Slade slays rival
- Updated: December 15, 2020
Boys roundup: Cherokee County senior hits jumper at OT buzzer to give Warriors a much-sought big win at Piedmont, and more
Tuesday’s games
Cherokee County 58, Piedmont 57 (OT)
Cleburne County 56, Clay Central 38
Hokes Bluff 57, Glencoe 43
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
PIEDMONT — Cherokee County basketball coach Caleb Hays has been waiting all season to see his team win a big, close game on the road. He finally got it Tuesday night against his team’s biggest rival.
Slade Alexander hit a turnaround jumper from just inside the free throw line at the overtime buzzer to give the Warriors an intense 58-57 win over Piedmont.
The Warriors (6-5) had been looking to have something good to happen after recent close losses to Fort Payne and White Plains and their senior-laden lineup delivered.
“They’ve been needing a game like that,” Hays said. “We’ve had some big wins this year and we’ve had some tough losses as well. Most of our big wins have come at home. What I’ve really been wanting to see out of this group is when we win that really big game on the road and we gut it out when we’re down a little bit in the fourth quarter or overtime.
“In the past we’ve lost our poise a little bit, we took some bad shot selection, trying to get back in it, which has ended up costing us to lose the lead a little bit more, so I knew when it was a three-, four-point game I was like guys don’t get in a hurry. We don’t want to rush into the situation and lose our composure trying to get back in it and make it a worse game than it needed to be. They did a good job buying into that.”
Connor Elrod’s 3-pointer with 26 seconds left in overtime got the Warriors within 57-56.Piedmont had a chance to extend the lead but after working the clock down and finding a lane to the basket leading scorer Alex Odam lost the ball along the baseline with 15 seconds left, setting the final exchange in motion.
The Warriors called time with 8.4 left when nothing developed. Piedmont knocked the ball out of bounds along the baseline with 6.3 left.
The shot was going to either Elrod or Alexander. The inbounds went to Elrod at midcourt but he had no clear path to the basket. The ball got to Alexander, who took one dribble and turned in traffic and fired at the basket. The ball dropped just as the horn sounded.
“That wasn’t the designed the play,” Alexander admitted, “but Malachi (Horton) got it to me and I just went up with a shot I’ve been working on a good bit and it happened to fall in. It was definitely some luck. To be honest I never even take that one dribble pull-up. Normally I’m just a drive to the basket guy. They were all giving me a hard time about that.”
“Any time he gets the ball inside the paint, if he’s feeling it, it’s a pretty good look,” Hays said.
The Warriors had a chance to win it at the end of regulation. They got the ball with 33 seconds left after Odam pushed off trying to get separation on an inbounds pass. They worked the clock down but no shot looming called time with 3.3 seconds left.
Elrod got the ball at the top of the key but his shot with one second left missed and there wasn’t enough time to collect the rebound and shoot again.His 3-pointer tied the game at 52 with 49 seconds to play.
“He’s been a little bit cold the past couple games, from the outside,” Hays said. “He’s still been scoring the ball well, but I told him in the shoot-around we’re going to need you again in the fourth, it’s going to be a dogfight. We wanted to make sure we got Connor Elrod some opportunities.”
Elrod led all scorers with 25 points; he hit five 3-pointers. Alexander finished with 12.
Odam led Piedmont with 23 points. Odam struggled with his shot in the first three quarters but came to life in the fourth and in one two-minute stretch played a role in eight Piedmont points that gave his team a five-point lead with 5:46 left in regulation.
His steal and layup gave the Bulldogs their first lead since the first quarter. On the next three possessions he answered an Alexander 3 with his own 3, grabbed a rebound and fed Cassius Fairs for a layup and hit a free throw in a three-shot situation. The lead eventually swelled to seven with 4:19 to play.
The Bulldogs were hurt by not being able to score early, turnovers in key situations and shooting only 13-of-24 from the free throw line.They also were missing two regulars – Jakari Foster and Sean Smith, in Mobile for the North-South All-Star Football Game – whose presence would have helped.
“Turnovers hurt us – and free throws,” Piedmont coach JoJo Odam said. “We missed too many free throws in regulation. We shouldn’t have been in that position.”
What probably will be lost in the loss and shouldn’t be is Omarion Foster’s layup in the first quarter. He drove the right side of the lane, went right between the two defenders converging on him with a smooth behind-the-back dribble, and laid it in for a 4-3 lead. It was a move truly worthy of the smoothest guards in the state.
Cherokee County 58, Piedmont 57 (OT)
CHEROKEE COUNTY (6-5) – Jack Amos 2 0-0 6, Malachi Horton 1 2-4 4, Nas Diamond 3 1-3 7, Jaden Wilson 1 0-0 2, Slade Alexander 5 0-0 12, Connor Elrod 10 0-1 25, Courtlin Brooks 0 0-0 0, Braden Chandler 0 1-2 1, Damien Ramsey 0 1-2 1. Totals 22 5-12 58.
PIEDMONT (2-2) – Alex Odam 8 4-9 23, Omarion Foster 3 1-5 7, Gavin Lawler 0 0-0 0, Luke Bussey 3 5-6 13, Jadon Calhoun 1 0-0 3, Jack Hayes 1 1-2 3, Coleman Reid 2 2-2 6, Cassius Fairs 1 0-0 2. Totals 19 13-24 57.
Cherokee County 8 20 10 14 6 – 58
Piedmont 9 14 15 14 5 – 57
3-point goals: Cherokee County 9 (Amos 2, Alexander 2, Elrod 5); Piedmont 6 (Odam 3, Bussey 2, Calhoun). Total fouls: Cherokee County 18, Piedmont 11. Officials: Lackey, Kadle, Taylor.
Cleburne County 56, Clay Central 38
LINEVILLE – Kyle Downey and Ben Casey both hit four 3-pointers and scored 21 and 19 points, respectively, to lead the Tigers. Rico Jordan scored 10 points and hit the Tigers’ other two 3s.
Downey scored 12 points in the first half and Casey scored 14 in the second. Jordan scored all of his points in the second half.
Cleburne County 56, Clay Central 38
CLEBURNE COUNTY – Rico Jordan 4 0-0 10, Ben Casey 5 5-8 19, Brody Higgins 1 0-0 2, Kyle Downey 5 7-12 21, Manney Rollins 0 0-0 0, Trey Brown 1 2-6 4, Dee Prothro 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 14-26 56.
CLAY CENTRAL – Jamieon Hunter 2 0-0 4, Tanner Higgins 6 1-2 14, Ejay Simmons 1 2-4 4, Elisha McNeil 4 3-6 13, Kane Smith 0 0-0 0, Carter Young 0 0-0 0, Boyd Ogles 0 1-5 1, Isaiah Denny 1 0-0 2. Totals 14 7-17 38.
Cleburne County 11 10 16 19 – 56
Clay Central 7 13 10 8 – 38
3-point goals: Cleburne County 10 (Jordan 2, Casey 4, Downey 4); Clay Central 3 (McNeil 2, Higgins). Total fouls: Cleburne County 13, Clay Central 19. Officials: Engle, Williams, Caldwell.
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