tonight.”

Wilson was 6-for-6 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter and finished with 12 points. Jacob Wheeler led White Plains with 18 points, hitting 5-of-7 from 3-point range.

Messer didn’t score a point but Randall considered him the game’s most valuable player for all the other things he brought – defense, breaking the press and holding things together. Jacksonville’s Maynor led all scorers with 19 points.

“Man, I’m telling you, it’s like we’re cheating with him on the floor; it’s like we’re getting to play with five players and an assistant coach,” Randall said of Messer. “And nobody else sees that. People come to the game and he doesn’t score. So what. He communicates. He talks. He makes sure everybody’s in the right spot all the time. He gets the hustle plays. He boxes out. He fouls when he’s supposed to. He gets us into sets we’re supposed to be.

“The stuff he does is just like having another coach on the floor. I don’t care if he doesn’t score another point; we can’t live without him. He brings so much to us that doesn’t show up in the box score. He’s come so far. You can’t put a price tag on what he brings to us. He didn’t score a point and he may have been the most valuable player in that game.”

Contributing photographer Olivia Noell is a junior on the White Plains High School yearbook staff.

White Plains 48, Jacksonville 44
JACKSONVILLE (5-2) – Kyrie Maynor 7-15 1-5 19, Yessman Green 3-7 5-7 12, Ron Wiggins 2-3 0-0 4, Jaeden Barksdale 1-5 0-0 3, Omarion Adams 1-5 1-2 3, Radanis Kirksey 1-1 0-0 2, Donavon McCain 0-1 1-2 1, Hudson Harvey 0-0 0-0 0, Nathan Baranwell 0-0 0-1 0. Totals 15-37 8-17 44.
WHITE PLAINS (7-4) – Jacob Wheeler 6-10 1-2 18, Quin Wilson 3-7 6-6 12, Henry O’Steen 4-8 0-3 8, Jaden Chatman 3-3 0-4 6, Brody Baker 1-4 2-2 4, Coleman Messer 0-1 0-2 0, Rico Aguirre 0-2 0-0 0, Landon Senciboy 0-0 0-0 0, Kahlil Williams 0-0 0-0 0, Grarett Wilson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 17-35 9-19 48.

Jacksonville 17 3 7 17 – 44
White Plains 10 11 12 15 – 48
3-point goals: Jacksonville 6-18 (Maynor 4-9, Green 1-2, Barksdale 1-4, Adams 0-2, McCain 0-1); White Plains 5-13 (Wheeler 5-7, Q. Wilson 0-2, O’Steen 0-2, Baker 0-1, Aguirre 0-1). Rebounds: Jacksonville 21 (McCain 5, Harvey 4); White Plains 30 (O’Steen 6, Messer 6). Fouled out: Adams, Chatman. Total fouls: Jacksonville 18, White Plains 16. Officials: Kelley, Wortham, Stroud.

Coleman Messer (3), being guarded by Jacksonville’s Donavon McCain, may not have scored a point in the game, but White Plains coach Chris Randall considered him the MVP of the game for everything else he brought to the table. (Photo by Olivia Noell)

Piedmont remains unbeaten

PIEDMONT – Alex Odam hit 11 of 19 shots from the floor for 27 points and Silas Thompson added 13 as Piedmont remained undefeated through six games, beating Saks 59-35 in an area game.

Odam scored 16 points in the first three quarters as the Bulldogs opened a 35-22 lead, then closed strong with 11 in the fourth quarter. Trey McFarland grabbed nine rebounds and Thompson had seven rebounds Luke Bussey had nine points for the Bulldogs, all on 3-pointers. Zay Elston led Saks with 12 points.

Piedmont 59, Saks 35
SAKS (5-2) – Benji Wilson 2 0-0 4, ZaeJuan Johnson 1 0-0 3, Will Mixson 0 0-0 0, Leonta Jones 0 0-0 0, Patrick Williams 0 0-0 0, Myles McLaughlin 0 0-1 0, Coner Martin 1 0-0 3, Kyle Goedde 1 0-2 2, Jordan Cosper 0 4-4 4, Zay Elston 4 1-2 12, Tyler Smith 3 1-5 7. Totals 12 6-13 35.
PIEDMONT (6-0) – Alex Odam 11 3-3 27, Omarion Foster 1 0-0 2, Luke Bussey 3 0-0 9, Trey McFarland 2 3-4 7, Silas Thompson 5 2-3 13, Jack Hayes 0 0-0 0, Malachi Jackson 0 0-0 0, Jakari Foster 0 1-3 1. Totals 22 9-13 59.

Saks 8 3 11 13 – 35
Piedmont 12 13 10 24 – 59
3-point goals: Saks 5 (Johnson, Martin, Elston 3); Piedmont 6 (Odam 2, Bussey 3, Thompson). Technical fouls: Elston. Total fouls: Saks 18, Piedmont 14. Officials: Burroughs, Howell, Hollingsworth.

Talladega 88, Cleburne Co. 21

TALLADEGA – The Talladega defense produced 31 steals, many of which the Tigers converted into baskets on the way to improving to 3-0 in their area. Kobe Simmons scored 24 points and grabbed 15 rebounds to lead the Tigers. Jay Spratling had 12 points and five steals. D’Corian Wilson knocked down 11 points and Y.D. Montgomery had a team-high seven steals.

CLEBURNE COUNTY – Manney Rollins 3 0-0 6, Joshua Miller 1 0-0 2, Ben Casey 4 2-2 11, Brody Higgins 0 0-0 0, Hudson Miller 0 0-0 0, Rico Jordan 0 0-0 0, Jalen Momon 1 0-0 2. Totals 9 2-2 21.
TALLADEGA – Nigel Scales 1 0-0 3, LaJamein Castleberry 1 0-0 3, Jay Spratling 5 2-2 12, Arron Green 4 0-0 8, Michael McGregor 4 0-2 9, Rontavious Baraclay 2 0-0 4, D’Corian Wilson 5 1-2 11, Y.D. Montgomery 2 0-0 4, Chris Curry 2 0-0 4, Kobe Simmons 12 0-0 24, Keontae Funderburg 3 0-2 6. Totals 41 3-8 88.

Cleburne 4 6 9 2 – 21
Talladega 17 23 29 19 – 88
3-point goals: Cleburne 1 (Casey); Talladega 3 (Scales 3, Castleberry, McGregor). Technical fouls: Wilson. Total fouls: Cleburne 7, Talladega 7. Officials: Caldwell, Gamble, Wilson.

JCA 71, Donoho 46

Chase Vinson scored 29 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, Nash Messer scored 15, Kobe Messer had 14 and six boards, and Brady Shaddix dished 10 assists as the Thunder (9-3, 3-1) turned away Donoho, a team looking for its first win.

Vinson erupted out of the gate for 14 points in the Thunder’s 34-point first quarter. He had 12 in the third quarter.

JCA (9-3) – Tanner Wilson 0-1-1, Brady Shaddix 1-0-3, Chase Vinson 13-3-29, Tavian Alexander 1-0-2, Eli Fair 1-1-5, Drake Shaw 0-0-0, Nash Messer 6-2-15, Kobe Messer 5-2-14, Jonathan Carter 1-0-2. Totals 29-10-71
DONOHO – Grant Steed 2-0-6, Drew Williamson 6-2-17, Sam Payne 0-0-0, Conner Goodson 0 0-0 0, Dean Harrell 3-0-9, Brady Patterson 2-0-5, Dorien Johniken 0-0-0, Nick Goad 0-2-2, Reid Williamon 1-5-7. Totals 14-9-46.

JCA 34 16 17 4 – 71
Donoho 7 10 13 16 – 46
3-point goals: JCA 4 (Shaddix, N. Messer, K. Messer 2); Donoho 9 (Steed 2, Williamson 3, Dean H 3, Patterson). Total fouls: JCA 6, Donoho 12.