Back in action
- Updated: January 4, 2021
Boys roundup: County schools return to court after layoff with Saks, White Plains picking up wins; PV’s Ballew makes long-awaited season debut
MONDAY’S BOYS GAMES
Faith Christian 51, Weaver 43
Jacksonville 62, Ashville 48
Lincoln 76, Pell City 59
Oxford 55, Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa 49
Ranburne 78, Cleburne County 57
Saks 61, Donoho 19
White Plains 76, Pleasant Valley 47
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
Josh Ballew anticipated his senior season wasn’t going to start on time, but he certainly didn’t expect his first game to be sometime after the first of the new year.
He expected to be well on his way to working on his second 1,000 points instead of reaching the milestone perhaps as early as tonight.
In many ways the Pleasant Valley senior is the embodiment of this crazy COVID basketball season. He finally made his 2020-21 season debut Monday night. It didn’t go well – White Plains overwhelmed the Raiders 76-47 – but at least he was in action again and for that he was grateful.
“It was amazing, I loved it,” he said. “Even though it didn’t turn out how we wanted it to, we loved getting to play.”
Ballew’s season was going to be delayed as officials were trying to settle an issue with his dual enrollment classes with Jacksonville State. The issue was going to leave him ineligible until Dec. 18, so for all intent the first half of his season was shot. He could practice and sharpen his game, he just couldn’t play.
Then, right before the Raiders’ season was scheduled to begin, the team was hit with a COVID quarantine. He still wasn’t able to play when the quarantine was lifted and just as he was nearing the finish line, the Calhoun County Schools system shut down all outside competition for its seven high schools for COVID-related reasons until Jan. 1.
“I was itching to get back,” Ballew said. “It’s weird. I’ve never had something like this happen to me before, so I had to adapt to it and look on the brighter side of things.”
One of the things that kept him going was his proximity to history. He entered the season needing 35 points to become the Raiders’ first boys 1,000-point scorer since Clint Roper in 2006. He scored 14 Monday night against the Wildcats and is confident about hitting the mark tonight against Gaston. If not there, certainly there’s an opportunity against Glencoe Thursday.
Roper, an 1,800-point scorer, played since the eighth grade. Ballew only became a regular midway through his 10th-grade year.
The game was White Plains’ from the start. The Wildcats scored the first 14 points and held the Raiders without a field goal the entire first quarter. Ballew scored nine points in the quarter – going 9-for-10 from the free throw line – but didn’t make his first field goal of the season until midway through the third. By then, the Wildcats were pushing a 30-point lead.
“We knew when we signed up we were playing a top three team in the county, a team that played Anniston tight,” PV coach Brad Hood said. “I just told them to come in and fight. I told them tonight can determine how you play the rest of the week. If you get in here and fight and compete with White Plains you should be able to handle a Gaston or a Glencoe or an Ider” or whomever it is the Raiders will play.
Ballew called the Wildcats the best team the Raiders will play this year.
Fourteen of the 15 players who got in the game for White Plains scored. The Wildcats hit nine 3-pointers, with Quin Wilson hitting four. Wilson finished with 14 points. Jacob Wheeler had 13 points and Walker Osteen had 10.
“It was about what I expected,” White Plains coach Chris Randall said. “I liked the way we shared the ball. We made the extra pass a lot and I thought Quin did a really good job of playing fast and getting to our spots. At times I thought we overpassed, but I thought we did a good job of sharing the basketball and getting everybody involved. It was pretty balanced.”
MONDAY’S BOYS BOX SCORES
White Plains 76, Pleasant Valley 47
PLEASANT VALLEY – Michael Glass 1 0-0 2, Garrett Cranmer 1 0-0 2, Josh Ballew 2 10-12 14, Jacob Teal 1 0-0 2, Dalton Haynes 1 0-0 3, Braden Robinson 0 0-0 0, Oliver Young 0 0-0 0, Kolby Battles 2 0-0 4, Zeke Johnson 1 0-0 2, Sam Palmer 2 0-0 4, Pelham Parris 2 0-0 4, Justin Winningham 4 2-6 10. Totals 17 12-18 47.
WHITE PLAINS – Tucker Pearson 1 0-0 2, Quin Wilson 5 0-0 14, Jaden Chatman 1 0-0 2, Jacob Wheeler 5 0-0 13, Landon Senciboy 1 0-0 2, Brody Baker 3 3-4 9, Jesse Hubbard 1 0-0 3, Walker Osteen 3 4-5 10, Garrett Wilson 2 0-0 4, Z.J. Rosario 0 0-0 0, Cole Senciboy 1 0-0 3, Braden Knight 0 1-2 1, Kendrick Ball 1 0-0 2, Kahlil Williams 4 1-2 9, Carson Wright 1 0-1 2. Totals 29 9-14 76.
Pleasant Valley 10 9 13 15 – 47
White Plains 23 19 17 17 – 76
3-point goals: Pleasant Valley 1 (Haynes); White Plains 9 (Q. Wilson 4, Wheeler 3, Hubbard, C. Senciboy). Rebounds: Pleasant Valley 27 (Cranmer 9, Battles 7); White Plains 25 (Baker 9). Fouled out: Battles. Total fouls: Pleasant Valley 13, White Plains 16. Officials: Kelley, Jarrett, Mathews.
Faith Christian 51, Weaver 43
WEAVER – Brendyn Knight 1 1-4 3, Elijah Smith 3 0-0 8, Jackson Williams 1 0-0 3, Kohl Perry 1 0-0 3, Briley Carter 1 0-0 2, Dawson Brooks 4 0-0 8, Jeffrey Miles 3 0-0 6, Trevor Clendenin 0 0-0 0, Tristen Brown 4 2-3 10. Totals 18 3-7 43.
FAITH CHRISTIAN – Nick Goodgame 6 4-5 16, Jacques Prater 2 0-0 4, Thomas Curlee 8 2-3 19, Andrew Folsom 2 0-2 4, Seth Abston 2 0-0 4, Colton Pahman 1 0-0 2. Totals 22 6-10 51.
Weaver 8 16 13 6 – 43
Faith 22 10 10 9 – 51
3-point goals: Weaver 4 (Smith 2, Williams, Perry); Faith 1 (Curlee). Technical fouls: Knight. Total fouls: Weaver 16, Faith 7.
Oxford 55, Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa 49
OXFORD (13-2) – Cordell Chatman 1 4-6 6, Rylan Houck 3 0-0 7, Peyton Watts 0 0-0 0, Mike McGraw 2 0-0 4, Roc Taylor 5 1-3 14, Bakari Dailey 0 2-2 2, Justin Moore 6 4-10 16, Josh Patton 3 0-0 6. Totals 20 11-21 55.
HILLCREST – Tederrius Williams 6 1-2 17, Mason Jones 1 0-0 2, Austin Evans 0 0-0 0, Reginald Savage 2 0-0 4, Roddrick Boyd 0 0-0 0, AJ Harris 2 4-5 8, Cameron Johnson 8 2-2 18, Cam Knox 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 7-9 49.
Oxford 10 16 14 15 – 55
Hillcrest 8 14 13 14 – 49
3-point goals: Oxford 4 (Houck, Taylor 3); Hillcrest 4 (Williams 4). Total fouls: Oxford 10, Hillcrest 16.
Jacksonville 62, Ashville 48
ASHVILLE – Jacob Wilson 5-9 1-2 11, Hayden Phillips 4-8 1-2 11, Adrian Hernandez 3-9 1-3 8, Ashton Vann 1-5 4-5 6, Jonah Carden 2-5 0-0 6, Elijah Turner 1-3 0-0 2, Caleb Bailey 1-2 0-0 2, Gabe Sawyer 1-1 0-0 2, Donnie Morphis 0-1 0-0 0, Cole Hyatt 0-0 0-1 0. Totals 18-43 7-13 48.
JACKSONVILLE – John Broom 7-14 1-2 19, Cam Johnson 6-12 5-5 17, Caden Johnson 3-7 4-7 10, Nathan Barnwell 2-3 4-4 8, Quinn Long 3-10 0-3 7, Jaylon Prater 0-4 1-2 1, Omarion Adams 0-2 0-0 0, Coby Zackery 0-1 0-2 0, JaeTaj Morris 0-2 0-0 0, Julian Hill 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 21-56 15-25 62.
Ashville 10 17 12 9 – 48
Jacksonville 19 9 16 18 – 62
3-point goals: Ashville 5-15 (Wilson 0-1, Phillips 2-6, Hernandez 1-3, Vann 0-1, Carden 2-4); Jacksonville 5-21 (Broom 4-8, Cm. Johnson 0-3, Cd. Johnson 0-1, Long 1-6, Adams 0-1, Morris 0-1, Hill 0-1). Rebounds: Ashville 43 (Wilson 11, Turner 7); Jacksonville 33 (Broom 7, Cd. Johnson 5). Fouled out: Hernandez. Total fouls: Ashville 23, Jacksonville 16.
Ranburne 78, Cleburne County 57
CLEBURNE COUNTY – Rico Jordan 5 1-2 14, Ben Casey 2 2-2 6, Brody Higgins 1 0-0 3, Kyle Downey 3 6-7 13, Mmanney Rollins 0 0-0 0, Grant Harcrow 0 0-0 0, Trey Brown 1 0-0 2, Brayden Moore 1 0-0 3, Andrew Adams 1 0-0 2, Dee Prothro 2 1-4 5, JJ Cosby 3 0-2 8, Aleick Whatley 0 0-0 0, Seth Brown 0 1-2 1. Totals 19 11-19 57.
RANBURNE – Will Hewitt 4 3-4 12, Ben Jackson 1 0-0 2, Tyler Craft 7 2-8 16, Colby Hanson 8 3-5 24, Trace McMahan 4 1-1 11, Carson Riddle 3 2-3 8, Mason Jackson 0 0-0 0, Cade Mitchell 2 1-2 5. Totals 29 12-23 78.
Cleburne County 16 5 22 14 – 57
Ranburne 24 15 19 20 – 78
3-point goals: Cleburne County 8 (Jordan 3, Higgins, Downey, Moore, Cosby 2); Ranburne 8 (Hewitt, Hanson 5, McMahan 2). Technical fouls: T. Brown, Craft, B. Jackson. Fouled out: Casey, Jackson. Total fouls: Cleburne County 22, Ranburne 19.
Lincoln 76, Pell City 59
PELL CITY – Evan Watson 6 8-10 21, David Keith 2 0-1 4, Baylor Smith 1 0-0 2, MJ McCluney 1 3-5 5, Jack Lowe 3 2-2 9, Blake Anderson 0 0-0 0, Jaden Coleman 3 2-2 8, Braylin Hathorn 1 0-0 2, Treshawn Hines 0 0-1 0, Braedan Brewis 2 0-0 4, Michael Snow 2 0-0 4. Totals 21 15-21 59.
LINCOLN – Brian Garrett 4 4-6 13, Korry Davis 5 0-0 11, Camare Hampton 6 0-2 12, Isaiah Ashley 1 0-0 2, Siete Garrett 1 0-0 2, Jai Tanner 1 0-0 2, J.D. Davis 6 2-2 14, Trip Ward 0 0-0 0, Tre Hines 5 5-12 15, Jaylon Woods 1 2-2 5. Totals 30 13-24 76.
Pell City 10 8 15 26 – 59
Lincoln 13 23 16 24 – 76
3-point goals: Pell City 2 (Watson, Lowe); Lincoln 3 (B. Garrett, Davis, Woods). Fouled out: Snow, B. Garrett. Total fouls: Pell City 23, Lincoln 21.
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