Ballew stays hot
- Updated: January 11, 2020
Boys roundup: PV’s Ballew caps a big week with 30 points in a Raiders’ win over Wellborn; Johnson leads Saks over Weaver; includes box scores and more
Friday’s boys scores
Alexandria 59, Southside 41
Faith Christian 50, Donoho 47
Glencoe 62, J.B. Pennington 50
Guntersville 78, Anniston 56
Handley 74, Holtville 51
LaFayette at Ranburne
Munford 70, Clay Central 62
Ohatchee 82, Gaston 28
Oxford 55, Clay-Chalkville 42
Lincoln 67, Pell City 59
Piedmont 53, Haralson County (Ga.) 39
Pleasant Valley 73, Wellborn 53
Saks 72, Weaver 38
Spring Garden 83, Cleburne County 49
Talladega 58, Sylacauga 49
Talladega County Central at Winterboro
White Plains 61, Cherokee County 47
By East Alabama Sports Today
JACKSONVILLE – Josh Ballew completed an “amazing” week of scoring Friday night when he went for 30 points in leading Pleasant Valley to a 73-53 victory over Wellborn.
In three games this week Ballew scored 101 points to raise his season scoring average to over 20 points per game. The week started with a career-high 43 against Weaver and he had 28 in a head-to-head matchup with Alex Odam and Piedmont.
“I’ve just been a lot more confident on offense, just pushing the ball hard and trying to get to the basket like I normally do,” the junior said.
The Panthers have seen this show before. The first time Ballew swung through these three teams this season he put 40 on Wellborn, 39 on Weaver and 18 on Piedmont.
“Last year I wasn’t as confident going into game as I am now,” Ballew said. “I was just a little bit nervous back then, but now I’m not and it pays off.”
Ballew got off to a fast start Friday night. He scored 11 of the Raiders’ 26 points in the first quarter. He came out of the halftime locker room hot, too, scoring 14 in the third quarter.
“He is playing aggressively,” PV coach Ryan Chambless said. “And we had guys play well around him tonight as well. Josh works hard. Other guys are starting to feed off his aggressive play.”
One of the byproducts of that aggressive approach is Ballew’s ability to get to the free throw, and he’s been particularly strong from there during this recent run. He was only 5-of-7 from the line against the Panthers, but in the previous two games he was a combined 33-for-38.
“I’ve been trying to get better at those because I’m getting fouled a lot more and I’ve just got to make those free throws,” he said.
Saks 72, Weaver 38
ANNISTON – Zaejuan Johnson scored 21 points and three other Wildcats scored in double figures to key the victory. Johnson hit two 3-pointers in the first quarter as Saks opened a 24-10 lead. Johnson and Zay Elston each scored seven in the third quarter when the Wildcats pulled away. Freshman Armane Burton led Weaver with 12 points.
Saks 72, Weaver 38
WEAVER – Quinton Blackerby 1 0-0 2, Brendyn Knight 3 2-4 8, Kohl Perry 1 0-0 2, Jackson Williams 0 2-5 2, Kyle Knight 2 2-4 7, Armane Burton 5 1-1 12, Taylor Thompson 0 0-0 0, Tristian Brown 1 3-6 5. Totals 13 10-20 38.
SAKS – Benji Wilson 0 0-0 0, Zaejuan Johnson 8 2-2 21, Will Mixson 1 0-0 2, Leonta Jones 0 0-1 0, Kyle Goodde 5 2-2 12, Myles McLaughlin 5 0-0 12, Connor Martin 2 0-0 5, Patrick Williams 0 0-0 0, Jordan Cosper 3 0-0 7, Isian Davis 1 0-0 2, Zay Elston 5 1-4 11, Aramis Taylor 1 0-0 2. Totals 31 4-9 72.
Weaver 10 13 8 7 – 38
Saks 24 4 23 21 – 72
3-point goals: Weaver 2 (K. Knight, Burton); Saks 7 (Johnson 3, McLaughlin 2, Martin, Cosper). Total fouls: Weaver 12, Saks 21. Officials: Stringer, Askew, Brown.
Piedmont 53, Haralson County 39
TALLAPOOSA, Ga. – Even in a different time zone, Alex Odam is still one of the most dynamic scorers in the southeast. The freshman scored 23 points as the Bulldogs (15-2) crossed state lines to handle Haralson County.
Odam, who scored his 1,000thcareer point on his last basket Thursday night, was 8-of-18 shooting from the floor and had five steals. Silas Thompson had 17 points and 10 rebounds. Thompson was particular active in the third quarter, scoring 13 of his 17 points. He also grabbed 10 rebounds.
Piedmont 53, Haralson County 39
PIEDMONT (15-2) – Alex Odam 8 5-6 23, Omarion Foster 0 0-0 0, Luke Bussey 1 0-0 3, Trey McFarland 2 2-2 6, Silas Thompson 5 6-8 17, Jack Hayes 0 0-0 0, Malachi Jackson 1 0-0 2, Jakari Foster 1 0-0 2. Totals 18 13-16 53.
HARALSON COUNTY – Bryson King 3 1-2 8, Nakota Fermie 1 2-4 4, DeAngelo McFarling 1 0-0 2, Cline 2 2-2 8, Lane King 2 2-5 8, Cayden Robinson 2 0-2 5, Harris 1 0-0 2, Salmon 0 2-2 2. Totals 12 9-17 39.
Piedmont 11 13 20 9 – 53
Haralson Co. 11 7 12 9 – 39
3-point goals: Piedmont 4 (Odam 2, Bussey, Thompson); Harlason County 6 (B. King, Cline 2, L. King 2, Robinson). Total fouls: Piedmont 10, Haralson County 15.
Munford 70, Clay Central 62
MUNFORD – Justin Sistrunk hit 16 of 21 free throws and scored 18 points and Rashard Russell scored 17 to push Munford over the .500 mark for the season. The Lions were 28-of-47 from the line as a team and scored almost as many points from the line as they did from the floor.
At 7-6, the Lions already have matched their win total of last season. They didn’t get their seventh win last season until their 25thgame. It’s the deepest into the season they’ve been over .500 since at least 2013-14, the last set of records available by the AHSAA.
CLAY CENTRAL – Caden McCain 2 0-0 6, Noah Wiggins 2 4-6 10, Clay Yates 1 0-0 3, Tanner Higgins 4 0-0 10, Elisha McNeil 3 1-1 8, EJay Simmons 6 0-2 12, Jakhiem McClemore 1 3-4 5, Micah Harris 4 0-2 8. Totals 23 8-15 62.
MUNFORD (7-6) – L.J. Flint 2 0-0 4, Andrew Williams 2 0-0 6, Justin Sistrunk 1 16-21 18, Rashard Russell 7 0-6 17, Jay Tuck 1 4-7 7, Caderio Holland 0 0-0 0, Conner Morgan 1 2-4 5, Jaquan Anderson 3 6-9 13. Totals 17 28-47 70.
Clay Central 19 9 14 20 – 62
Munford 17 19 15 19 – 70
3-point goals: Munford 8 (Williams 2, Russell 3, Tuck, Morgan, Anderson); Clay Central 8 (McCain 2, Wiggins 2, Yates, Higgins 2, McNeil). Fouled out: Yates, Harris. Total fouls: Munford 18, Clay Central 30. Officials: Tillery, Morriss, Poss.
Ohatchee 82, Gaston 28
OHATCHEE – Cam Foushee led four Ohatchee scorers in double figures with 17 points and the Indians capped it off with a shutout in fourth quarter with a running clock.
All four scorers had a big quarter in which they shined. Foushee scored 10 in the first as the Indians jumped out to a 23-10 lead. Briley Hale had eight of his 10 in the first quarter. Austin Wyatt had 12 of his 13 in the second quarter. Trey Pesnell matched his career highs with 16 points and four 3-pointers; he scored 12 in the third quarter.
GASTON – William Bagley 3 1-1 8, Nicolas Lewis 1 5-6 7, Jeremiah Dupree 1 0-0 2, Kendall Blackwell 3 0-1 7, Brock Bagley 0 0-2 0, Kendrick Blackwell 1 0-0 2, Aaron Wood 1 0-0 2, Brett Scott 0 0-2 0. Totals 10 6-12 28.
OHATCHEE (7-9) – Blake Hollis 2 0-0 5, Trey Pesnell 5 2-5 16, Tristan Easterwood 2 0-0 5, Cam Foushee 4 7-8 17, Jacob Bowers 3 0-0 6, Michael Buckelew 0 0-0 0, Drake Hollis 1 6-8 8, Jared McFall 1 0-0 2, Austin Wyatt 6 1-2 13, Briley Hale 5 0-1 10. Totals 29 16-24 82.
Gaston 10 8 10 0 – 28
Ohatchee 23 27 20 12 – 82
3-point goals: Gaston 2 (W. Bagley, Kl. Blackwell); Ohatchee 8 (B. Hollis, Pesnell 4, Easterwood, Foushee 2). Total fouls: Gaston 16, Ohatchee 10. Officials: Kelley, Pratt, Barber.
Alexandria 59, Southside 41
ANNISTON –Collin Taylor scored 18 points behind three 3-pointners and 9-of-10 shooting from the free throw line to lead the Valley Cubs to their sixth straight victory and avenge an earlier area loss. Julian Wright and Landan Williams added 10 points each.
Alexandria 59, Southside 41
SOUTHSIDE –Michael Rich 1 2-2 6, Chris Lengyel 6 4-6 20, Jordan Grantland 1 0-0 2, William Carr 2 2-4 6, Colton Morrison 2 0-0 5, Thomas Simmons 0 0-0 0, John Opdycke 0 0-0 0, Peter Crask 1 0-0 2, Totals 13 8-12 41.
ALEXANDRIA (13-3) –Javais McGhee 1 3-6 5, Collin Taylor 3 9-10 18, D’Anthony Walton 2 0-0 5, Seth Slaton 0 7-8 7, Julian Wright 5 0-2 10, Dustin Warren 2 0-1 4, Landan Williams 4 2-2 10, Totals 17 21-29 59.
Southside 8 4 13 16 – 41
Alexandria 17 11 20 11 – 59
3-point goals: Southside 5 (Lengyel 4, Morrison); Alexandria 4 (Taylor 3, Walton).
You must be logged in to post a comment Login