Top seeds sweep
- Updated: January 20, 2021
Anniston’s boys roll past Jacksonville Christian, Lady Dawgs take out White Plains
CALHOUN COUNTY TOURNAMENT
Boys bracket
Wednesday’s scores
Anniston 88, JCA 42
Jacksonville 66, Piedmont 57
Thursday’s games
No boys games scheduled
Friday’s games
Semifinals: Anniston vs. Jacksonville, 2 p.m.
Semifinals: Oxford vs. White Plains, 6 p.m.
Saturday’s games
Championship game, 8 p.m.
Girls bracket
Wednesday’s score
Anniston 67, White Plains 43
Thursday’s games
Ohatchee vs. Pleasant Valley, 4 p.m.
Jacksonville vs. Alexandria, 6 p.m.
Oxford vs. Weaver, 8 p.m.
Friday’s games
Semifinals: Anniston vs. Ohatchee-Pleasant Valley winner, 4 p.m.
Semifinals: TBA, 8 p.m.
Saturday’s games
Championship game, 6 p.m.
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
JACKSONVILLE – Anniston showed its muscle as the No. 1 seed in the Calhoun County boys tournament, running past Jacksonville Christian with its usual flare, 88-42 in the first game of Wednesday’s tripleheader at Jacksonville State.
The game had a little bit of everything for the Bulldogs – even the first in-game dunk of his career by Jamarius Billingsley, a sophomore who recently was elevated from the junior varsity team.
The Anniston girls team defended their No. 1 seeding right after with a 67-43 win over White Plains.
The Bulldogs (15-3) were installed as the No. 1 seed in the tournament a month ago, but they’ve hit a few speed bumps in the interim. Anniston coach Torry Brown was confident his team deserved the top billing in the event at the time of the seeding. Now, he’s looking for team to approach games as the hunter.
“At the time we did the seeding I really believed it was deserved,” Brown said. “I don’t know if there was much separation between all the teams, but I just thought at the time we had done enough to warrant the No. 1 seed. The funny thing is, and I told the kids, we’re a 1 seed but at the same time we need to be the team that’s really hunting the other teams. Instead of teams wanting to play us, we need to want to play teams.”
The Bulldogs started their tournament opener slow, but broke it open with a 30-point second quarter. They got contributions for a lot of places and they came in waves. Antonio Kite and Malcolm Carlisle were the engines of the second-quarter eruption. Troy Hall and Cam Sandlin made it go in the third.
Carlisle scored all 14 of his points in the second quarter and Kite had 10 of his 14; neither played in the second half. Hall had 11 of his 18 in the third quarter and 14 in the second half. Sandlin had six of his 10 in the third.
“I just try to get the ball and put it in the basket as much as I can,” Hall said. “We just try to have fun. We don’t try to play any certain type of way. We just play our game, have fun and keep going.”
The Bulldogs had a lot of fun when Billingsley dunked. It came in the fourth quarter that finished off a length-of-the-floor drive. The bench erupted when he threw it down and they were still celebrating his success while they came off the floor after the final horn.
“It felt good, for real,” Billingsley said. “I used to always be watching people dunk; now I get to be the one dunking.”
“He can dunk,” Hall confirmed. “It’s a surprise he did it in a game. And the way he did it.”
The Bulldogs will play Jacksonville in Friday’s 2 p.m. semifinal.
Anniston 88, Jacksonville Christian 42
JACKSONVILLE CHRISTIAN (11-6) – Tanner Wilson 2 0-0 4, Ethan Fair 0 0-0 0, Ethan Burrage 2 0-0 5, Emmanuel Kidd 0 0-0 0, Tyler Doggrell 2 0-0 5, Tavian Alexander 3 2-2 11, Landon Wills 2 0-0 6, Drake Shew 0 0-0 0, Braxton Brown 2 1-2 5, Cam Moses 2 0-1 4, Brodie Clay 1 0-0 2. Totals 16 3-5 42.
ANNISTON (15-3) – Mark Toyer 1 1-2 3, Antonio Kite 7 0-1 14, Jacques Thomas 3 0-2 6, Alex Teague 2 0-0 4, Malcolm Carlisle 6 1-1 14, Troy Hall 8 2-3 18, Jamarius Billingsley 3 1-1 7, Tadyn Jones 1 2-2 5, Martez Reed 0 2-2 2, Taishun Hall 2 0-0 5, Cam Sandlin 5 0-0 10, Malik Bailey 0 0-2 0. Totals 38 9-14 88.
Jacksonville Christian 11 7 10 14 – 42
Anniston 16 30 21 21 – 88
3-point goals: JCA 7 (Doggrell, Alexander 3, Burrage, Wills 2); Anniston 3 (Carlisle, Td. Jones, Ta. Hall). Total fouls: JCA 15, Anniston 11. Officials: Whitten, Zauchin, Dukes.
Lady Dawgs do enough to advance
The Anniston girls flexed in their tournament opener as well, beating White Plains 67-43. Of course they led wire-to-wire, but it wasn’t a typical tournament opener for a top-seeded Lady Bulldogs team and coach Eddie Bullock said they’ll have some work to do before returning in Friday’s semifinals.
The Lady Dawgs raced out to a 45-19 halftime lead, but to its credit White Plains actually outscored them in the second half, 24-22.
“We did what a No. 1 seed should do, I’ll put it like that,” Bullock said. “Now, did we play like a No. 1? We made too many mistakes. We made a lot of mistakes we’ve got to clean up, and part of that is chemistry and getting them to understand what each other do. But we’re going to get there before the end of it.
“Some of the other No. 1 seed teams we’d come out in the first game and sent a message. I’m not sure it was a little rust coming in (having not played in a week). I know we’ve got to clean up some things, but we’ll get there.”
When the Lady Dawgs were rolling in the first half it was their regulars taking charge. Allasha Dudley was 5-for-5 from 3-point range in the first half for all but two of her 17 points and Alisia Person tossed in three more. Asia Barclay had 12 of her 15 in the first half. Shiwanna Jackson scored eight of her 14 in the second half.
Barclay also had 12 rebounds, four steals and three assists. Jackson had seven rebounds and two steals.
White Plains nearly matched its first-half point production in the third quarter. Callyn Martin challenged the paint and scored all 11 of her points inside. Adriana Sotelo and Kaylee Johnson each scored nine, with all of Sotelo’s points coming on 3-pointers.
The Lady Dawgs await the winner of Thursday’s Ohatchee-Pleasant Valley for their 4 p.m. Friday semifinal.
GIRLS GAME
Anniston 67, White Plains 43
WHITE PLAINS – Callyn Martin 5 1-2 11, Cheyenne Cochran 1 0-0 3, Halliie Williams 0 0-0 0, Shaniyah Calloway 1 0-0 3, Camden Wilson 0 0-0 0, Lily Ponder 4 0-0 8, Adriana Sotello 3 0-0 9, Angel Bozarth 0 0-2 0, Kaylee Johnson 3 2-5 9. Totals 17 3-9 43.
ANNISTON – Allasha Dudley 5 2-2 17, Alisia Person 3 1-2 10, Serena Hardy 3 2-4 8, Charliese Simmons 0 0-1 0, Shiwanna Jackson 5 4-4 14, Aaliyah Henson 0 1-2 1, Tiauna Thomas 1 0-0 2, Asia Barclay 5 5-7 15, Tanaja Winsley 0 0-0 0. Totals 22 15-22 67.
White Plains 6 13 17 7 – 43
Anniston 22 23 15 7 – 67
3-point goals: White Plains 6 (Cochran, Calloway, Sotello 3, Johnson); Anniston 8 (Dudley 5, Person 3). Fouled out: Johnson. Total fouls: White Plains 18, Anniston 13. Officials: Dukes, Williams, Holston.
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