Playing for a title

By EASportsToday.com
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Updated: December 21, 2019

Alexandria reaches Champions finals, Piedmont wins Pat Ball Memorial to remain unbeaten and more

Saturday’s boys scores
Anniston 70, Sacred Heart 43
Haralson County (Ga.) 60, Cleburne County 44

Champions Boys Christmas Classic
Saks 70, Weaver 45
White Plains 51, Ohatchee 39
Alexandria 73, Lincoln 55
Fort Payne 63, Moody 42

Cherokee County Holiday Invitational
Sand Rock 67, Gaylesville 29
Tuscaloosa County 49, IMG Academy 23
Collinsville 49, Gaston 33
Cedar Bluff 63, Spring Garden 61
Greenup (Ky.) 75, Sand Rock 66

Choo-Choo Classic, Shades Valley
Talladega 90, Carver-Birmingham 61

Patrick Ball Memorial Christmas Tournament, Hokes Bluff
Glencoe 70, Ashville 49
Pleasant Valley 55, Hokes Bluff 51
Championship game, Piedmont 57, Westbrook Christian 48

War Eagle Classic, Atlanta
Pace Academy 54, Oxford 52

By East Alabama Sports Today

ANNISTON – Alexandria and Fort Payne have the chance to be the champions of Champions Monday night.

The two teams reached the finals of the Champions Christmas Classic with victories Saturday.

Alexandria took down Lincoln 73-55, while Fort Payne dumped Moody 63-42. They’ll play for the title Monday at 7:30 p.m.

“The kids are real excited about it,” Valley Cubs coach Jason Johnson said. “The young guards are starting to play with some confidence.”

Julian Wright followed up his big game against Weaver in the opening round with another big night Saturday. He scored a game-high 24 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Junior post Landan Williams had 18 points, 14 rebounds and six assists.

Wright had 22 points in the Cubs’ opening-round win.

Brian Garrett led Lincoln with 17 points. Javion Surles had 16 and Kye Patterson had 14.

Patrick Ball Memorial Tournament
HOKES BLUFF – Tournament MVP Silas Thompson poured in 22 points in leading Piedmont over Westbrook Chrristian 57-48 to win the Pat Ball Memorial Christmas Tournament at Hokes Bluff. The Bulldogs are now 9-0.

Thompson was 9-of-20 from the field and grabbed five rerbounds. He had a team-high 18 in the Bulldogs’ second-round win over Hokes Bluff. Alex Odam added 12 points and Jakari Foster grabbed eight rerbounds.

Thompson already had 12 in the first half, then had six in the third quarter when the Bulldogs pulled away from a 23-23 halftime tie by outscoring Westbrook 16-4. Odam helped them close it out with eight in the fourth quarter, including 4-for-4 from the foul line.

“We battled through some foul trouble in the first half and then played a really good thing quarter,” Piedmont coach JoJo Odam said. “Our guys did a good job of finding Silas and he stepped up. He made some shots for us.”

The 9-0 start matches the start of the 1955-56 Piedmont team before losing to Oxford in the semifinals of the Calhoun County Tournament. That team finished 18-5, coached by Howard Waldrep in his first season at Piedmont.

In the other games, Pleasant Valley scored its sixth win of the season in edging Hokes Bluff 55-51, and Glencoe rolled over Ashville 70-49.

It’s the most wins PV has enjoyed in a basketball season since 2015-16 when they won seven; they didn’t get their sixth win that year until Jan. 11.

War Eagle Classic, Atlanta
ATLANTA – Matthew Cleveland hit two free throws with 40 seconds to play to give Pace Academy the lead and Oxford turned over the only chance they got the rest of the way to tie it and fell 54-52 in the War Eagle Classic at Woodward Academy.

Cleveland, a junior forward, led all scorers with 28 points. Zondrick Garrett and Kobe Warren led Oxford with 18 and 15, respectively.

Cleveland broke a 52-all tie with his free throws. The Yellow Jackets a chance to tie it, but turned it over and Pace successful ran out the clock.

“We didn’t play great; if I had to judge it we’d played a C, maybe a B-minus,” Oxford coach Joel VanMeter said. “We played two teams here that if you take a possession off they’re killing you and we’ve got a couple guys hopefully who’ve learned that.

“(These two games) showed us what we’re capable of if we shore up some deficiencies.”

Choo-Choo Classic, Shades Valley
IRONDALE – Kobe Simmons and D’Corian Wilson both had double-doubles as Talladega rolled over Carver-Birmingham 90-61 to avoid leaving the tournament without a victory,.

Simmons, who went over 1,000 career points in the first round, had 30 points and 16 rebounds. Wilson had 16 points and 10 boards. Arron Green added 18 points and grabbed eight rebounds.

Saturday’s Box Scores
Champions Christmas Classic
Alexandria 73, Lincoln 55
LINCOLN – Surles 6 2-6 16, Reynolds 0 0-0 0, T. Garrett 0 0-0 0, Patterson 5 2-2 14, White 2 0-0 4, S. Garrett 0 0-0 0, B. Garrett 7 0-0 17, Davis 1 0-0 2, Nini 1 0-0 2. Totals 22 2-8 55.
ALEXANDRIA – McGhee 1 0-0 2, Taylor 4 0-1 9, Walton 3 0-1 7, Slaton 2 1-1 6, Wright 11 2-6 24, Warren 3 0-0 6, J. Williams 0 1-1 1, L. Williams 7 4-6 18. Totals 32 8-17 73

Lincoln 15  13 11  16  –   55
Alexandria           11  22 27  13  —  73
3-point goals: Lincoln 9 (Surles 2, Pattersron 4, B. Garrett 3); Alexandria 3 (Taylor, Walton, Slaton).
Total fouls: Lincoln 18, Alexandria 12. Officials: Lemon, Baker, Horn.

Pat Ball Memorial Tournament
Championship game
Piedmont 57, Westbrook Christian 48
PIEDMONT (9-0) – Odam 4 4-5 12, O. Foster 1 0-1 2, Bussey 2 0-0 4, McFarland 3 2-2 8, Thompson 9 4-5 22, Hayes 1 0-0 2, Jackson 1 0-0 3, J. Foster 2 0-3 4. Totals 23 10-16 57.
WESTBROOK – Lockridge 0 0-0 0, Martin 4 0-0 12, Foster 1 0-0 3, Gilchrist 1 0-0 3, Tucker 2 1-2 7, Wood 0 0-0 0, Phillips 8 2-6 19, Wright 2 0-0 4. Totals 18 3-8 48.

Piedmont             8   15 16  18  –  57
Westbrook          6   17 4    21  –  48
3-point goals: Piedmont 1 (Jackson); Westbrook 9 (Martin 4, Foster, Gilchrist, Tucker 2, Phillips). Fouled out: McFarland. Total fouls: Piedmont 11, Westbrook 16. Officials: Burroughs, Batey, McElreeth.

War Eagle Classic
Pace Academy 54, Oxford 52
OXFORD – Garrett 6 4-5 18, Houck 1 0-0 2, McClendon 1 0-0 2, Warren 3 6-8 15, Taylor 1 2-2 4, Moore 4 2-4 11, Jackson 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 14-19 52.
PACE ACADEMY – Adams 0 0-0 0, Durr 1 4-4 6, Baker 1 0-0 3, Crawford 2 0-0 4, Johnson 0 0-0 0, Middleton 4 2-4 10, Reed 1 1-2 3, Cleveland 10 7-10 28.

Oxford  9  17  15  11 –  52
Pace 9  17  14  14 –  54
3-point goals: Oxford 6 (Garrett 2, Warren 3, Moore); Pace 2 (Baker, Cleveland). Total fouls: Oxford 17, Pace 17.

Shades Valley Choo-Choo Classic
Talladega 90, Carver-B’ham 61
TALLADEGA (8-3) – Scales 1 0-2 2, Castleberry 3 0-0 9, Spratling 1 1-2 4, Green 7 3-6 18, McGregor 1 0-0 2, Barclay 4 1-1 9, Wilson 5 5-6 16, Montgomery 0 0-0 0, Curry 0 0-0 0, Simmons 13 2-3 30, Funderburg 0 0-2 0. Totals 35 12-22 90.
CARVER – Bruce 3 1-2 7, Raoof 2 0-0 4, Davis 2 9-12 13, Blount 7 2-2 23, Morrell 1 0-2 2, Haywood 1 0-0 2, K. Gilbert 2 2-3 6, Shipman 0 2-2 2, Reynolds 1 0-0 2. Totals 18 16-23 61

Talladega 22  26 20  22  –  90
Carver                     22  15 10  14  –  61
3-point goals: Talladega 8 (Castleberry 3, Spratling, Green, Wilson, Simmons 2); Carver 7 (Blount 7). Fouled out: Blount. Total fouls: Talladega 20, Carver 22. Officials: Davis, Crenshaw, Biltmore.