Shock and aw
- Updated: December 20, 2019
Boys roundup: White Plains suffers stunning loss in Champions Classic; includes scores, boxes and more
FRIDAY’S BOYS GAMES
Regular season
Etowah 62, Cherokee County 41
Faith Christian 57, Victory Christian 28
LaFayette 75, Ranburne 36
Randolph County 43, Woodland 31
Wellborn at Cleburne County
Catfish Classic, Childersburg
Winterboro 58, Shelby County 50
Pleasant Grove vs. Shelby County
Helena 80, Childersburg 67
Champions Boys Christmas Classic
Game 1: Lincoln 55, Saks 51
Game 2: Alexandria 77, Weaver 34
Game 3: Fort Payne 65, Ohatchee 46
Game 4: Moody 64, White Plains 62
Cherokee County Holiday Invitational
Greenup (Ky.) 79, Cedar Bluff 72
Spring Garden 69, IMG Academy 40
Spring Garden 69, Gaylesville 36
Sand Rock 69, Gaston 25
Tuscaloosa County 51, Collinsville 39
Choo-Choo Classic, Shades Valley
Clay-Chalkville vs. Carver
Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa 82, Talladega 63
Fairfield vs. Albertville
Hoover vs. Shades Valley
Handley Christmas Classic
Woodlawn 61, Lanett 57
Harris County 49, Opelika 37
Handley 76, Clay Central 46
Patrick Ball Memorial Christmas Tournament, Hokes Bluff
Pleasant Valley 65, Ashville 37
Westbrook Christian 62, Glencoe 52
Piedmont 63, Hokes Bluff 33
War Eagle Classic
Woodward Academy 61, Oxford 55
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
ANNISTON – One by one the players silently filed out of the White Plains dressing room. It was a stunned silence accompanied by the glaze of someone who just got hit across the forehead with a 2-by-4.
The Wildcats led by 22 points early in the third quarter and appeared headed to an easy win in the final game of Friday’s opening round of the Champions Christmas Classic.
Then things went wrong. Terribly wrong. The Wildcats couldn’t handle the press, which plunged them into too many live-ball turnovers, they started getting beat on the boards and Moody’s scorers finally started to score.
It resulted in a shocking 64-62 loss, another tight loss that has haunted them the past few years, to drop them into an all-Calhoun County consolation bracket. Saks, Weaver and Ohatchee also lost in the opening round.
“It was tough,” White Plains coach Chris Randall said. “I can’t ever remember being up 22 in the second half and losing. It’s definitely a gut punch.”
The Blue Devils scored 41 points in the second half, 17 from Peyton Ingram. The guard hit back-to-back 3-pointers on each side of a timeout to get Moody within one with 2:37 to play. He finished with a game-high 22 points.
“It was a pleasant surprise; still kind of shocked,” Moody coach Chad Bates said. “I thought our guys played really well defensively and actually started attacking instead of settling for jump shots; they started fighting on both ends. The press ended up helping out tremendously and them fighting on the defensive end led to us hitting some open shots.”
Brody Baker’s 3-pointer gave White Plains a 45-23 lead after Moody turned over the opening possession of the second half and White Plains milked more than a minute off the clock. The Blue Devils pecked away at the deficit and finally took their first lead at 61-60 with 40 seconds to play.
The Wildcats went back up 62-61 on a pair of Jaden Chatman free throws with 34.5 left. The Blue Devils retook the lead when Tobias Perry hit the front end of a one-and-one, Cieonne Reaves rebounded the miss and was fouled and hit two free throws to make it 64-62 with 20.5 to play.
White Plains’ Quin Wilson missed the potential tying layup with eight seconds left and the Wildcats fouled on the rebound, Moody’s DeJaun Holyfield missed two free throws that would have sealed the game with 6.7 left, Walker O’Steen rebounded and the Wildcats immediately called time to set up the final shot.
They got it in to Jacob Wheeler, who was on fire in the first half, but Wheeler’s 3-pointer in a crowd missed badly at the horn.
The Wildcats couldn’t have started hotter. Wheeler hit four straight 3-pointers to open White Plains’ scoring. His fifth in a row gave them a 28-14 lead in the second quarter and his sixth in seven attempts made it a 57-43 game in the fourth before Moody began its comeback. Wheeler finished with 18.
“We give up 41 in a half we’re losing,” Randall said. “You have to tip your hat to them, they made big shots, but we just had too many live-ball turnovers that resulted in buckets on the other end. It’s going to keep happening until we’re tougher with the basketball. It’s been the theme for us this year. When we get it across half-court we usually have a good chance to win and when we don’t we’re going to lose.”.
Lincoln 55, Saks 51: Javion Surles did something Friday he’d never done in a basketball game before and it turned out to be a pretty big deal.
Surles had always wanted to dunk on the baseline in a game, but either never had the chance or wasn’t confident enough to pull it off, especially after suffering a leg injury that kept him out of action all last year. But the chance came in the fourth quarter Friday and it gave the Golden Bears the lead for good in the game.
After battling from as many as nine down in the second half, Saks finally got its first lead of the game 44-43 on Zaejuan Johnson’s short jumper with 5:08 to play. It immediately prompted Lincoln coach Doug Ward to call line.
When the teams returned to the floor, the Bears got the ball to their football quarterback and Surles went underneath for his slam to put his team back on top 45-44. They never trailed again.
“We called a time out and told them quit standing around looking at it, pass and cut and drive and kick,” Ward said. “They were yet to stop us driving, but we kept settling for the 3, which we normally hit a lot of, but we weren’t tonight. When he (Surles) got the second touch he drove to the basket and made things happen.”
Surles took over in the fourth quarter. He scored the Bears’ first eight points of the quarter and nine of their first 11. He finished with a game-high 19 points, but it was the dunk that brought the biggest smile to his face.
“I’ve been wanting to do that my whole life, go baseline and dunk,” he said. “I had chances before, but my leg went out or something, but now my leg is fully healed so … now I feel like I can trust it, I can use it 100 percent and I won’t be scared to go up with it.”
The Bears now play Alexandria in Saturday’s 6 p.m. semifinal. Saks plays Weaver in a consolation game at 3.
Champions Boys Christmas Classic
Moody 64, White Plains 62
MOODY – DeJaun Holyfield 1 1-4 3, Colton Jennings 0 0-0 0, Quan Meadows 4 0-0 11, Peyton Ingram 8 3-3 22, Justin Dowdle 4 2-4 10, Evan Johnson 2 0-0 4, Tobias Perry 1 1-4 3, Landon Echols 0 0-0 0, Cieonne Reaaves 1 7-7 9, Ethan Hopper 1 0-0 2. Totals 22 14-22 64.
WHITE PLAINS – Coleman Messer 2 0-0 4, Quin Wilson 4 2-2 11, Jaden Chatman 0 4-5 4, Jacob Wheeler 6 0-1 18, Landon Senciboy 0 0-0 0, Brody Baker 5 1-1 12, Walker O’Steen 2 3-3 7, Kahlil Williams 2 0-0 4, Garrett Wilson 1 0-0 2. Totals 22 10-12 62.
Moody 14 9 20 21 – 64
White Plains 23 19 12 8 – 62
3-point goals: Moody 6 (Meadows 3, Ingram 3); White Plains 8 (Q. Wilson, Wheeler 6, Baker). Fouled out: Meadows. Total fouls: Moody 16, White Plains 16. Officials: Dupree, Guyton, Childs.
Lincoln 55, Saks 51
LINCOLN – Javion Surles 7 5-7 19, Cam Reynolds 3 1-2 9, Tre Garrett 4 2-2 11, Kye Paatterson 1 0-0 2, Choron Kelly 0 0-0 0, Siete Garrett 0 0-0 0, Steven White 2 0-0 4, Brian Garrett 2 3-4 8, J.D. Davis 1 0-0 2. Totals 20 11-15
SAKS – Benji Wilson 0 1-2 1, Zaejuan Johnson 4 1-2 10, Will Mixson 0 0-0 0, Leonta Jones 0 0-0 0, Patrick Williams 1 0-0 2, Conor Martin 2 0-0 5, Kyle Goedde 0 0-0 0, Jordan Cosper 3 2-2 8, Zay Elston 5 0-0 11, Tyler Smith 7 0-0 14. Totals 22 4-6 51.
Lincoln 20 15 6 14 – 55
Saks 13 13 12 13 – 51
3-point goals: Lincoln 4 (Reynolds 2, T. Garrett, B. Garrett); Saks 3 (Johnson, Martin, Elston). Fouled out: Wilson. Total fouls: Lincoln 10, Saks 13. Officials: Caldwell, Holmes, Horn.
Fort Payne 65, Ohatchee 46
FORT PAYNE – Robert Graham 1 0-0 2, Jacob Hendricks 2 3-6 8, Bryson Richey 4 3-6 13, Kevin Hightower 2 0-0 4, Kyler Rogers 0 0-0 0, Will Abbott 2 0-1 5, Lane White 8 0-1 17, Elijah Kirby 1 1-2 3, Micah Simpson 4 2-2 12. Totals 24 9-18 65.
OHATCHEE – Domonique Thomas 2 1-3 5, Nathan Higgins 2 2-2 6, Trey Pesnell 2 0-0 6, Cam Foushee 1 1-2 3, Jacob Bowers 0 3-4 3, Stephen Hollis 0 2-3 2, Jared McFall 0 0-0 0, Austin Wyatt 5 3-4 13, Briley Hale 3 2-4 8. Totals 15 14-22 46.
Fort Payne 17 18 12 18 – 65
Ohatchee 9 14 10 13 – 46
3-point goals: Fort Payne 8 (Graham, Hendricks, Richey 2, Abbott, White, Simpson 2); Ohatchee 2 (Pesnell 2). Total fouls: Fort Payne 17, Ohatchee 15. Officials: Guyton, Childs, Woods.
Choo-Choo Classic, Shades Valley
Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa 82, Talladega 63: The Tigers held an early lead, but Hillcrest outscored them 30-15 in the second quarter to take control of the game. They had the edge in the third quarter but could never overtake the Patriots.
D’Corian Wilson led Talladega with 19 points. Kobe Simmons, who went over 1,000 career points the night before, had 16 points and Nigel Scales added 11.
The Tigers (7-3) haven’t lost back-to-back games since the four-game losing streak early last season turned their season around. The defending Class 4A state champs wrap up their play in the tournament Saturday, 1:30 p.m. against Carver-Birmingham in the seventh-place game.
HILLCREST – Ethan Crawford 0 2-2 2, L.T. Moore 3 1-2 8, Zay Moore 1 0-0 2, Noah Schlatter 5 1-4 11, Tee Williams 7 5-8 21, Reggie Savage 8 1-2 17, A.J. Harris 2 4-8 8, Jamicah Hamilton 0 0-0 0, C.J. Johnson 6 1-3 13. Totals 32 15-19 82.
TALLADEGA (7-3) – Nigel Scales 4 0-0 11, Jay Spratling 2 0-2 6, Arron Green 2 3-3 7, Michael McGregor 0 2-2 2, Rontavious Barclay 1 0-0 2, D’Corian Wilson 8 1-1 19, Raderius Montgomery 0 0-0 0, Kobe Simmons 5 4-6 16. Totals 22 10-14 63.
Hillcrest 22 30 12 18 – 82
Talladega 15 15 23 10 – 63
3-point goals: Hillcrest 3 (L. Moore, Williams); Talladega 9 (Scales 3, Spratling 2, Wilson 2, Simmons 2). Fouled out: Green. Total fouls: Hillcrest 12, Talladega 20. Officials: Pearson, Williams, Craddia.
Patrick Ball Memorial Christmas Tournament
Piedmont 63, Hokes Bluff 33: The Bulldogs (8-0) placed three scorers in double figures and advanced to the championship game where they’ll meet Westbrook Christian at 8 p.m.
Silas Thompson led Piedmont with 18 points behind 8-of-11 shooting from the field. Alex Odam had 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting, dealt seven assists and had three steals. Trey McFarland had 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting.
Pleasant Valley 65, Ashville 37: The Raiders won their fifth game of the year, the first time they’ve won at least five in a season since 2016. They didn’t get their fifth win that season until Jan. 9, 2016.
War Eagle Classic
Woodward Academy 61, Oxford 55: Emory Lanier scored 16 points and Jacorrei Turner and Will Richard had 15 apiece to lead Woodward Academy. Zondrick Garrett led Oxford with 20 points, with Mont McClendon and Justin Moore getting 11 apiece.
WOODWARD ACADEMY – Jacorrei Turner 6 3-8 15, Emory Lanier 6 1-3 16, Will Richard 6 2-2 15, Michael Whitmore 2 0-2 4, Andrew Nye 2 0-0 5, Jordan Oladapo 0 0-0 0, Jordan Shoob 0 0-0 0, Will Demorest 3 0-0 6. Totals 25 6-15 61.
OXFORD – Zondrick Garrett 7 4-5 20, Rylan Houck 2 0-0 4, Mont McClendon 3 3-3 11, Kobe Warren 2 1-2 7, Roc Taylor 1 0-2 2, Bakari Dailey0 0-0 0, Justin Moore 5 1-2 11, Milas Jackson 0 0-0 0, Ethan Page 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 9-14.
Woodward 11 17 20 13 – 61
Oxford 15 11 9 20 – 55
3-point goals: Woodward Academy 5 (Lanier 3, Richard, Nye); Oxford 6 (Garrett 2, McClendon 2, Warren 2).
Total fouls: Woodward Academy 13, Oxford 18.
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