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That’s a wrap

Boys teams wrap up regular-season schedules Friday night, look forward to area tournaments and beyond

Oxford’s Mont McClendon focuses on the basket despite the interference of two Gadsden City defenders. (Photo by B.J. Franklin)

Friday’s boys scores
Alexandria 65, Saks 49
Anniston 54, Guntersville 42
ASD at Gaylesville
Cedar Bluff 60, Ohatchee 59
Etowah 54, Lincoln 49
Fort Payne 90, Cherokee County 71
Lafayette 73, Handley 42
Jacksonville Christian 96, Valley Head 47
Oxford 73, Gadsden City 63
Pell City at Munford
Ragland def. Pleasant Valley
Springville 61, Jacksonville 46
Talladega 62, Clay Central 39
Weaver 61, Donoho 39
Westbrook Christian 78, Faith Christian 46
White Plains 77, Ranburne 50
 
By Brant Locklier
For East Alabama Sports Today
 
OXFORD — The Oxford Yellow Jackets opened their regular season with a 15-point win at Gadsden City and Friday night they closed it with a 73-63 victory over the Titans at the Sports Arena.

Justin Moore had a dunk in the fourth-quarter run that gave Oxford the lead for good against Gadsden City. (Photo by B.J. Franklin)

The Jackets (19-8) were without Roc Taylor in both games. Taylor was still playing football when the basketball season started and this time was out with a tweaked ankle that he suffered in Tuesday night’s game.
 
“Yeah Roc has had a pretty tough week,” Oxford coach Joel VanMeter said. “Tweaked his ankle, had a root canal and hit a house (in a car accident). He will be ready next Friday for the area championship.”

It was an interesting night for the Yellow Jackets against their 7A rivals. With Taylor out and Rylan Houck in foul trouble, the Jackets were trying different rotations from what they were accustomed.
 
The Titans were blistering hot in the game as they drilled 11 3-point baskets. They would pull ahead three or four points and Oxford would respond with a run to take an eight- to 10-point lead and the Titans would rally.
 
Early in the final quarter Gadsden City went ahead 51-50, but a dunk by Justin Moore, a dunk by Zondrick Garrett and a steal and layup by Moore in a span of 25 seconds put Oxford up 56-51 with 5:02 left in the game. The Jackets pulled away down the stretch to pick up the win in their last game before the playoffs.

“We have not played a team this year on our schedule that could not beat us if we did not play a good game,” said Van Meter. ”Hopefully, this has us ready to play tournament – especially in a region that is unbelievably tough this year.”

Zondrick Garrett fights for position against Gadsden City. (Photo by B.J. Franklin)

No. 1 Pinson Valley, potential subregion opponent No. 2 Mae Jemison, No. 3 Huffman and No. 10 area rival Albertville are all in the region with No. 8 Oxford fighting for the one Northeast Region spot in the Final Four in Birmingham. That road starts next Friday in Oxford when the Jackets play the Fort Payne-Albertville winner in their area tournament championship game.

“We have these spurts of scoring that is keyed by our defense and I don’t think we recognize that often enough,” said Van Meter, “but we played well down the stretch and I am proud of these guys.”

Garrett took charge early in the game with 12 first-quarter points and ended up with 22 points and 9 rebounds. Moore had 18 points, while Houck wound up with 10 points and six boards. Kobe Warren chipped in 10 points.
 
Jayden Lawson was on fire for the Titans and poured in 25 points. Demarcus Macon knocked down five 3-pointers on his way to 17.
 
Oxford 73, Gadsden City 63
GADSDEN CITY – Phillip Hunter 0 0-0 0, Jayden Lawson 11 0-0 25, Maleek Kidd 1 0-0 3, Demarcus Macon 7 0-0 19, Ratavious Hicks 0 0-0 0, Shamar Huff 1 0-0 3, Zion Kirby 1 0-0 2, Quinton Desmore 0 0-0 0, Roderick Orr 3 1-4 7, Jameron Norris 0 0-0 0, DeRickey Wright 1 1-2 4. Totals 25 2-6 63.
OXFORD (19-8) – Cordell Chatman 1 0-0 2, Zondrick Garrett 7 6-11 22, Rylan Houck 4 2-2 10, Mont McClendon 3 0-1 7, Kobe Warren 3 4-6 10, Bakari Dailey 0 0-0 0, Justin Moore 6 6-7 18, MIlas Jackson 1 1-2 4, Ethan Page 0 0-0 0, Avelon Bush 0 0-0 0. Totals 25 19-29 73.
 
Gadsden City       16  15 18  14  –  63
Oxford                   23  15 10  25  –  73
3-point goals: Gadsden City 11 (Lawson 3, Kidd, Macon 5, S. Huff, Wright); Oxford 4 (Garrett 2, McClendon, Jackson). Fouled out: Orr.
 
Alexandria 65, Saks 49
ALEXANDRIA (19-5) – Javais McGhee 1 0-0 2, Collin Taylor 2 0-0 5, D’Anthony Walton 4 2-2 12, Seth Slaton 6 1-2 18, Julian Wright 4 0-0 8, Landan Williams 9 2-6 20. Totals 26 5-10 65.
SAKS – Zaejuan Johnson 2 0-0 6, Will Mixson 0 1-2 1, Tae Jones 3 0-0 6, Kyle Goedde 0 0-0 0, Myles McLaughlin 0 0-0 0, Jordan Cosper 2 0-0 5, Zay Elston 7 2-3 19, Tyler Smith 6 0-0 12. Totals 20 3-5 49.
 
Alexandria            20  15 13  17  –  65
Saks                         5    6   18  20   –  49
3-point goals: Alexandria 8 (Taylor, Walton 2, Slaton 5); Saks 6 (Johnson 2, Cosper, Elston 3). Total fouls: Alexandria 8, Saks 7.
 
Springville 61, Jacksonville 46
JACKSONVILLE – Donavon McCain 4-10 6-7 14, Kyrie Maynor 5-13 1-2 12, Yessman Green 3-8 1-4 7, Ron Wiggins 1-2 2-2 4, Caden Johnson 1-7 0-0 3, Cam Johnson 1-3 0-2 3, John Broom 0-3 2-2 2, Jacob McCarley 0-0 1-2 1, Jalen Morton 0-0 0-0 0, Hudson Harvey 0-0 0-0 0, Jaden Barksdale 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 15-46 13-21 46.
SPRINGVILLE – Hudson Kersh 6-9 0-1 17, Benjamin Bianchi 8-10 0-0 16, Pearson Baldwin 4-4 0-0 8, Larry Winston 2-2 2-2 6, William Goolsby 1-4 2-2 4, Gage Logan 1-4 0-0 3, Julian Williams 1-2 0-0 3, Joseph Higgins 1-3 0-0 2, Gary Howard 0-0 2-2 2, Jace Hayes –1 0-0 0, Ethan Gleason 0-0 0-0 0, Jake Ballard 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 24-40 6-7 61.
 
Jacksonville         13  11   8    14  –  46
Springville            16  16  10  19  –  61
3-point goals: Jacksonville 3-17 (Maynor 1-4, Green 0-1, Wiggins 0-1, Cd. Johnson 1-6, Cm. Johnson 1-3, Broom 0-2); Springville 7-13 (Kersh 5-7, Bianchi 0-1, Goolsby 0-1, Logan 1-2, Williams 1-2). Rebounds: Jacksonville 25 (McCain 7, Green 5); Springville 26 (Bianchi 7). Total fouls: Jacksonville 13, Springville 17. Notes: McCain had two blocked shots.
 
White Plains 77, Ranburne 50
WHITE PLAINS – Coleman Messer 1 1-2 3, Rico Aguire 2 1-1 6, Quin Wilson 3 0-0 7, Jaden Chatman 2 0-0 4, Jacob Wheeler 3 2-2 11, Landon Senciboy 2 0-0 4, Brody Baker 4 3-4 12, Carson Wright 2 0-0 4, Walker O’Steen 6 0-0 12, Kahlil Williams 3 0-0 6, Garrett Wilson 3 0-0 8. Totals 31 7-9 77.
RANBURNE – Levi Langley 1 1-1 3, Ben Jackson 2 0-0 5, Trace McMahon 4 1-2 11, Tye Bailey 0 0-0 0, Colby Henson 5 5-6 19, Chase Wiggins 0 0-0 0, Carson Riddle 2 1-3 6, Jason Langley 0 2-2 2, Caleb Hornsby 1 2-2 4. Totals 15 12-16 50.
 
White Plains        13  24 17  23  –  77
Ranburne             5    22 13  10  –  50
3-point goals: White Plains 8 (Aguire, Q. Wilson, Wheeler 3, Baker, G. Wilson 2); Ranburne 8 (Jackson, McMahon 2, Henson 4, Riddle). Total fouls: White Plains 17, Ranburne 10.
 
Weaver 61, Donoho 39
DONOHO – Nick Good 0 0-0 0, Amari Smedley 12 5-10 30, Grant Steed 0 0-0 0, Drew Williamson 1 0-0 2, Dean Harrod 0 0-0 0, Dorian Jon 0 0-0 0, Connor Goodson 2 0-0 4, Brady Batterson 0 0-0 0, Jamal Musa 1 1-2 3. Totals 16 6-12 39.
WEAVER – Quinton Blackerby 1 0-1 2, Brendy Knight 1 0-0 2, Kohl Perry 1 1-1 3, Buck McGregor 1 2-2 5, Jackson Williams 4 3-4 11, Gave Collison 1 0-2 3, Austin Bryant 5 5-8 15, Taylor Thompson 1 1-4 3, Tristian Brown 7 3-3 17, Joey Bolan 0 0-0 0. Totals 22 15-25 61.
 
Donoho            11  9    5    14  –  39
Weaver            12  12  17  20  –  61
3-point goals: Donoho 1 (Smedley); Weaver 2 (Collison, McGregor). Fouled out: Smedley, Williamson. Total fouls: Donoho 22, Weaver 13. Officials: McCombs, Tillery, Moore.
 
Cedar Bluff 60, Ohatchee 59
OHATCHEE – Domonique Thomas 4 3-7 11, Trey Pesnell 7 3-5 18, Cam Foushee 3 1-2 10, Austin Wyatt 1 1-2 3, Briley Hale 8 1-2 17. Totals 23 9-18 59.
CEDAR BLUFF – Anbre Leek 3 0-2 6, Brian Stitts 0 2-2 2, Travon Clifton 0 3-4 3, Trenton Clifton 0 0-0 0, Sam Cosby 10 3-6 23, Ethan Hammock 0 1-2 1, Alex Leek 4 1-5 10, Stephen Webb 4 1-3 9, Jacob Gordon 2 0-0 4, Syncere Clifton 1 0-0 2. Totals 24 11-24 60.
 
Ohatchee               17  14 15  13 –   59
Cedar Bluff            9    19 10  22  –  60
3-point goals: Ohatchee 4 (Pesnell, Foushee 3); Cedar Bluff 1 (Al. Leek). Fouled out: Wyatt. Total fouls: Ohatchee 15, Cedar Bluff 17. Notes: The Indians had chances at the end but missed two free throws and putback with four seconds left that would have given them the lead.
 
Talladega 62, Clay Central 39
CLAY CENTRAL – Caden McCain 0 0-0 0, Javon Wood 1 0-0 2, Noah Higgins 2 0-0 6, Clay Yates 2 0-1 6, Tanner Higgins 3 2-4 9, Nick Lipham 1 0-0 2, Elisha McNeil 0 1-2 1, E Jay Simmons 0 0-2 0, Jakhiem McLemore 3 3-10 9, Micah Harris 2 0-0 4. Totals 14 6-19 39.
TALLADEGA (21-5) – Nigel Scales 1 0-0 3, Lajamein Castleberry 2 0-2 6, Arron Green 4 1-2 10, Rontavious Barclay 4 0-0 9, D’Corian Wilson 1 4-4 6, Raderius Montgomery 2 0-0 4, Chris Curry 1 0-2 2, Kobe Simmons 6 2-7 14, Keontae Funderburg 4 0-0 8. Totals 25 7-17 62.
 
Clay Central          9    17  2    11  –  39
Talladega               28  11  12  11  –  62
3-point goals: Clay Central 5 (N. Higgins 2, Yates 2, T. Higgins); Talladega 5 (Scales, Castleberry 2, Green, Barclay). Fouled out: Barclay. Total fouls: Clay Central 10, Talladega 16. Officials: Stringer, Roberts, Oden. Notes: Simmons had 13 rebounds, Funderburg and Castleberry each had seven.
 
Jacksonville Christian 96, Valley Head 47: Kobe Messer led five scorers in double figures with 29 points as the Thunder (20-5) hit 96 for the second game in a row and won its 20thgame for the second year in a row. Chase Vinson had 17 points, Brady Shaddix 13 (and eight assists), Nash Messer 12 and Eli Fair 11.
 
Westbrook Christian 78, Faith Christian 46: One night after setting the school record for points in a game, C.J. Gomez leads the Lions with 25 points. Ethan Richarzhagen added 15. 

Cover photo of Weaver’s Austin Bryant attacking the basket against Donoho by Greg Warren. 

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