Back in action II
- Updated: January 4, 2021
Girls roundup: County schools return to court after layoff with generally positive results; White Plains’ Martin has career night
MONDAY’S GIRLS GAMES
Cleburne County 51, Ranburne 36
Jacksonville 56, Ashville 23
Oxford 66, Alexandria 35
Saks 47, Donoho 44
Weaver 33, Faith Christian 31
White Plains 62, Pleasant Valley 34
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
High school basketball teams from the Calhoun County Schools system returned to the floor for the first time since early December and for most of them it was a very happy return.
Three of the five County Schools teams – White Plains, Saks and Weaver – and Jacksonville, which had been idle since going to virtual learning in early December, all posted girls victories Monday night.
“It’s great to come back,” White Plains guard Callyn Martin said. “I’ve missed it a bunch just sitting at home. It’s been really boring. It’s good to be back on the court.”
It was clear Martin hadn’t been sitting idly waiting for the county’s COVID-related moratorium on outside competition to lift. She scored a career-high 21 points with three 3-pointers in White Plains’ 62-34 victory over Pleasant Valley, another County Schools team coming back.
In all seven schools from within the county that had been off the floor since early December were playing for the first time Monday night.
Martin hit a long 3-pointer right before the buzzer to give the Lady Wildcats a 31-13 halftime lead, then scored her team’s first seven points of the third quarter to produce its biggest lead of the game at the time.
“I came up to the gym or at home and I’d shoot a few every now just so my shot wouldn’t get too rusty when we came back because I knew we had some big games coming up in the area,” said Martin, whose previous career high was 20 against Weaver as an eighth-grader. “Before practice I had not been shooting it too well so I wasn’t too confident and once I hit that one (at the end of the half) I was like if I can shoot from back here if I need to if I hold my form it’s going to go in.”
The Lady Wildcats were starting to pull away late in the first quarter, then took control in the second. They turned up the pressure coming out of a Pleasant Valley time out and it led to a 17-2 run. They scored the last 13 points of the half.
In addition to Martin’s 21 points, Angel Bozarth added 12 points and grabbed nine rebounds. Adriana Sotelo had nine points on three 3-pointers. Rylee Haynes led PV with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
“Every time we step out there I know the girls are going to play hard,” White Plains coach Matt Ford said. “I think they appreciate getting to play because you never know these days.
“I was hoping it would be a little bit cleaner … but I think that’s to be expected. It wasn’t bad. I told the girls we’ve got plenty to work on, but we’re getting to play basketball again and it’s good to work on stuff after a win.”
White Plains 62, Pleasant Valley 34
PLEASANT VALLEY – Lily Henry 2 3-3 8, Rylee Haynes 4 4-5 12, Marlie Wright 1 0-0 3, Gracie Hood 2 0-2 5, Macey Roper 2 0-2 4, Anna Worthy 0 2-2 2. Totals 11 9-14 34.
WHITE PLAINS – Callyn Martin 9 0-0 21, Cheyenne Cochran 2 0-0 5, Hallie Williams 0 0-0 0, Shaniya Calloway 1 0-0 3, Camden Wilson 1 2-2 4, Lily Ponder 4 0-0 8, Adriana Sotelo 3 0-0 9, Angel Bozarth 4 4-4 12, Emma Howard 0 0-0 0. Totals 24 6-6 62.
Pleasant Valley 11 2 12 9 – 34
White Plains 14 17 14 17 – 62
3-point goals: Pleasant Valley 3 (Henry, Wright, Hood); White Plains 8 (Martin 3, Cochran, Calloway, Sotelo 3). Rebounds: Pleasant Valley 20 (Roper 6, Haynes 10); White Plains 24 (Wilson 6, Bozarth 9). Total fouls: Pleasant Valley 13, White Plains 12. Officials: Kelley, Jarrett, Mathews.
Oxford 66, Alexandria 35
OXFORD – Kaleah Taylor scored a game-high 23 points and Lauren Ellard had 19 on the strength of four 3-pointers as the Lady Yellow Jackets handled an in-county opponent despite missing a starter to illness.
Taylor scored six points in the first quarter as Oxford a six-point lead, then hit eight of nine free throws over the next two quarters as the Lady Jackets extended the lead. She hit her last seven free throws in a row. Ellard had eight points in the second quarter as Oxford opened an 11-point halftime lead.
Oxford 66, Alexandria 35
ALEXANDRIA – Ashley Phillips 1 0-2 2, Jordyn Walker 3 1-1 7, Maddie Richey 0 2-2 2, Jill Cockrell 1 1-2 3, Kirsten Heathcock 1 0-0 2, Clancy Bright 1 0-0 2, Sarah Pelham 2 0-0 4, TyShica Woodgett 4 0-0 8, Aubrey Christian 0 0-2 0, Chloe Gattis 1 3-4 5, Christian Hess 0 0-0 0. Totals 14 7-13 35.
OXFORD – Justice Woods 2 1-3 5, Lauren Ellard 7 1-3 19, LaMya McGrue 0 0-2 0, Kaleah Taylor 7 8-9 23, Emma McCullough 1 0-0 3, Lisa Montgomery 2 0-0 4, Ashley Paulson 2 0-0 6, Jamea Gaston 2 2-2 6, Mikiya Wilson 0 0-0 0. Totals 23 12-19 66.
Alexandria 9 9 6 11 – 35
Oxford 15 14 14 23 – 66
3-point goals: Oxford 8 (Ellard 4, Taylor, McCullough, Paulson 2). Total fouls: Alexandria 17, Oxford 12. Officials: Burroughs, Nelms, Smith.
Saks 47, Donoho 44
It wasn’t a miracle comeback, but there was a Miracle in the middle of it.
Miracle Bass scored nine of her 16 points in the fourth quarter as the Lady Wildcats rallied from a seven-point halftime deficit to win.
Donoho got balanced scoring from Victoria O’Neill, Anastasia O’Neill and Julie Cleckler to open a 28-21 halftime lead. Victoria O’Neal hit four of her five 3-pointers in the second quarter to help the Lady Falcons build the halftime lead.
Saks 47, Donoho 44
DONOHO – Victoria O’Neill 5 0-0 15, Anastasia O’Neill 5 1-3 13, Janie Sills 1 1-2 3, AG Jones 0 0-0 0, Julie Cleckler 3 7-10 13, Amelia Baker 0 0-0 0, Cailin Campbell 0 0-0 0. Totals 14 9-15 44.
SAKS – Alayzia Neal 2 0-0 5, Keilynn Williams 4 0-0 8, Alysia Goodson 1 0-0 2, Kayleigh Thomas 5 3-6 13, Miracle Bass 6 4-8 16, Kendale Welch 0 0-0 0, Matasia Truss 0 1-4 1. Totals 18 8-18 47
Donoho 12 16 7 9 – 44
Saks 10 11 10 16 – 47
3-point goals: Donoho 7 (V. O’Neill 5, A. O’Neill 2); Saks 1 (Neal). Fouled out: Neal. Total fouls: Donoho 14, Saks 14.
Jacksonville 56, Ashville 23
JACKSONVILLE – Patience Carr scored a game-high 24 points and led three Jacksonville scorers in double figures as the Lady Golden Eagles won in their first game back in nearly three weeks. Carr was 9-of-15 from the floor and grabbed a team-high eight rebounds. Amarie Curry added 14 points and Kayla Broom 12 to the Jacksonville attack.
Jacksonville 56, Ashville 23
ASHVILLE – Sera Potter 3-7 2-3 8, Ryleigh Waid 2-9 2-4 6, Meghan McCarthy 0-4 3-6 3, Rachel St. John 1-2 1-2 3, Kadie Kennedy 1-5 0-0 2, Zahkiyla Cook 0-3 1-4 1, Molly Northam 0-0 0-0 0, Adrianna Engle 0-0 0-0 0, Elizabeth Franklin 0-1 0-0 0, Carly Thomason 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 7-31 9-19 23.
JACKSONVILLE – Patience Carr 9-15 5-9 24, Amarie Curry 6-13 2-2 14, Kayla Broom 5-8 2-2 12, Amiyah Buchanan 2-3 0-0 4, Rebekah Gannaway 0-6 2-3 2, Bree Edmonson 0-1 0-0 0, Kierra LaCount 0-0 0-0 0, Maggie Anderson 0-6 0-0 0, Autumn Carr 0-1 0-0 0, Ashley Grant 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 22-56 11-17 56.
Ashville 6 8 5 4 – 23
Jacksonville 16 15 21 4 – 56
3-point goals: Ashville 0-2 (Kennedy 0-2); Jacksonville 1-17 (P. Carr 1-2, Broom 0-2, Gannaway 0-5, Anderson 0-5, A. Carr 0-1, Grant 0-2). Rebounds: Ashville 33 (Cook 8, Potter 6); Jacksonville 35 (P. Carr 8, Curry 7). Total fouls: Ashville 10, Jacksonville 15.
Cleburne County 51, Ranburne 36
RANBURNE – Leading scorers Faith Brown and Brooklyn McDaniel were on the floor together for the first time since Dec. 27 and combined for 34 points and 23 rebounds to get the Lady Tigers back on track. Individually they are quite formidable, but together they’re virtually unstoppable.
Brown scored 18 points on 7-of-17 shooting and grabbed seven rebounds. McDaniel had 16 points, with eight coming in the first quarter and 12 in the first half, and grabbed 18 rebounds. Haley Price added 11 points to the offense and Haven Freeman grabbed 14 boards.
But while the Lady Tigers did get McDaniel back, they lost point guard Jacy Littleton over the weekend to a knee injury.
Cleburne County 51, Ranburne 36
CLEBURNE COUNTY – Faith Brown 7 2-4 18, Haley Price 4 1-2 11, Micah Pentecost 1 0-0 2, Brooklyn McDaniel 6 4-5 16, Haven Freeman 2 0-0 4, Libby Altman 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 7-11 51.
RANBURNE – Autumn Phillips 0 0-0 0, Briley Merrill 6 2-2 16, Julianna Merrill 1 4-5 6, Kayli Olds 1 0-0 2, Abigail Howle 2 4-6 10, Natalie Merrill 0 1-2 1, Auburn Rollins 0 1-2 1, Crimson Rollins 0 0-0 0. Totals 10 12-17 36.
Cleburne County 13 16 14 8 – 51
Ranburne 13 7 6 10 – 36
3-point goals: Cleburne County 4 (F. Brown 2, Price 2); Ranburne 4 (B. Merrill 2, Howle 2). Technical fouls: Price, F. Brown. Total fouls: Cleburne County 16, Ranburne 10.
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