Rome conquers Alabama
- Updated: December 30, 2020
Wolves cross into the state, take three games in Heflin Holiday Hoops Tournament; Oxford completes three-game sweep in FSB Shootout
Wednesday’s boys scores
Heflin Holiday Hoops
Vincent 62, Ranburne 51
Spring Garden 69, Cleburne County 32
Rome (Ga.) 75, Jacksonville 54
FSB Shootout
Oxford 70, Elkmont 34
Greater Gadsden Christmas Classic
(At Gadsden City HS)
Glencoe 48, Sardis 38
Hokes Bluff 62, Gaston 47
West End 55, Coosa Christian 44
Westbrook Christian 55, Southside 38
Championship game: Gadsden City 98, Etowah 60
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
HEFLIN — The Rome Wolves came across the state line and took three wins from some pretty good teams in the Heflin Holiday Hoops Tournament.
They completed their sweep with a 75-54 win over Jacksonville Wednesday in a game both teams frantically tried to put together in the last 24 hours.
The Wolves won their three games by margins of 44, 16 and 21 points and finally saw the step-on-the-gas mentality in the second half they had been seeking all year.
Acting coach Marcus Herbert called the sweep “a sigh of relief” and suspected head coach Ryan Chambless will be pleased but startled by the results. Chambless had to stay behind, quarantined for COVID-19, but he doesn’t have to fear for his job after the sweep because Herbert is happy to be learning under Chambless’ tutelage and glad to contribute to the team’s development by “driving the boat” this weekend.
The Wolves pulled away from a four-point lead with a nine-point flurry in the final three minutes of the third quarter. They went on an 11-2 run in the first three minutes of the fourth quarter to push the lead to 18. They outscored the Golden Eagles 41-23 in the second half, 20-8 in the fourth quarter.
“We didn’t have a good first half, but the second half we came out and left no doubt,” leading scorer Braxton Wade said.
Leads had been going in the opposite direction a little too much for the coaching staff’s liking and lamented during the tournament how the team hadn’t learned to deliver the knockout punch when they have an opponent on the ropes. It cost them a win two weeks ago.
“Sometimes we get lackadaisical and we just relax; I don’t understand it,” Herbert said. “You can’t turn it on and off. There are good teams down the road, but if we take breaks like that we’re going to be behind and we can’t catch up, so we have to be able to put our foot down and play the whole time.
“I think I saw it (tonight). I told them downstairs at halftime just to keep playing. We’re so talented, man, and they don’t understand what God gave them. Once they realize when they go out and play hard for four quarters, a lot of teams it will be over with, and I think they saw that today in the second half, so I’m hoping we can just keep moving forward from here.”
Jacksonville, meanwhile, playing its second game in three days after a 20-day policy break from extracurricular activities, just didn’t do the little things well that keep teams in games.
The Golden Eagles missed far too many layups and were only 4-of-19 from the free throw line; Rome was 14-of-15. They didn’t make a field goal in the first four minutes of the second quarter and fell behind 28-18, but they got back on track and got within one with 34.5 seconds left in the half. They had an and-one to tie the game, but missed the free throw and wound up down three at the break.
“They’re a good team over there, but we didn’t do enough to help ourselves,” Jacksonville coach Cordell Hunt said. “You play a good team you’ve got to do the small things right and right now we’re not doing the small things right, and until we do we’re going to continue to get beat. It’s that simple. We’re not that far off, but we’re not doing the small things.”
Rome placed five scorers in double figures, led by freshman Wade’s 17 points. Justyn Smith had 13 points and nine rebounds off the bench.
Wade had 18 points in the Wolves’ win over Handley Tuesday and scored 41 points in the tournament.
“When I came over here I just wanted to lock in,” Wade said. “I just wanted to win. That’s all I worry about is winning.”
Cam Johnson led Jacksonville with 16 points and six boards.
Rome (Ga.) 75, Jacksonville 54
ROME – Braxton Wade 6-10 4-4 17, Justyn Smith 5-6 3-3 13, Jay Wise 3-5 5-5 11, EJ Holland 4-7 0-0 11, Jayquan Nelson 5-10 0-0 10, Mason Tillery 2-3 2-2 6, Jamarius McDearmont 2-6 0-1 4, Tyson Warren 1-1 0-0 3, Cameron Keith 0-2 0-0 0, Martel Hight 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 28-51 14-15 75.
JACKSONVILLE – Cam Johnson 7-16 0-1 16, John Broom 4-9 1-2 10, Quin Long 4-7 0-2 9, Nathan Barnwell 2-6 2-2 6, Caden Johnson 3-9 0-1 6, Omarion Adams 1-1 1-4 3, Jaylon Prater 1-2 0-2 2, JaeTaj Morris 1-1 0-3 2, Julian Hill 0-1 0-0 0, Coby Zackery 0-0 0-2 0. Totals 23-52 4-19 54.
Rome 15 19 21 20 – 75
Jacksonville 17 14 15 8 – 54
3-point goals: Rome 5-17 (Wade 1-3, Holland 3-6, Nelson 0-3, McDearmont 0-2, Warren 1-1, Keith 0-1, Hight 0-1); Jacksonville 4-13 (Cm. Johnson 2-6, Broom 1-3, Long 1-3, Cd. Johnson 0-1). Rebounds: Rome 32 (Smith 9); Jacksonville 31 (Cm. Johnson 6). Technical fouls: Smith. Fouled out: Smith, Keith. Total fouls: Rome 20, Jacksonville 14. Officials: Calkins, Pratt, Dafron.
FSB Shootout
Oxford completes sweep
RAINSVILLE – Ten players scored, seven hit a 3-pointer and Oxford made easy work of Elkmont 70-34 to complete a three-game sweep in the First State Bank Shootout..
It was the Yellow Jackets’ eighth straight victory.
Rylan Houck led three Oxford scorers in double figures with 16 points. Roc Taylor had 13 and Justin Moore, who scored 48 points in the Jackets’ first two Shootout wins, had 11. All three hit a 3-pointer.
The Jackets (12-2) jumped out to a 24-7 lead, then held Elmont to three points in the second quarter and opened a 40-10 halftime lead.
Oxford 70, Elkmont 34
ELKMONT (9-4) – Layton Smith 4 1-2 10, Hunter Broadway 3 1-4 7, Houston Allen 0 0-0 0, Preston Robinson 2 0-0 5, Braxton Boyd 1 0-0 2, Kevin Murrah 2 1-2 6, Brandon Clem 0 0-0 0, Jack Thomas 0 0-0 0, Brax Clem 0 0-0 0, Colby Murphy 0 0-0 0, Jayce Teeples 2 0-0 4. Totals 14 3-8 34.
OXFORD (12-2) – Avelon Bush 1 0-0 2, Cordell Chatman 2 1-2 6, Rylan Houck 7 1-2 16, Peyton Watts 0 0-0 0, Mike McGraw 2 1-1 5, Roc Taylor 6 0-0 13, Bakari Dailey 2 0-0 5, Justin Moore 4 2-2 11, Josh Johnson 0 0-0 0, Josh Patton 3 0-0 7, Jadarian Jones 1 0-0 3, Zurrell Garrett 0 0-0 0, Aaron McFarland 0 0-0 0, Jarek Burroughs 1 0-0 2. Totals 29 5-7 70.
Elkmont 7 3 17 7 – 34
Oxford 24 16 22 8 – 70
3-point goals: Elkmont 3 (Smith, Robinson, Murrah); Oxford 7 (Chatman, Houck, Taylor, Dailey, Moore, Patton, Jones). Total fouls: Elkmont 6, Oxford 8.
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