Passing a test
- Updated: December 21, 2020
Girls roundup: Piedmont taken to OT by TCC, Ranburne starts fast in its tournament opener; JCA challenges Coosa in area game
MONDAY’S GIRLS SCORES
Regular season
Coosa Christian 70, Jacksonville Christian 55
Cherokee County Christmas Invitational
At Gaylesville H.S.
Chattooga 77, Gaylesville 33
Handley 70, Springville 59
Cherokee County 68, Sand Rock 48
Spring Garden 51, Collinsville 39
Gaston Christmas Classic
Ranburne 52, West End 29
Piedmont 49, Talladega Co. Central 48 (OT)
Ashville 54, Southeastern 45
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
GASTON – It didn’t go as easily as coach Terrace Ridley would have preferred, but she’ll be the first to tell you her Piedmont girls basketball team will be better for the experience.
The Lady Bulldogs were taken into overtime by Talladega County Central Monday and had to survive some harrowing closing moments under the basket before coming away with a 49-48 win in the Gaston Christmas Classic.
“These girls needed that tight situation,” Ridley said. “I’m not saying we wanted that tight situation today, but this was a situation we needed to be put in because they have to know how we’re going to finish off this.
For them to give us a game like that and we finish it like that at the end, now they know this is what I have to do in a tight situation. Ive got to do things right fundamentally and listen to what the coaches tell me to do to finish them off.”
The Lady Bulldogs led by 13 early in the third quarter, but it was dofight down the stretch. The lead changed hands four times in the fourth quarter. Jaycee Glover put Piedmont up 44-42 on a 3-pointer with 36.7 seconds to go, but TCC tied it on Amiya Sillmon’s put-back with eight seconds left.
The game went into overtime when Lele Ridley couldn’t get a shot to fall at the buzzer.
Z’Hayla Walker put Piedmont up 49-48 in overtime when she converted a one-and-one with 45.4 seconds left. TCC put the last shot in motion with 4.8 seconds left. Faithie Johnson missed a layuup, but Sillmon got the layup right in front of the basket, but couldn’t get her put-back to fall as the horn sounded.
“My girls when they get up they start creating things on their own and I tell them we’ve got to stick with what’s working,” Ridley said. “We stopped ourselves and then we started to make little mistakes and it trickled on down.
“But I‘ll say this: This is a group that has no let up. They’re going to fight til the end. It shouldn’t have been a fight to the end but credit to TCC – they just came at us and made us do some things that got us out of what we normally do.”
“It was a great battle, really,” Lele Ridley said.
Ava Pope led Piedmont with 15 points and five steals. Ridley had 11 points and 10 rebounds. Glover had nine points on three 3-pointers and recorded four assists. Walker had nine points and 10 rebounds. Emily Farmer had three points on an early 3, grabbed 10 rebounds and had four assists.TCC’s Johnson led all scorers with 20 points. Sillmon had 15 points, 10 rebounds and three blocked shots.
The Lady Bulldogs will play Ashville in Tuesday’s 12:30 p.m. winner’s bracket semifinals. TCC will play West End in a 3 p.m. loser’s bracket game.
Ranburne 52, West End 29
The Ranburne girls hadn’t played since last Tuesday, but they showed little signs of rust. Briley Merrill scored 18 points and the defense held West End without a field goal until the final minute of the first half on the way to an opening-round win.
The Lady Bulldogs held West End scoreless in the first quarter and opened a 20-1 lead before the Lady Patriots scored from the field. The Lady Bulldogs led 24-6 at halftime. Merrill had 10 points in the first half.
“I thought we started it pretty good; I’d have liked to have started it even better,” Ranburne coach Daniel Chambers said. “I wanted to do some more stuff in our half-court (offense), have more consistency. I loved the way defensively we were contesting shots and we were limiting them to one shot per trip.
“You can’t be too picky and I’m thankful we got a win, but we’ve got to do some things a little better and a little faster to get where we want to get to. We’ve got some goals and aspirations, we want to go and make a run at things, and you can’t do it playing slow. There are a lot of good teams in 2A.”
The Lady Bulldogs (6-3) will play host Gaston in Tuesday’s 10 a.m. winner’s bracket semifinal. Regardless of the outcome they will play the Piedmont-Ashville winner in Wednesday’s 5:30 p.m. championship game
Gaston Christmas Classic
Ranburne 52, West End 29
WEST END – Vannessa Aldredge 0 0-0 0, Anna Gilbreath 2 0-2 5, Hannah Wall 2 0-0 6, Hope Jenkins 1 0-4 2, Mikayla Hilburn 0 0-0 0, Katie Parker 0 0-0 0, Allie Kidd 0 0-0 0, Madison Parker 6 4-7 16, Anna Mayo 0 0-0 0, Natalee Dumas 0 0-0 0. Totals 11 4-13 29.
RANBURNE (6-3) – Autumn Phillips 1 0-0 2, Briley Merrill 8 2-2 18, Julianna Merrill 2 0-2 4, Kayli Olds 2 0-0 4, Abigail Howle 2 3-4 8, Natalie Merrill 5 0-0 13, Auburn Rollins 1 0-0 2, Crimson Rollins 0 0-0 0. Totals 21 5-8 52.
West End 0 6 12 11 – 29
Ranburne 11 13 11 17 – 52
3-point goals: West End 3 (Gilbreath, Wall 2); Ranburne 4 (Howle, N. Merrill 3). Total fouls: West End 8, Ranburne 13. Officials: Horan Tillery, Harrell.
Piedmont 49, Talladega Co. Central 48 (OT)
TCC – Alisha Morris 3 3-7 9, Faithie Johnson 10 0-0 20, Tamara Garrett 1 0-0 2, Zariyah Tuck 1 0-0 2, Mahogany Evans 0 0-4 0, Amiya Sillman 7 1-3 15. Totals 22 4-12 48.
PIEDMONT (5-3) – Ava Pope 5 2-2 15, Jaycee Glover 3 0-0 9, Lele Ridley 5 1-2 11, Armoni Perry 1 0-0 2, Gracie Naugher 0 0-0 0, Z’Hayla Walker 4 1-4 9, Emily Farmer 1 0-0 3. Totals 19 4-8 49.
TCC 10 8 15 11 4 – 48
Piedmont 12 17 5 10 5 – 49
3-point goals: Piedmont 7 (Pope 3, Glover 3, Farmer). Total fouls: TCC 8, Piedmont 10. Officials: Robinson, Starr, Weston.
Regular season
Coosa Christian 70, JCA 55
GADSDEN – Caitlin Cates hit all four of her 3-pointers in the first quarter and the Lady Conquerors roared to a 28-12 lead in the first quarter. Bella Millirons led Coosa with 29 points and Chloe Davidson had 20.
The Lady Thunder settled in after the first quarter and outscored Coosa 43-42 over the last three quarters. Mia Morales led JCA with 17 points, 13 in the third quarter. Erin Prater had 16 and Rebekah Carter had 12.
Coosa Christian 70, Jacksonville Christian 55
JCA – Rebekah Carter 4 2-2 12, Erin Prater 6 0-0 16, Kara Grace 1 1-2 3, Mia Morales 7 1-2 17, Riley Sanders 0 0-0 0, Abbie Stovall 2 0-0 4, Ella Kines 1 0-0 3. Totals 21 4-6 55.
COOSA (11-2) – Bella Millirons 12 4-12 29, Chloe Davidson 8 3-6 20, Caitlin Cates 4 0-0 12, Erin Snow 1 0-0 2, Katie Ellen Davis 0 0-0 0, Cayden Jones 1 0-0, Kailah East 1 0-0 2, Gemma Littlejohn 1 0-2 2. Totals 28 7-20 70.
JCA 12 11 19 13 – 55
Coosa 28 12 17 13 – 70
3-point goals: JCA 9 (Carter 2, Prater 4, Morales 2, Kines); Coosa 7 (Millirons, Davidson, Cates 4, Jones). Fouled out: Stovall. Total fouls: JCA 14, Coosa 17. Officials: Morriss, Walker, Prociuk.
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