No. 1 again
- Updated: January 13, 2020
Girls roundup: Anniston locks up an outright area title, Pleasant Valley avenges earlier loss to TCC
Monday’s girls scores
Anniston 66, Cleburne County 23
Clay Central 55, Saks 50
Coosa Christian 71, Westbrook Christian 40
Oxford 44, Benjamin Russell 38
Pleasant Valley 51, TCC 30
Woodland 56, Wadley 24
Etowah County Tournament
West End 45, Sardis 44
By East Alabama Sports Today
HEFLIN – It may have seemed like a formality, but Anniston coach Eddie Bullock takes nothing for granted.
Bullock’s Anniston girls basketball team mathematically locked up the outright No. 1 seed in the Class 4A Area 9 tournament with a one-sided 66-23 win over Cleburne County Monday.
“I like to play at home, everybody likes to play at home,” Bullock said of the hosting rights that come with the top area seed. “You’re more comfortable playing at home than you are on the road. That home court crowd gives you that advantage for going to the state.”
The Lady Bulldogs had clinched a share of the title and the No. 1 seed when they routed Talladega last week, but they had yet to play Cleburne County and losses in those two games, although unlikely, would have taken the race to a tiebreaker. Now, they’ll have it outright.
The game followed a familiar formula. The Lady Bulldogs used a smothering defense to fuel their offense, got some strong outside shooting and dominated inside. Even without sharp-shooter Allasha Dudley, out with an ankle injury, Anniston was more than the Lady Tigers could handle.
Kiana Montgomery scored 10 of her 12 points in the first quarter as the Lady Bulldogs opened a 25-7 lead and Asia Barclay scored 10 of her game-high 20 in the second quarter as they extended the lead to 43-14 by halftime.
“They did what they’re supposed to do, but not as well as I wanted them to do,” Bullock said. “Asia and Kiana have to be able to play to their level; that’s what I’m trying to get them to do.”
The Lady Bulldogs might have been missing Dudley, but they did have Anna Garrett back for the second straight game after the guard had missed 10 games with an illness. Garrett controlled the opening tip, scored five points and assisted on both of Airriana Colley 3-pointers in the first quarter.
“It’s actually been kind of hard; I’m a little, I don’t want to say, out of shape, I’ve just got to get my mojo back,” Garrett said. “It seemed a little normal, but it was like I was getting a little tired faster than normal because I hadn’t played in like 10 games.”
Anniston 66, Cleburne County 23
ANNISTON – Ladajah Williams 2 2-2 6, Anna Garrett 2 0-0 5, Shiwanna Jackson 0 0-0 0, Aaliyah Henson 1 1-2 3, Olivia Pinson 0 0-0 0, Tiauna Thomas 2 0-0 4, Airriana Colley 3 2-3 10, Deysha Slater 0 0-0 0, Kiana Montgomery 6 0-0 12, Keyahra Williams 0 0-0 0, Asia Barclay 9 2-2 20, Tanajah Winsley 2 0-2 5. Totals 27 7-11 66.
CLEBURNE COUNTY – Olivia McDaniel 1 1-2 3, haven Freeman 0 0-0 0, Kaylee Shierling 1 0-1 2, Brooklyn McDaniel 4 1-4 11, Hailey Price 0 2-4 2, Libby Altman 0 0-0 0, Emma Rollins 1 0-0 2, Alexa Mize 0 0-0 0, Jacy Littleton 0 0-0 0, Faith Brown 1 0-0 3, Kendall Houston 0 0-0 0, Micah Pentacost 0 0-0 0. Totals 8 4-11 23.
Anniston 25 18 21 2 – 66
Cleburne Co. 7 7 5 4 – 23
3-point goals: Anniston 5 (L. Williams, Garrett, Colley 2, Winsley); Cleburne Co. 3 (B. McDaniel 2, Brown). Total fouls: Anniston 17, Cleburne Co. 10. Officials: Burroughs, Winn, Taylor.
Pleasant Valley 51, TCC 30
JACKSONVILLE – Emma Hood scored 21 points as the Lady Raiders avenged an earlier 17-point loss to the Lady Tigers. PV took control of the game early with Hood scoring 10 in the first quarter and 13 in the first half as PV opened a 25-10 halftime lead. Karmyn Sparks added 11 points for the Lady Raiders.
Pleasant Valley 51, TCC 30
TALLADEGA COUNTY CENTRAL – Devona Gover 2 0-0 5, Ja-Miya Whitson 1 3-6 5, Alisha Morris 1 2-2 2, Icelynn Gooden 1 0-0 3, Danyla Maple 1 0-0 2, Evianna Johnson 3 1-2 8, Jayniah McGhee 0 0-0 0, Anysiah Taylor 0 1-4 1, Amiya Sillmon 1 0-0 2. Totals 10 7-14 30.
PLEASANT VALLEY – Rylee Haynes 2 1-3 5, Marlie Wright 2 0-0 6, Emma Hood 9 3-12 21, Macey Roper 3 0-0 6, Anna Worthy 1 0-0 2, Karmyn Sparks 5 1-2 11. Totals 22 5-17 51.
Talladega Co. Cent. 7 3 12 8 – 30
Pleasant Valley 13 12 11 15 – 51
3-point goals: TCC 3 (Gover, Gooden, Johnson); Pleasant Valley 2 (Wright 2). Total fouls: TCC 16, Pleasant Valley 9. Officials: Pratt, Wilson, Strott.
Other games
Coosa Christian 71, Westbrook 40: Bella Millirons scored 30 points and India Brown posted a triple-double to lead the Lady Conquerors. Brown had 18 points, 14 rebounds and 12 assists along with six blocked shots. Kaylee Hasley added 17 points.
West End 45, Sardis 44: Madison Parker hits two free throws with no time remaining to send the Lady Patriots to victory in the Etowah County Tournament.
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