Thunder claps back
- Updated: January 9, 2020
Girls roundup: JCA rallies from 14 down in third quarter to get past Donoho, avoiding area play-in game; PV puts on defensive show in beating Piedmont, and more
Thursday’s girls scores
Ashville 58, Saks 37
Cleburne County 57, Lincoln 29
Hokes Bluff 58, Jacksonville 43
Jacksonville Christian 64, Donoho 59
Ohatchee 65, Coosa Christian 58
Pleasant Valley 50, Piedmont 19
Ragland 49, ASD 19
Winterboro 51, Victory Christian 6
By East Alabama Sports Today
JACKSONVILLE – JCA coach Katie Bryant says her Killer C’s – Rebekah Carter and Kylie Cupp – thrive in the press. All she has to do is say the word and the ears of the two guards go up like somebody switched on the radar.
Bryant gave the word late in the third quarter Thursday with the Thunder down double digits to Donoho and the Killer C’s took over. They brought the Thunder all the way back for a 64-59 victory that virtually clinched the No. 3 seed in the upcoming Class 1A Area 11 tournament, away from the dreaded play-in game and on the other side of the bracket from powerful Spring Garden.
The Thunder trailed 46-32 with about two minutes left in the third quarter. From that point, Carter scored 14 of her game-high 26 points. Cupp, who came within one steal of a triple-double, scored 14 of her 24 points in the same stretch.
“Those two thrive off the press,” Bryant said. “They love it and they’re tuned into it. If you say ‘y’all want to press?’ in the locker room, both of them are like ‘please.’ It gets them going.
“When we came in at halftime they were like ‘coach, can we press, can we press.’ With us down a man I was little timid at first because I don’t want to get us in foul trouble in big games.”
The Thunder fell behind under a barrage of five 3-pointers by the Lady Falcons in the third quarter. The rain started with the game tied at 29.
JCA has lost senior Elizabeth Goss for the season to illness and her absence was felt. She guarded Donoho’s Victoria O’Neill in the first meeting between the teams, but without that presence Thursday night O’Neill got open and hit three of her five 3-pointers in the quarter. She finished with 25 points.
But then the Thunder started doing what it does best and steadily climbed back into the game. It eventually took the lead on Cupp’s 3-pointer with 2:41 to play, but didn’t take the lead for good until Carter’s basket with 1:11 left and then it scored the last six points of the game.
“We’re an aggressive team, we just don’t know how to use it,” Bryant said. “I’m trying to teach them what we’re good at we need to impose on people. We can press pretty good and our best offense is from fast breaks.
“At the end of the third quarter I told them if you will just push our game we can come back. We can control the game. We played too long trying to let them slow the game down and get the half-court sets. That’s not what we want to do.”
Cupp also had 13 rebounds, nine steals and five assists. Karli Barnwell grabbed 14 rebounds for the Thunder.
Jacksonville Christian 64, Donoho 59
DONOHO (1-8) – Anastasia O’Neill 3 0-0 9, Campbell Hagan 4 0-0 8, Victoria O’Neill 9 2-3 25, Amelia Baker 2 0-0 4, Julie Cleckler 5 0-2 10, Virginia Jones 0 0-2 0, Janie Sills 0 0-0 0, Anna Grace Jones 1 0-0 3. Totals 24 2-7 59.
JCA (11-5) – Rebekah Carter 9 8-14 26, Kylie Cupp 5 12-19 24, Kirsten 0 0-0 0, Mia Morales 3 2-6, Karli Barnwell 2 0-0 4, Abbie Stovall 0 0-0 0, Hannah Clayton 0 0-0 0, Krymson Clay 1 0-0 2. Totals 20 22-39 64.
Donoho 12 15 19 13 – 59
JCA 16 11 10 27 – 64
3-point goals: Donoho 9 (A. O’Neill 3, V. O’Neill 5, A. Jones); JCA 2 (Cupp 2). Fouled out: Hagan, Baker, Cleckler. Total fouls: Donoho 27, JCA 12. Officials: Miller, Barber, Moorehouse.
Pleasant Valley 50, Piedmont 19
PIEDMONT – Pleasant Valley put on a defensive clinic, holding the Lady Bulldogs to 7-of-33 shooting and forcing 30 turnovers.
“It definitely was that,” PV coach Brad Hood said. “We had (given up) eight (in the first half). I told them my only goal this (second) half is to guard them and take pride in our defense; don’t give them any easy baskets. I think two were 3s with a hand in their face. They locked them down.
“The guards were on the guards, Emma (Hood) and Karmyn (Sparks) denied their post and if they broke the press we got in the half-court set and locked down on them. It was the best defensive game we had all year.”
On the offensive side, where they were running a ball-control tempo in the half court, the Lady Raiders put three scorers in double figures. Rylee Haynes was their leading scorer with 13 points, Sparks had 12 and Macey Roper had 10. Jaycee Glover was Piedmont’s leading scorer with seven points.
Pleasant Valley 50, Piedmont 19
PLEASANT VALLEY (10-9) – Rylee Haynes 6 0-0 13, Marley Wright 1 0-0 2, Gracie Hood 1 0-0 3, Emma Hood 3 2-6 8, Macey Roper 3 4-7 10, Anna Worthy 1 0-0 2, Erin Rose 0 0-0 0, Karmyn Sparks 5 2-2 12. Totals 20 8-15 50.
PIEDMONT (4-10) – Ava Pope 2 0-0 5, Emma G. Todd 0 0-0 0, Whitney McFry 1 0-0 2, Jaycee Glover 3 0-0 7, Lele Ridley 0 2-4 2, Hannah Barbee 0 1-2 1, Armani Perry 0 0-0 0, Jenna Calvert 0 0-0 0, Gracie Naugher 0 0-0 0, Z’Hayla Walker 1 0-0 2. Totals 7 3-6 19.
Pleasant Valley 14 12 14 10 – 50
Piedmont 4 4 5 6 – 19
3-point goals: Pleasant Valley 2 (Haynes, G. Hood); Piedmont 2 (Pope, Glover). Total fouls: Pleasant Valley 7, Piedmont 13.
Hokes Bluff 58, Jacksonville 43
HOKES BLUFF – The Lady Eagles held Jacksonville scoreless in the fourth quarter after the Golden Eagles closed to within two after a big fourth quarter.
Jacksonville scored 21 points in the third quarter to make it a 45-43 game, then never scored again.
Jayden Presley led Hokes Bluff with 14 points. Kristen Shields had 10 points and six rebounds. Jacksonville’s Kayla Broom led all scorers with 20 points. She also had six rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocked shots.
Hokes Bluff 58, Jacksonville 43
JACKSONVILLE (9-7) – Kayla Broom 8-11 2-2 20, Rebekah Gannaway 3-11 0-0 8, Patience Carr 2-7 1-4 6, Brenna Stone 2-4 0-0 4, Maggie Anderson 1-6 0-0 3, Amarie Curry 1-2 0-2 2, Amia Montgomery 0-1 0-0 0, Malijah Goggins 0-2 0-0 0, Carmen Praterr 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 17-45 3-8 43.
HOKES BLUFF – Jayden Presley 5-8 4-4 14, Kristen Shields 4-13 2-3 10, Maddie Smith 2-4 5-8 9, Madison Wolfe 3-9 1-4 8, Makenzie Bates 2-3 0-0 5, Kaylee Ingram 2-2 0-0 4, Bailee Latronico 1-2 1-2 3, Halie Davenport 1-1 0-0 3, Aubry Moland 0-0 2-2 2, Meghan Casman 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 20-43 15-23 58.
Jacksonville 10 12 21 0 – 43
Hokes Bluff 13 19 13 13 – 58
3-point goals: Jacksonville 6-19 (Broom 2-3, Gannaway 2-6, Carr 1-2, Anderson 1-6, Montgomery 0-1, Prater 0-1); Hokes Bluff 3-8 (Shields 0-1, Smith 0-1, Wolfe 1-3, Bates 1-2, Davenport 1-1). Rebounds: Jacksonville 28 (Broom 6, Stone 6); Hokes Bluff 31 (Wolfe 7, Shields 6). Total fouls: Jacksonville 15, Hokes Bluff 7.
Ohatchee 65, Coosa Christian 58
GADSDEN – Jorda Crook scored 13 of her 20 points in the first half and Tori Vice scored 14 of her 17 in the second to lead the Lady Indians. Coosa’s Bella Millirons led all scorers with 33 points. Kaylee Hasley added 19.
Ohatchee 65, Coosa Christian 58
OHATCHEE (9-7) – Gracyn Snow 2 2-3 6, Jazmine Adams 3 3-12 9, Lyda Elders 0 0-0 0, Tori Vice 6 5-10 17, Gracie George 3 1-6 7, Millie Rainwater 2 0-0 6, Jorda Crook 6 8-9 20. Totals 22 19-40 65.
COOSA CHRISTIAN – Caitlin Cates 0 0-0 0, Kaylee Hasley 7 1-2 19, Erin Snow 0 0-4 0, Bella Millirons 10 7-15 33, Gemma Littlejohn 0 0-0 0, Emma Justus 0 0-2 0, India Brown 3 0-2 6, Totals 20 8-25 58.
Ohatchee 14 15 18 18 – 65
Coosa 7 11 18 22 – 58
3-point goals; Ohatchee 2 (Rainwater 2); Coosa 10 (Hasley 4, Millirons 6). Fouled out: Rainwater, E. Snow, Millirons. Total fouls: Ohatchee 21, Coosa 26.
Cleburne County 57, Lincoln 29
HEFLIN – The Lady Tigers continue to find ways to win while their team fights through flu-like symptoms that have hit at least three of their regulars. Brooklyn McDaniel led Cleburne County with 26 points and 15 rebounds. She scored 18 points in the first half as the Lady Tigers opened a 30-9 halftime lead. “She played possessed tonight,” Heflin coach Todd Gable said. “She would not be denied.”
Cleburne County 57, Lincoln 29
LINCOLN – Bailey Gowers 5 1-5 11, Makayla Groce 0 0-4 0, Jayla Morris 5 3-4 15, Jaylah King 0 0-2 0, Keishaunna Strown 1 1-2 3, Zariah Orr 0 0-2 0. Totals 11 5-19 29.
CLEBURNE COUNTY – Olivia McDaniel 3 4-7 10, Haven Freeman 2 0-4 4, Kaylee Shierling 0 0-0 0, Brooklyn McDaniel 10 3-8 26, Hailey Price 5 3-6 15, Sarah Hunt 0 0-0 0, Alexa Mize 0 0-0 0, Jacy Littleton 0 0-0 0, Faith Brown 1 0-0 2. Totals 21 10-25 57.
Lincoln 5 4 11 9 – 29
Cleburne Co. 12 18 13 14 – 57
3-point goals: Lincoln 2 (Morris 2); Cleburne Co. 5 (B. McDaniel 3, Price 2). Technical fouls: K. Strown. Fouled out: O. McDaniel. Total fouls: Lincoln 19, Cleburne Co. 21. Officials: Kelley, Ned, Scott.
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