Subregion girls
- Updated: February 10, 2020
Lady Raiders prepared for just about everything technically, but couldn’t foresee what happened in the game; Anniston, Sacred Heart win, Piedmont, Ohatchee, Alexandria fall
Monday’s girls subregional scores
2A: LaFayette 64, Ohatchee 45
2A: Sacred Heart 60, Ranburne 28
3A: Sylvania 52, Pleasant Valley 40
3A: Pisgah 77, Piedmont 37
4A: Anniston 64, Cherokee County 34
5A: Center Point 71, Alexandria 41
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
JACKSONVILLE — Brad Hood was more prepared for this game than any he had been in a long time.
He had been breaking down tape on Pleasant Valley’s opponent with coaching friends for several weeks in anticipation of the matchup with Sylvania. He had gotten some of the players from the boys team to run their anticipated opponent’s plays in practice.
For all that they could do in advance of the game, the Pleasant Valley girls were ready.
But there are just some things you can’t prepare for — like losing your most aggressive ball handler (Macey Roper) to a knee injury on the first play of the game or having your most experienced post (Karmyn Sparks) fall into early foul trouble and play virtually the whole second half with four until fouling out.
Still, the Lady Raiders were very much in the game, tied with 2:30 to go in the third quarter, before simply running out of gas and falling to Sylvania 52-40 in the Class 3A Northeast sub-region round.
“I thought they did awesome,” Hood said. “We just missed too many opportunities in the first half. We had opportunities where we just didn’t finish. Even with the adversity I thought we should’ve been up 10 instead of it being 30-30.”
The Lady Raiders play a limited number of players as it is. Losing Roper just seven seconds into the game eliminated their rotation in the backcourt and put more heat on Rylee Haynes and Emma Hood to break the Lady Rams’ pressure. The freshman guard watched the rest of the game from a cushioned seat on the stage, fighting back tears and pressing an ice bag against her injured left kneecap. Sparks’ foul trouble hurt their rebounding and inside offense.
They were looking to get to the regionals Jacksonville for the first time since 2016 (Hood’s first season) and the third time since 2001, and were in the game despite the adversity.
It was 30-30 with 2:30 left in the third when Makayla Bullock took over and gave the Rams control of the game. To that point the game was tied five times, including 18-18 at halftime, and there were 15 lead changes. The lead changed hands on six straight possessions at one stretch of the first half and eight straight in the second.
“Going in the locker room (at halftime) he just told us no matter what the scoreboard said just keep going and fighting for it,” sophomore guard Gracie Hood said. “He told us never give up the whole way and that’s what we did.”
Sylvania pulled away from the last tie with 12 straight points. Bullock had 10 points of them, scoring six directly off her steals. She added another basket after the Lady Raiders finally scored to make it a 14-2 run.
“Once she got one bucket it led to another thing and once we started scoring it turned into defensive pressure and we all fed off that,” Sylvania coach Kyle Finch said. “We knew they were going to change things up from the first time we played; that’s what good teams do. Hats off to them, they did a really good job and finally we were fortunately enough to get Makayla going.”
“It was like we were literally standing in cement for about three or four possessions,” Hood said. “It was just fatigue setting in. We just wore down. They gave all they had.”
From 30-30 to the end of the game the Lady Raiders made only four of 13 shots from the floor and had eight turnovers. Even as it looked like the game was getting away, Marlie Wright and Gracie Hood hit back-to-back 3s to make it a seven-point game with 1:07 to play. The Lady Raiders missed a 3 to cut the margin to four and then were simply too tired to get around and foul ball handlers in the closing seconds of the game.
Bullock scored 21 points — 19 in the second half. Emma Hood led PV with 14 points. Gracie Hood, who replaced Roper in the lineup, and Wright both hit three 3-pointers and finished with nine apiece.
“I knew somebody just had to do something for the team,” Gracie Hood said. “You can’t just lay down (if something bad happens) the first five seconds of the game; you’ve got to just overcome it all. That’s kind of like life; that’s what daddy teaches me. You can’t control what happens, that’s not in our control, but you can control how you react.”
CLASS 3A GIRLS NE SUBREGION
Sylvania 52, Pleasant Valley 40
SYLVANIA – Ambriel Stopyak 2 1-2 5, Leianna Currie 3 0-0 ,. Kenadie Lee 4 0-0 11, Brinn Farmer 1 0-0 2, Lauren Womack 2 0-0 5, Makayla Bullock 10 1-1 21, Riley Wisner 1 0-0 2, Totals 23 2-3 52.
PLEASANT VALLEY – Rylee Haynes 2 0-0 4, Marlie Wright 3 0-0 9, Gracie Hood 3 0-0 9, Emma Hood 6 2-6 14, Macey Roper 0 0-0, Erin Rose 1 0-1 2, Sparks 1 0-2 2. Totals 16 2-9 40.
Sylvania 6 12 20 14 – 52
Pleasant Valley 7 11 12 10 – 40
3-point goals: Sylvania 4 (Lee 3, Womack); Pleasant Valley 6 (Wright 3, G. Hood 3). Fouled out: Sparks.
Total fouls: Sylvania 12, Pleasant Valley 14. Officials: Gatson, Pinkard, Jackson.
Harris back in the groove
Area 11 Tournament MVP Myiah Harris regained her shooting touch in the first quarter, hitting four 3-pointerrs and scoring 14 of her 18 points, while leading Sacred Heart to a big early lead in a 60-28 rout of Ranburne in the Class 2A Northeast subregionals.
Harris’ hot start helped stake Sacred Heart to a 26-8 first-quarter lead. She was one of three Sacred Heart players scoring in double figures, joined by Serena Hardy (13) and Taysia West (10).
The win moves the Lady Cardinals into a Northeast Regional date with Sand Rock on Valentine’s Day.
Sacred Heart 60, Ranburne 28
RANBURNE – Briley Merrill 3 8-11 15, Julianna Merrill 0 2-2 2, Chaney Merrill 0 0-0 0, Jasey Langley 0 0-0 0, Kayli Olds 1 3-4 5, Natalie Merrill 2 0-0 6. Totals 6 13-17 28.
SACRED HEART – Alisia Person 1 0-0 3, Myiah Harris 7 0-0 18, Amiyah Buchanan 2 1-4 5, Cearis Jenkins 2 0-0 5, Taysia West 4 1-3 10, Joelle Tillery 1 0-0 2, Jordan Sabree 1 2-4 4, Serena Hardy 5 1-2 13, Alyssa Bell 0 0-0 0, Jayda Fomby 0 0-2 0. Totals 23 5-15 60
Ranburne 8 6 10 4 – 28
Sacred Heart 26 10 12 12 – 60
3-point goals: Ranburne 3 (B. Merrill, N. Merrill 2); Sacred Heart 9 (Person, Harris 4, Jenkins, West, Hardy 2). Total fouls: Ranburne 9, Sacred Heart 14. Officials: Horn, Thomas, Kelley.
LaFayette 65, Ohatchee 45
LAFAYETTE – Feliah Greer scored 25 points and Ebony Williams had 19 with five 3-pointers to lead the Lady Bulldogs over Ohatchee. Greer outscored the Lady Indians in the first quarter (10-8) and almost the entire first half (17-19) 10 points in the first quarter and 17 in the first half. Tori Vice and Jorda Crook led Ohatchee with 17 and 13 points, respectively.
Lafayette 64, Ohatchee 45
OHATCHEE – Gracyn Snow 2 1-2 5, Jazmine Adams 1 0-1 3, Tori Vice 6 3-6 17, Gracie George 2 1-2 5, Millie Rainwater 1 0-0 2, Jorda Crook 6 1-3 13. Totals 18 6-14 45.
LAFAYETTE – Feliah Greer 11 3-4 25, Ebony Williams 7 0-0 19, Alahbra’J Todd 4 3-3 11, Toniya Collier 0 0-0 0, A’ronique Kyles 1 0-0 3, Nadya Heard 2 0-2 4, Monkeliyah Morgan 1 0-0 2, Akijah Woody 0 0-0 0. Totals 26 6-9 64.
Ohatchee 8 11 17 9 – 45
Lafayette 12 19 16 17 – 64
3-point goals: Ohatchee 3 (Adams, Vice 2); Lafayette 6 (Williams 5, Kyles). Total fouls: Ohatchee 11, Lafayette 17.
Pisgah too much too fast
PISGAH – Piedmont coach Terrace Ridley knew it was going to be a challenge the moment the matchup was made, but it’s doubtful anyone could have anticipated what happened at the start.
Pisgah hit five of its seven 3-pointers in the first quarter and erupted for 35 points in running away from the Lady Bulldogs 77-37 in the Class 3A Northeast sub-regionals. It was 44-13 at halftime.
Layla Hatfield hit all three of her 3s in the quarter and scored all 11 of her points. Molly Heard scored 11 points in the quarter and finished with a game-high 19. Ten of the 14 Pisgah players who got in the game scored.
Piedmont was led by LeLe Ridley’s 11 points. Z’Hayla Walker scored eight points and grabbed 12 rebounds.
Pisgah 77, Piedmont 37
PIEDMONT – Ava Pope 1 2-2 5, Emma G. Todd 0 0-0 0, Whitney McFry 0 0-0 0, Jaycee Glover 2 0-0 5, LeLe Ridley 4 2-7 11, Hannah Barbee 0 0-0 0, Armani Perry 1 0-0 3, Jenna Calvert 0 0-0 0, Sarah Goss 0 0-0 0, Gracie Naugher 2 1-2 5, Z’Hayla Walker 4 0-0 8. Totals 14 5-11 37.
PISGAH – Bella Bobo 0 0-0 0, Anna Young 1 2-2 4, Kallie Tinker 4 0-0 9, Lila Kate Wheeler 0 0-0 0, Kennedy Barron 3 1-2 7, Ashley Shrader 0 0-0 0, Layla Hatfield 4 0-0 11, Kristen York 1 0-0 2, Hannah Dunram 1 0-0 3, Shalyn Smith 0 0-0 0, Madison Myles 3 0-0 7, Molly Heard 9 1-2 19, Amber Shrader 2 1-1 5, Chloe Womack 3 3-4 10. Totals 31 8-11 77.
Piedmont 6 7 9 15 – 37
Pisgah 35 9 19 14 – 77
3-point goals: Piedmont 4 (Pope, Glover, Ridley, Perry); Pisgah 7 (Tinker, Hatfield 3, Dunram, Myles, Womack). Total fouls: Piedmont 9, Pisgah 14.
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