All for one
- Updated: December 30, 2019
Cherokee County doesn’t play its best, but finds a way to win over Winterboro for Cleburne County title; Jordyn Starr named MVP
Monday’s girls scores
Regular season
Handley at Oxford
Cleburne County Christmas Classic
At Cleburne County HS, Heflin
Ranburne 41, Weaver 31
Ohatchee 55, Piedmont 35
Cleburne County 35, Jacksonville 33
Championship game: Cherokee County 48, Winterboro 38
Lady Eagles Holiday Invitational
At Oak Mountain HS, Pelham
Sacred Heart 66, Northridge 56
Hilburn-Patterson Invitational
At Haralson County HS, Tallapoosa, Ga.
Bowdon 42, Haralson County 28
Championship game, Spring Garden 71, Cedartown 66 (OT)
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
HEFLIN – The slogan on the back of the Cherokee County girls’ shoot-around jerseys reads hashtag/one. It tells you all you need to know about their approach to the season.
It’s a call for the Lady Warriors to play with one heart, one mind and as one unit, and they really needed to play that way Monday night.
In a game coach Leah Nelson admitted was far from their best, the Lady Warriors relied on a collective effort to take down Winterboro 48-38 to win the girls championship of the Cleburne County Christmas Classic.
“It shows a lot about their heart and their desire to win and their character,” Nelson said. “That to me is a testament to them and the team. It’s what we stand for. We may have games where we have one person struggling under the basket, we have other people who will step up, knock down shots and encourage those who may not be having the best game. We have to play as one to win anything.”
The Lady Warriors held an 11-point halftime lead, but the sense around the gym was they should’ve been up by a more comfortable margin. They made some adjustments during the break and took a 19-point lead into the fourth quarter but Winterboro refused to go away.
“We just never felt like we were clicking there, but I felt like they fought hard,” Nelson said. “We had some people step up and hit some shots.”
Karlee Perry helped the Lady Warriors stretch the lead with two 3-pointers in the third quarter; she scored all 10 of her points in the second half. Audrey Wester had five in the quarter, including a 3.
The one player who stood out above the rest was Jordyn Starr, the tournament MVP. Starr, wearing a clear mask to protect the broken nose she suffered colliding with a teammate in the Alexandria game two weeks ago, scored nine points in the championship game, but had 44 in the Lady Warriors’ three tournament victories, including 21 in their opener.
“I’m really thankful for that,” she said of the MVP award. “I feel like I tried my hardest to help my team out during the whole tournament. I feel like my team depends on me so I feel the need to go out and do my best for them. Being the one everyone depends on really doesn’t make me nervous, it makes me feel like a role model to everyone else.”
Ohatchee 55, Piedmont 35: Tori Vice scored 26 points and Jorda Crook had a 15 to lead the Tribe. Vice scored 54 points in the tournament now has 1,037 points in her Ohatchee career. Crook scored 51 points in the tournament.
Cleburne County 35, Jacksonville 33: Olivia McDanaiel’s put-back in traffic on the baseline with 21.3 seconds to go put the Lady Tigers in front and Haley Price’s free throw with 11.3 left brought the final margin.
Jacksonville had a chance to tie the game at the end of regulation but Patience Carr’s 3-pointer from left side at the buzzer batatled in and out.
Price led Cleburne County with 13 points. Giorianna Brown had 10 and McDaniel, who’s been bothered by back problems most of the season, had four points.
“She’s playing with a lot of heart right now,” Lady Tigers coach Todd Gable said.
Rebekah Gannaway led Jacksonville with 13 points. Kayla Broom had nine points and 15 rebounds.
Hilburn-Patterson Invitational
TALLAPOOSA, Ga. – Spring Garden needed overtime but defeated Cedardown 71-66 to win the girls tournament championship. The Lady Panthers’ Ace Austin was named MVP. She was a joined on the all-tournament team by teammate Macy Reedy and four girls from Georgia.
Lady Eagles Holiday Invitational
PELHAM – Eighth-grader Serena Harris went for 31 points to help Sacred Heart push pasta Northridge 66-56 in a consolation game of the Lady Eagles Holiday Invitational. Hraris hit six 3-pointers in the game, three in the second quarter when the Lady Cardinals got an eight-point deficit to five by halftime. She had 10 in the third quarter when they took the lead.
Monday’s girls box scores
Cleburne County Christmas Classic
Championship game
Cherokee County 48, Winterboro 38
WINTERBORO – Jada Lawler 2 5-6 10, Jasmine Fluker 0 0-0 0, Kya Brown 3 4-10 11, Brianna Jackson 2 0-0 4, Amiya Garrett 3 0-0 8, Taniya Garrett 2 1-4 5. Totals 12 10-20 38.
CHEROKEE COUNTY – Audrey Green 4 0-0 9, Emily Allen 2 0-0 4, Karlee Perry 4 0-0 10, Sidney Johnson 1 0-0 2, Audrey Wester 2 0-0 5, Jordyn Starr 4 1-2 9, Kayleigh Hunter 2 5-8 9, Brooklyn Mahannah 0 0-2 0. Totals 19 6-12 48.
Winterboro 6 9 8 15 – 38
Cherokee Co. 14 12 16 6 – 48
3-point goals: Winterboro 4 (Green, Perry 2, Wester); Cherokee Co. 4 (Lawler, Garrett 2, Brown). Total fouls: Winterboro 11, Cherokee Co. 19.
Ranburne 41, Weaver 31
RANBURNE – Briley Merrrill 3 0-4 6, Julianna Merrill 6 0-2 12, Chaney Merrill 0 0-0 0, Jasey Langley 2 0-0 5, Kayli Olds 3 1-2 8, Natalie Merrill 0 0-0 0, Auburn Rollins 4 2-4 10. Totals 18 3-12 41.
WEAVER – Madison Atchley 3 0-0 6, Keise Hubbard 3 0-0 6, Loralei Brown 0 0-0 0, Kayleigh Hindsman 7 1-5 15, Haley Homesley 2 0-2 4, Neveah Hawkins 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 1-7 31.
Ranburne 10 12 13 6 – 41
Weaver 6 12 3 10 – 31
3-point goals: Ranburne 2 (Langley, Olds). Total fouls: Ranburne 8, Weaver 16.
Ohatchee 55, Piedmont 35
PIEDMONT – Ava Pope 2 0-0 6, E.G. Todd 0 0-0 0, Whitney McFry 0 1-7 1, Jaycee Glover 0 0-0 0, Lele Ridley 4 1-2 9, Hannah Barbee 1 0-0 2, Armane Perry 2 0-0 4, Jenna Calvert 0 2-2 2, Gracie Naugher 0 4-6 4, Z’Hayla Walker 3 1-4 7. Totals 12 9-21 35.
OHATCHEE –Gracyn Snow 0 0-0 0, Jazmine Adams 3 0-0 8, Lyda Elders 0 0-0 0, Tori Vice 12 0-2 26, Bayley Allward 0 0-0 0, Morgan Foushee 1 0-2 2, Gracie George 0 0-0 0, Millie Rainwater 1 0-0 2, Jorda Crook 6 3-4 15, Carson Coppock 1 0-0 2. Totals 24 3-8 55.
Piedmont 8 7 11 9 – 35
Ohatchee 16 17 14 8 – 55
3-point goals: Piedmont 2 (Pope 2); Ohatchee 4 (Adams 2, Vice 2). Total fouls: Piedmont 7, Ohatchee 16.
Cleburne County 35, Jacksonville 33
JACKSONVILLE –Rebekah Gannaway 4-6 1-2 13, Kayla Broom 3-10 2-4 9, Shay Goggins 2-4 0-0 6, Amia Montgomery 1-1 0-0 3, Brenna Stone 1-2 0-2 2, Patience Carr 0-5 0-0 0, Maggie Anderson 0-4 0-0 0, Malijah Goggins 0-2 0-0 0, Carmen Prater 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 11-36 3-8 33.
CLEBURNE COUNTY –Haley Price 3-7 7-8 13, Giorianna Brown 3-12 2-4 10, Brooklyn McDaniel 1-7 2-2 4, Olivia McDaniel 2-4 0-0 4, Haven Freeman 1-2 0-0 2, Micah Pentecost 0-0 1-2 1, Jacy Littleton 0-0 1-2 1, Elizabeth Altman 0-1 0-0 0, Kendall Houston 0-1 0-1 0, Sarah Hunt 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 10-34 13-19 35.
Jacksonville 10 10 9 4 – 33
Cleburne Co. 15 6 5 9 – 35
3-point goals: Jacksonville 8-29 (Gannaway 4-6, Broom 1-6, S. Goggins 2-3, Montgomery 1-1, Carr 0-5, Anderson 0-4, M. Goggins 0-2, Prater 0-2); Cleburne Co. 2-9 (Price 0-2, Brown 2-6, B. McDaniel 0-1). Rebounds: Jacksonville 32 (Broom 15, Gannaway 5); Cleburne Co. 25 (B. McDaniel 6, Brown 5, O. McDaniel 5). Fouled out: Pentecost. Total fouls: Jacksonville 14, Cleburne Co. 12.
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