Breaking through
- Updated: January 15, 2021
Boys roundup: Wellborn scores its first victory of the season, stunning JCA; Jacksonville wins close one to clinch its area, Weaver wins another nail-biter and more
THURSDAY’S BOYS SCORES
Childersburg at Saks
Faith Christian 75, Donoho 44
Handley 64, White Plains 50
Jacksonville 64, Etowah 62
Munford 42, Cleburne County 37
Oxford 63, Southside 22
Pleasant Valley 71, Coosa Christian 38
Ragland 67, Victory Christian 32
Weaver 60, Ohatchee 58
Wellborn 60, Jacksonville Christian 44
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
All Wellborn coach Jordy Houston wanted was to see his team have a chance in the fourth quarter. When the fourth quarter came around Thursday night his team had things well in hand.
The Panthers scored their first win of the season, upsetting a suddenly slumping Jacksonville Christian team 60-44. The Thunder was 8-1 at one point this season but has lost four of its last five games, keeping coach Tommy Miller stuck on 399 head coaching victories in boys basketball.
Wellborn led from the start.
“When you struggle like we’ve struggled it’s great to play well and you have just a good feeling to be able to do that,” Houston said. “You get in such a funk when you’re not winning and it’s hard to get them out of it. One of the ways you do is you play well for a couple quarters and build on it and then get in a game in the fourth quarter.
“It’s all about giving yourself an opportunity in the end of the ballgame and a lot of times we’re so far gone by that point we’re not there.”
The Panthers won only two games last season and were 0-9 going into Thursday’s game.
This one all came down to shooting – on both sides. The Panthers, who’ve had several games they’ve struggled to score in the 20s, finally got shots to fall and had their season-best point production of the season.
Nathan Sanders led Wellborn with 19 points. Lewis Patterson had 18. Ethan Tidwell had 14, but was a beast on the boards limiting JCA the second and third chances that had been killing the Panthers all year.
“It’s never been an issue that it’s not there to make, it’s that we’re not able to make them,” Houston said. “We made some shots early-on that gave us a lot of confidence and we built off it and it never went away. There were some segments where panic set in when we went cold, but we always came out of it.”
The Thunder didn’t have that luxury. They shot only 15 percent from the floor and less than 50 percent from the free throw line. Top scorer Landon Wills picked up four fouls in the first quarter and scored only two points on free throws the rest of the game, finishing with 10. Tanner Wilson was the Thunde’s leading scorer with 11.
“It’s just unbelievable,” Miller said. “I’ve never had a season start out like this and then have something (like COVID) happen and it get worse. That’s the way it was, but I don’t want to short Wellborn. They really did play well.”
Houston, meanwhile, is hoping this is the springboard to better things.
“I’m hoping we’re starting to play pretty well at the right time,” he said. “Hopefully we’ll have some consistency and build off this.”
Wellborn 60, Jacksonville Christian 44
JACKSONVILLE CHRISTIAN (9-5) – Tanner Wilson 2 5-10 11, Ethan Faiir 2 1-2 6, Ethan Burrage 1 5-6 7, Tyler Doggett 0 0-0 0, Tavian Alexander 2 1-2 5, Landon Wills 3 2-6 10, Drake Shew 1 2-4 4, Mason Johnson 0 0-0 0, Brodie Clay 0 1-4 1. Totals 11 17-34 44.
WELLBORN (1-9) – Lewis Patterson 8 1-2 18, Messiah Moore 1 0-0 2, Nathan Sanders 6 7-11 19, Keyonte Curry 1 0-0 2, Jeremiah Scarbrough 0 0-0 0, Trey Downs 0 1-2 1, Ethan Tidwell 7 0-1 14, Kameron Jackson 1 2-3 4. Totals 24 11-19 60.
Jacksonville Christian 9 11 9 15 – 44
Wellborn 14 12 16 18 – 60
3-point goals: Jacksonville Christian 5 (Wilson 2, Fair, Wills 2); Wellborn 1 (Patterson). Fouled out: Wills, Curry. Total fouls: Jacksonville Christian 18, Wellborn 24. Officials: Batey, Calkins, Morehouse.
WEAVER 60, OHATCHEE 58: The Bearcats got balanced scoring in the second quarter when they took the lead and turned back every Ohatchee threat the rest of the way to earn the Class 3A Area 11 win.
Buck McGregor had six points and Jeffrey Miles and Dawson Brooks each had six as the Bearcats opened a 27-22 halftime lead. It didn’t stray much from that margin the rest of the game and as hard as they tried Indians just couldn’t find aa way to catch them, Ohatchee’s Trey Pesnell scored 15 of his 19 in the second half, six in the fourth quarter. Jacob Buckelew seven of his 11 in the fourth.
It was the Bearcats’ second nail-biter in as many games. They edged Jacksonville Christian 63-62 Tuesday night, going up three with 20 seconds left and then holding their breath through a pair of 3-pointers in the closing seconds and a tip-in at the end by their own player.
“The only nails they’ll be using is for my casket, ‘cause they’re gonna put me in an early grave with all these close games,” Weaver coach Beau Winn said. “But I’ll take that as a good way to go.”
The game was sort of a preview of their first-round matchup in the County Tournament Saturday at Saks, but Winn said this one will have no bearing on that. Actually, this one was the more important of the two since it was area game with bearing on the standings.
“It just gives us a look at each other, Bryant and I, and how to attack what we each threw at one another tonight,” Winn said. “We’ll try and sort it out and then we’ll have another game to look at when we have to play each other for our area game. We’ve got to tip our hats to Ohatchee, though. Those boys kept coming after us and coming after us.”
Weaver 60, Ohatchee 58
WEAVER – Brendyn Knight 1 2-4 5, Kyle Knight 3 2-4 8, Buck McGregor 3 4-6 10, Kohl Perry 2 0-2 4, Dawson Brooks 2 4-4 9, Jeffrey Miles 7 0-0 14, Braxton Brown 3 0-5 6, Elijah Smith 1 1-2 4. Totals 22 13-27 60.
OHATCHEE – Noah Fuller 0 0-0 0, Jacob Buckelew 4 2-3 11, Eli Teem 2 0-0 6, Trey Pesnell 6 4-10 19, Justin Powell 3 2-2 8, Konner Baswell 2 0-0 6, Brock England 1 0-0 2, Aiden Simpson 3 0-2 6. Totals 21 8-17 58.
Weaver 10 17 17 16 – 60
Ohatchee 11 11 16 20 – 58
3-point goals: Weaver 3 (B. Knight, Brooks, E. Smith); Ohatchee 8 (Buckelew, Teem 2, Pesnell 3, Boswell 2). Total fouls: Weaver 15, Ohatchee 23. Officials: Barber, Hall, Hollingsworth.
JACKSONVILLE 64, ETOWAH 62: Cam Johnson hit a 3-pointer with about two minutes to give Jacksonville the lead for good and the Golden Eagles held on to clinch the No. 1 seed in Class 4A Area 10.
Johnson and Quinn Long led the Golden Eagles with 13 points apiece. John Broom and Omarion Adams each had 10. Etowah’s Trent Davis hit three free throws with eight-tenths of a second left to make it a two-point finish.
“That was one of our goals going into the season, to get a chance to host the area and we locked it up tonight,” Jacksonville coach Cordell Hunt said.
Now it’s a matter of progressing on the way to the postseason. That road start Friday against Anniston, a potential subregion opponent, and then it’s straight into the County Tournament.
“We checked off one box, now we’re going to see where at,” Hunt said. “That will be aa good measuring stick of how good we are of how good we can be.”
Jacksonville 64, Etowah 62
JACKSONVILLE –Cam Johnson 4-14 3-4 13, Quinn Long 6-9 1-3 13, John Broom 3-10 0-1 10, Omarion Adams 4-8 2-2 10, Caden Johnson 2-7 2-2 7, Jaylon Prater 3-3 0-0 6, Julian Hill 1-1 0-0 3, Coby Zackery 1-1 0-0 2, Nathan Barnwell 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 25-55 8-12 64.
ETOWAH –Steven Jones 7-16 4-6 21, Quin Wright 5-8 0-0 12, Trent Davis 2-8 5-5 10, Brevan Knight 2-3 1-2 5, Khalil Hughley 2-9 0-1 5, Ethan Foster 1-4 0-0 3, Ollie Finch 1-3 0-0 2, Martavious Davis 1-6 0-0 2, Deginal Spears 1-4 0-0 2, Dezmin Blair 0-0 0-0 0, Devan Greer 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-61 10-14 62.
Jacksonville 13 16 21 14 – 64
Etowah 14 17 13 18 – 62
3-point goals: Jacksonville 6-18 (Cm. Johnson 2-6, Long 0-1, Broom 2-5, Adams 0-1, Cd. Johnson 1-4, Hill 1-1); Etowah 8-30 (Jones 3-6, Wright 2-4, T Davis 1-4, Hughley 1-7, Foster 1-4, N Davis 0-4, Spears 0-1). Rebounds: Jacksonville 43 (Cm. Johnson 9, Broom 8, Barnwell 7); Etowah 35 (Finch 10). Total fouls: Jacksonville 9, Etowah 13.
HANDLEY 64, WHITE PLAINS 50: The Wildcats gained a lot of momentum with their win over Anniston on Tuesday night, but for it to have any real value they had to win this game. It didn’t happen.
They went into one of the toughest places to play in the state and homestanding Handley knocked the Wildcats out of their first-place tie with Anniston and moved the Bulldogs a step closer to clinching Class 4A Area 9.
White Plains gained a share of the league lead by beating Anniston Tuesday night. The loss Thursday dropped the Wildcats back into a tie with Handley for second – both with two league losses, one game behind the Anniston. The Bulldogs have one area game remaining, but they hold the tiebreakers.
If Anniston loses and White Plains beats Handley in their rematch, Anniston would gain the top seed by virtue of its season sweep of the Tigers. If Anniston loses and Handley beats White Plains again, the Bulldogs still have the tiebreaker over Handley. If Anniston wins, the race is over regardless of what happens in the White Plains-Handley rematch, relegating those two teams to fight for their postseason lives in the 2-3 semifinal of the area tournament.
Brody Baker scored nine of his team-high 15 points in the first quarter to keep White Plains close, but Handley opened a 17-12 lead and stayed in front. Jaquavious Robinson scored 10 of his 12 points in the second quarter to keep the Tigers ahead and Martin scored 11 of his 15 in the fourth to hold off any Wildcats charge. Graham Martin hit both of his 3-pointers in the fourth and was 4-for-4 from the free throw line.
Handley 64, White Plains 50
WHITE PLAINS – Tucker Pearson 0 0-0 0, Carson Wright 0 0-0 0, Quin Wilson 0 2-2 2, Jaden Chatman 1 0-0 3, Jacob Wheeler 4 3-3 14, Landon Senciboy 0 0-0 0, Brody Baker 5 4-4 15, Jesse Hubbard 1 0-0 3, Walker Osteen 2 5-6 10, Kahlil Williams 0 2-2 2, Garrett Wilson 0 1-2 1. Totals 13 17-19 50.
HANDLEY – Ian Mosley 1 0-2 3, Christian Jones 1 0-0 2, Graham Martin 5 3-3 15, Daquavious Lawrence 0 0-0 0, Jalen Herren 0 0-0 0, Jaquavious Robinson 5 0-0 12, Maurice Cameron 0 0-0 0, Josh Smith 4 0-0 9, Dylan Brooks 6 1-3 13, Tydrick Treadwell 2 0-1 4, Quadae Lewis 2 2-4 6, Tamarious Treadwell 0 0-0 0. Totals 26 6-13 64.
White Plains 12 10 17 11 – 50
Handley 17 12 17 18 – 64
3-point goals: White Plains 7 (Wheeler 3, Chatman, Baker, Hubbard, Osteen); Handley 6 (Mosley, Martin 2, Robinson 2, Smith). Total fouls: White Plains 13, Handley 18. Officials: Paige, Williams, Cypers.
OXFORD 63, SOUTHSIDE 22: You have got one heck of a team there,” Southside head coach Chad Holderfield told Oxford coach Joel Van Meter after the Yellow Jackets blasted his Panthers to run their winning streak to 13 games.
The Yellow Jackets (17-2) have been particularly tough in their last three wins, allowing only 82 points in those games, and shut out an opponent in the fourth quarter for the second straight game. They have allowed only 14 field goals in their last seven quarters.
“Our depth is the strength of our team this year,” Van Meter said. “We have guys that earned the reward of playing time by working so hard in practice and whomever is in there does a great job for us.”
Oxford guard Justin Moore was flying above the Panther defense with six 2-point baskets, three 3-pointers and one dunk for 23 points to pace the winners. Rylan Houck added 12 points and grabbed seven rebounds. –Brant Locklier
Oxford 63, Southside 22
SOUTHSIDE – Michael Rich 2 0-0 4, Owen Westcott 0 0-0 0, Hunter Sitz 0 1-2 1, William Carr 2 0-2 6, Spencer Sharpe 1 0-0 2, Maddox Parsons 0 0-0 0, Conner Bearden 2 0-0 4, Isaac Barnard 1 1-1 3, William Shirley 1 0-0 2, Jacob Poole 0 0-0 0, Davis Lawley 0 0-0 0. Totals 9 2-5 22.
OXFORD (17-2) – Avelon Bush 2 1-3 6, Cordell Chatman 0 0-0 0, Rylan Houck 6 0-0 12, Peyton Watts 2 0-0 6, Mike McGraw 1 0-0 2, Roc Taylor 4 0-0 9, Bakari Dailey 1 0-0 2, Justin Moore 9 0-2 21, Josh Johnson 0 0-0 0, Josh Patton 1 0-0 2, Zurrell Garrett 0 0-0 0, Aaron McFarland 1 0-0 3. Totals 27 1-5
Southside 6 7 9 0 – 22
Oxford 13 16 15 19 – 63
3-point goals: Southside 2 (Carr 2); Oxford 8 (Watts 2, Moore 3, McFarland, Bush, Taylor).
PLEASANT VALLEY 71, COOSA CHRISTIAN 38: It was another game in which the Raiders’ Josh Ballew battled it out with their opponent’s leading scorer and the Raiders took care of the rest. Ballew scored 25 points to 21 for Coosa’s Deontae Ford, but PV had seven other scorers, including four who had seven points or more. Justin Winningham and Samuel Palmer had nine apiece. Ballew had 10 in the first quarter and 15 in the first half as the Raiders opened leads of 21-5 and 44-14.
Pleasant Valley 71, Coosa Christian 38
COOSA CHRISTIAN – Drake Albury 1 0-0 3, Kris Ash 0 0-0 0, Isiah Cole 2 2-3 7, Deontae Ford 8 2-4 21, J.D, Justus 0 0-0 0, Caddon Moore 0 0-0 0, Hunter Price 0 0-0 0, Koby Roberts 3 0-0 7, Thomas Skaggs 0 0-0 0. Totals 14 4-7 38.
PLEASANT VALLEY – Garrett Cranmer 3 2-3 8, Josh Ballew 8 5-6 25, Oliver Young 1 0-0 3, Kolby Battles 3 0-0 6, Zeke Johnson 3 1-2 7, Samuel Palmer 4 0-0 9, Pelham Parris 0 0-1 0, Justin Winningham 4 1-2 9, Others 1 2-2 4. Totals 27 11-16 71.
Coosa Christian 5 9 9 15 – 38
Pleasant Valley 21 23 17 10 – 71
3-point goals: Coosa Christian 6 (Albury, Cole, Ford 3, Roberts); Pleasant Valley 6 (Ballew 4, Young, Palmer). Total fouls: Coosa Christian 15, Pleasant Valley 12.
FAITH CHRISTIAN 75, DONOHO 44: Thomas Curlee and Ethan Richerzhagen scored eight points each in the second quarter when the Lions went on a 20-9 run to take control of the game. They followed it with a 31-4 third quarter in which Richerzhagen had 10 and Seth Abston scored eight. Curlee and Richerzhagen combined for 17 rebounds and 14 steals, and Jacque Prater dished nine assists.
Faith Christian 75, Donoho 44
FAITH CHRISTIAN – Nic Goodgame 2 0-4 4, Jacque Prater 3 1-2 8, Thomas Curlee 10 3-6 25, Ethan Richerzhagen 5 7-11 18, Yashua Arevalo 1 1-2 3, Eli Robinson 1 1-2 3, Andrew Folsom 1 0-0 2, Seth Abston 4 4-4 12, Damian Arevalo 0 0-0 0. Totals 27 17-31 75.
DONOHO – Spencer Wigley 1 2-2 5, Dean Harrell 1 0-0 3, Garrett Steed 1 2-3 5, Nick Goad 3 0-0 8, Drew Williamson 3 3-6 11, Sean Keel 1 0-0 2, Brady Patterson 0 0-0 0, Richard Goad 1 0-0 2, Jamal Musa 0 0-2 0, Eric Tolson 2 3-4 7, Others 1 0-0 2. Totals 14 10-17 44.
Faith Christian 15 20 31 9 – 75
Donoho 16 9 4 15 – 44
3-point goals: Faith Christian 4 (Prater, Curlee 2, Richerzhagen); Donoho 7 (Wigley, Harrell, Steed, N. Goad 2, Williamson 2). Fouled out: Steed. Total fouls: Faith Christian 11, Donoho 21. Officials: Elston, Robinson, Douthitt.
MUNFORD 42, CLEBURNE COUNTY 37: The Lions jumped out to a 10-point first quarter lead and maintained it to score a Class 4A Area 9 victory and get over the .500 mark this late in the season (7-6) for the first time in recent memory. Jaquan Anderson scored five of his 10 points in the first quarter.
Munford 42, Cleburne County 37
MUNFORD (7-6) – Jaquan Anderson 4 1-1 10, Dwight Moore 1 5-5 7, Rashard Russell 3 2-3 8, Jay Tuck 2 0-3 5, Ron Ervin 1 0-0 2, Caderio Holland 2 0-0 4, Connor Morgan 1 1-4 4, Kyler Gibson 1 0-0 2. Totals 15 9-16 42.
CLEBURNE COUNTY – Rico Jordan 2 2-3 7, Ben Casey 0 5-8 5, Brody Higgins 1 1-1 3, Kyle Downey 4 6-8 16, Hudson Miller 0 1-2 1, Grant Harcrow 0 1-1 1, Trey Brown 0 2-6 2, Dee Prothro 1 0-0 2. Totals 8 18-29 37.
Munford 17 7 7 11 – 42
Cleburne County 7 12 9 9 – 37
3-point goals: Munford 3 (Anderson, Tuck, Morgan); Cleburne County 3 (Jordan, Downey 2). Technical fouls: Moore, Miller. Fouled out: Holland, Jordan. Total fouls: Munford 23, Cleburne County 17.
RAGLAND 67, VICTORY CHRISTIAN 32: Josh Phillips scored 22 points and Jordan Turner had 19 with four 3-pointers to lead Ragland. Four players hit a 3 in the first quarter as the Purple Devils opened a 25-8 lead.
Ragland 67, Victory Christian 32
RAGLAND – C.J. Lawler 2 0-1 5, Matt Trammell 3 0-1 8, Jordan Turner 6 3-4 19, Josh Phillips 9 4-6 22, Kentrell Turner 2 0-0 5, Gavin Ward 0 0-0 0, Javaris Turner 3 0-0 6, Donte Pickett 1 0-0 2. Totals 26 7-12 67.
VICTORY CHRISTIAN – Shepard Sargent 2 5-6 9, Miles Martin 1 2-3 4, Jakob Tucker 1 1-7 3, Dalton Lewellyn 3 2-4 8, Cayden Brunson 1 0-0 2, Riley Meadows 0 0-0 0, Billy Davenport 2 0-2 4, Evan Crow 1 0-0 2. Totals 11 10-22 32
Ragland 25 16 16 10 – 67
Victory Christian 8 11 6 7 – 32
3-point goals: Ragland 8 (Lawler, Trammell 2, J. Turner 4, K. Turner). Total fouls: Ragland 17, Victory Christian 14.
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