Setting the stage
- Updated: January 14, 2020
Boys roundup: Jacksonville pulls away from Cherokee County to set up area showdown with White Plains; Alexandria, Oxford win nailbiters, for Cubs it means a playoff berth
Tuesday’s boys scores
Alexandria 54, Etowah 53
Anniston 68, Leeds 42
ASD 55, Victory Christian 37
Cleburne County at Wellborn
Faith Christian at Coosa Christian
Fort Payne 77, White Plains 71 (OT)
Handley 68, Clay Central 45
Jacksonville 84, Cherokee County 63
Jacksonville Christian 77, Spring Garden 67
Lincoln 83, Munford 79
Oxford 63, Carrollton (Ga.) 61
Piedmont 85, Weaver 40
Ragland 53, Talladega Co. Central 50
Ranburne at Donoho
Saks at Pleasant Valley
Westbrook Christian 58, Ohatchee 40
Etowah County Tournament
Hokes Bluff 55, Gaston 47
By East Alabama Sports Today
CENTRE – Jacksonville pulled away from a tied game in the third quarter and beat Cherokee County 84-63 Tuesday night to set up a showdown with White Plains Friday for the No. 1 seed in Class 4A Area 10.
With the game tied 44 early in the third, the Golden Eagles (14-3) went on a 15-4 run the rest of the quarter and kept their foot on the gas. They needed to win it to pull into a tie with White Plains at 4-1 in the area standings. The winner of Friday’s game will be the area No. 1, while the loser will the second seed and play third-seeded Cherokee County (8-10) for a spot in the subregion tournament.
“This game didn’t need any motivation from our guys,” Jacksonville coachCordell Hunt said. “They knew we needed to take care of tonight. I wasproud of the guys for how they come out and responded to that little run(in the third quarter) that Centre had.”
Donavon McCain led Jacksonville with 23 points on 10-of-11 shooting from the floor and nine rebounds. Kyrie Maynor tossed in 20 and Q Long contributed 13 points and sixboards.
Cherokee County was without junior center NasDiamond, who has been battling the flu.The remaining Warriors gave it their best shot, but they didn’t have ananswer for McCain and Maynor defensively.
Jacksonville jumped out to a 21-11 lead in the firstquarter, but the Warriors battled back to make it a four-point game at halftime, 40-36. They tied the game at 44 early in the third, but Jacksonville surged back ahead to stay.
“We talked at halftime how we would have to rebound the ball,” Huntsaid. “We weren’t settling for 3-point shots. We were getting to the rimand getting layups. Our guys were moving very well to the ball, and whenyou do that, good things happen.
“We just got after it. I felt like they were a little tired. We’ve got alittle bit more depth than them. My young guys played awesome. They allcontributed well. We didn’t have many turnovers, and I can’t speak enoughfor how we were getting to the rack and getting and-ones. The way wefinished with free throws was awesome.”
Yessman Green added nine points, five rebounds, three assists and twosteals for the Golden Eagles. Cam Johnson finished with seven points, fourboards and three steals.
Slade Alexander and Connor Elrod both scored 16 points to lead theWarriors. Alexander also grabbed eight boards and had three assists.– Shannon Fagan, Cherokee County Herald
Jacksonville 84, Cherokee County 63
JACKSONVILLE – Donavon McCain 10-11 3-5 23, Kyrie Maynor 7-13 4-4 20, Q Long 5-10 2-4 13, Yessman Green 4-5 1-1 9, Cam Johnson 2-6 3-4 7, Hudson Harvey 1-3 2-2 4, Caden Johnson 1-4 2-3 4, John Broom 0-1 4-4 4, Jaden Barksdale 0-0 0-0 0, Ron Wiggins 0-1 0-0 0, Jalen Morton 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 30-54 21-27 84.
CHEROKEE COUNTY – Slade Alexander 6-9 4-11 16, Bradley Elrod 7-16 0-0 16, Walton Green 3-6 0-0 9, Matthew Johnson 3-4 0-0 8, D. Ramsey 3-3 0-0 6, Jason McSpadden 1-2 2-2 5, Dylan Culber 1-4 0-0 3, Courtlin Brooks 0-1 0-0 0, Tristen Starr 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-45 6-13 63.
Jacksonville 21 19 19 25 – 84
Cherokee County 11 25 12 15 – 63
3-point goals: Jacksonville 3-11 (Maynor 2-4, Long 1-3, Green 0-1, Cm. Johnson 0-2, Broom 0-1); Cherokee County 9-24 (Alexander 0-1, Elrod 2-8, Green 3-6, Johnson 2-3, McSpadden 1-2, Culver 1-4). Rebounds: Jacksonville 34 (McCain 9, Long 6); Cherokee County 21 (Alexander 8). Fouled out: Green. Total fouls: Jacksonville 17, Cherokee County 17.
Alexandria 54, Etowah 53
ANNISTON – Landan Williams hit two free throws with 18 seconds left and the Valley Cubs survived a missed 3-pointer at the buzzer to beat the Blue Devils and clinch the No. 1 seed in three-team Class 5A Area 12 and an automatic berth in the sub-region tournament.
The Cubs trailed by eight in the fourth quarter before “we started making some plays and making some shots,” coach Jason Johnson said. They also were 8-of-10 from the free throw line in the quarter.
“There was a lot on the line there and he calmly hit both of them,” Johnson said. “It just takes a lot of pressure off you. That first game trying to get in the playoffs is just a long day waiting for it to come. It’s nice to have to miss that part of the stress.”
Williams finished with 15 points, including 5-of-7 from the free throw line. D’Anthony Walton had 19 points and 10 rebounds.
The Valley Cubs have not lost in 2020 and have won seven in a row since losing in the opening round of the Glencoe Holiday Shootout.
Piedmont 85, Weaver 40
WEAVER – Silas Thompson scored 20 points, Alex Odam scored all 17 of his points in the first half and six of the Piedmont players who scored hit at least one 3-pointer as the Bulldogs improved to 7-0 in their area. Thompson was 9-of-12 from the field shooting and grabbed eight rebounds. Luke Bussey had six assists and four steals to go with his nine points.
Piedmont 85, Weaver 40
PIEDMONT (16-2) – Alex Odam 5 3-3 17, Omarion Foster 3 0-0 7, Luke Bussey 4 0-0 9, Trey McFaaland 7 0-0 15, Silas Thompson 9 1-2 20, Jack Hayes 0 0-0 0, Malachi Jackson 3 0-0 6, Jakari Foster 5 0-0 11. Totals 36 4-5 85.
WEAVER – Quinton Blackerby 0 0-0 0, Brendyn Knight 0 0-0 0, Kohl Perry 1 0-0 2, Kendarrius McGregor 0 0-0 0, Jackson Williams 2 0-2 4, Kyle Knight 1 0-0 2, Armane Burton 3 7-8 15, Tristan Brown 5 4-4 14, Joseph Bolan 1 0-0 2. Totals 13 11-14 40.
Piedmont 26 24 19 16 – 85
Weaver 8 20 7 5 – 40
3-point goals: Piedmont 9 (Odam 4, O. Foster, Bussey, McFarland, Thompson, J. Foster); Weaver 3 (Perry, Burton 2). Technical fouls: Thompson. Total fouls: Piedmont 11, Weaver 7. Officials: Wood, Wright, Smith.
Fort Payne 77, White Plains 71 (OT)
FORT PAYNE – Kevin Hightower scored 27 points and combined with Jacob Hendrix for eight free throws in overtime as the Wildcats pulled away from White Plains. The homestanding Wildcats were 9-of-11 from the line in the extra period.
White Plains rallied from nine down at the start of the fourth quarter to force overtime. Brody Baker’s bucket with 50 seconds left tied the score and the Wildcats held on with their defense. Baker led all scorers with 35 points.
Fort Payne 77, White Plains 71 (OT)
WHITE PLAINS – Coleman Messer 0 0-0 0, Quin Wilson 6 0-0 14, Jaden Chatman 3 3-4 9, Jacob Wheeler 0 0-0 0, Landon Senciboy 0 0-0 0, Brody Baker 14 6-7 35, Carson Wright 0 0-0 0, Walker O’Steen 2 0-0 4, Kahlil Williams 1 0-0 2, Garrett Wilson 3 0-0 7. Totals 29 9-11 71.
FORT PAYNE – Jacob Hendrix 1 8-10 11, Bryon Richey 6 1-1 15, Kevin Hightower 9 5-9 27, Kyler Rogers 0 0-0 0, Will Abbott 1 0-0 3, Lane White 3 4-5 11, Nate Crane 1 0-2 2, Eli Kirby 0 0-0 0, Micah Simpson 2 3-3 8. Totals 23 21-30 77.
White Plains 15 18 15 18 5 – 71
Fort Payne 15 23 19 9 11 – 77
3-point goals: White Plains 4 (Q. Wilson 2, Baker, G. Wilson); Fort Payne 10 (Hendrix, Richey 2, Hightower 4, Abbott, White, Simpson). Fouled out: Crane. Total fouls: White Plains 21, Fort Payne 16.
Oxford 63, Carrollton 61
CARROLLTON, Ga. – Kobe Warren hit the second of two free throws with 11 seconds to play to put Oxford up by two and held on through a long 3-point attempt at the buzzer.
Warren worked to get back to the line. He missed two free throws with the Yellow Jackets leading by one, but got his own rebound and was fouled going back to the basket to get back to the line.
The Jackets had a couple fouls to give after Warren’s free throw which ran down the clock without putting Carrollton at the line.
The Yellow Jackets were led Zondrick Garrett’s 23 points and 11 rebounds; he also hit three 3-pointers. Rock Taylor had 13 points and Justin Moore had 10.
“We’ve had our group together for a while now and you’ve started to see us getting better and better,” Oxford coach Joel VanMeter said. “Our roles are getting more defined. We’re going as far as Zondrick Garrett can take us and everybody is on board. We’re starting to understand what we need to do as a group.”
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