Ladies Night
- Updated: January 21, 2021
It was an all-girls triple-header in Thursday’s quarterfinals of the Calhoun County Basketball Tournament
CALHOUN COUNTY TOURNAMENT
Girls bracket
Thursday’s games
Ohatchee 72, Pleasant Valley 44
Jacksonville 53, Alexandria 42
Oxford 55, Weaver 32
Friday’s games
Semifinals: Anniston vs. Ohatchee, 4 p.m.
Semifinals: Jacksonville vs. Oxford, 8 p.m.
Saturday’s games
Championship game, 6 p.m.
Boys bracket
Friday’s games
Semifinals: Anniston vs. Jacksonville, 2 p.m.
Semifinals: Oxford vs. White Plains, 6 p.m.
Saturday’s game
Championship game, 8 p.m.
By Brant Locklier
For East Alabama Sports Today
JACKSONVILLE – It was all Jorda Crook Thursday afternoon as the sophomore put on one of the most dominant performances in Calhoun County Tournament history, going for 37 points, 18 rebounds and eight steals in leading the Ohatchee girls to a 72-44 win over Pleasant Valley.
It was Ladies Night at the tournament as all three games on the schedule at Jacksonville State were girls quarterfinals.
“It was fun,” Crook said of her big game. ” I was just trying to go hard on every play and we came up with a big day. I scored 37 points before earlier this year (against Hokes Bluff), so I tied my best scoring game of the year. Coach wants us to try and get better each game.”
Crook hit 16 field goals against the Lady Raiders. Her 37 points were highest single-game output of this year’s tournament so far, eclipsing the Saturday 30 by Pleasant Valley’s Gracie Hood on the girls side and Wednesday’s 36 by Piedmont’s Alex Odam overall.
“I looked up at the scoreboard one time and I couldn’t believe it,” Lady Indians coach Bryant Ginn sad. “If she would have made her free throws, she would have had over 40. And we took her out in the fourth quarter. With so many games possible in the next few days, we just did not want to get her hurt.”
Crook is the baby sister of Jessica Crook, who scored a ton of points in her career at Ohatchee in the early years of this decade and became a high school coach herself, and Jazmine Crook, who played on the last Ohatchee girls teams that reached the county tournament semifinals.
Ohatchee used its height advantage in the first quarter to out-rebound the Lady Raiders 10-2and open a 14-11 lead. Crook scored eight points and grabbed five rebounds in the quarter. Hood kept the Raiders in the game with five points of her own.
The Lady Indians threatened to blow the game wide open in the second quarter by scoring the first eight points and taking an 11-point lead. The undersized Raiders scored five straight points right before halftime to pull within seven points, 32-25.
Crook had plenty of help from her teammates as Tori Vice pumped in 15 points and had six rebounds to complement her inside presence.
The 12th-seeded Raiders were the only team to upset a higher seed in the tournament, but were unable to match Crook’s inside game. Rylee Haynes had 13 points before fouling out early in the fourth quarter. Hood had 11 points and Macey Roper had 10 points and seven rebounds.
“We are just proud to be in the top four in the county; it has been a while for us,” Ginn said. “We will have our hands full with a great (top-seeded) Anniston team on Friday (4 p.m.), but that is what we want: An opportunity to play the best teams. To be the best, you have to beat the best.”
The game with Anniston will bring the intriguing matchup of Crook against Lady Dawgs senior post Asia Barclay.
“When I watched them played (Wednesday night), that’s the first thing I thought of,” Ginn said. “I think Jorda will go compete; it will be interesting, a good test for her. She’s competitive and competitors go play no matter what. It’s going to be pretty crucial to the game.”
History was on the Lady Indians’ mind before the game with Pleasant Valley, too – specifically avoiding a repeat of it. Six years ago, they were the No. 3 seed in the tournament and lost to Pleasant Valley in overtime.
“I charged the girls, to start this game we had to have energy,” Ginn said. “They came out with it.”
Ohatchee 72, Pleasant Valley 44
PLEASANT VALLEY – Lily Henry 2 0-0 5, Sadie Naugher 0 0-0 0, Rylee Haynes 5 3-6 13, Marlie Wright 1 0-0 3, Gracie Hood 4 0-3 11, Macey Roper 4 2-2 10, Anna Worthy 0 0-0 0, Erin Rose 0 2-2 2. Totals 16 7-13 44.
OHATCHEE – Gracyn Snow 3 0-0 7, Tori Vice 7 2-2 17, Whitney McFry 0 1-2 1, Morgan Foushee 1 0-0 2, Gracie George 2 0-0 4, Millie Rainwater 1 1-1 3, Jorda Crook 16 5-10 37, Laci Teem 0 0-0 0, Alyssa Davis 0 1-2 1. Totals 30 10-17 72.
Pleasant Valley 11 14 14 5 – 44
Ohatchee 14 18 22 18 – 72
3-point goals: Pleasant Valley 5 (Henry, Wright, Hood 3); Ohatchee 2 (Snow, Vice). Fouled out: Haynes. Total fouls: Pleasant Valley 15, Ohatchee 15.
TOP TOURNAMENT GAMES
(x-does not include tournament ‘exhibition’ games, thru Jan. 21)
GIRLS
37: Jorda Crook, Ohatchee vs. Pleasant Valley (1/21)
30: Gracie Hood, Pleasant Valley vs. JCA (1/16)
26: Kayla Broom, Jacksonville vs. Alexandria (1/21)
23: Ashley Phillips, Alexandria vs. Jacksonville (1/21)
23: Leah Taylor, Oxford vs. Weaver (1/21)
BOYS
36: Alex Odam, Piedmont vs. Jacksonville (1/20)
27: Josh Ballew, Pleasant Valley vs. Alexandria (1/16)
25: Tristan Brown, Weaver vs. Ohatchee (1/16)
23: Jordan Cosper, Saks vs. Donoho (1/18)
23: Rylan Houck, Oxford vs. Alexandria (1/19)
Buzan: ‘Too close for comfort’
Jacksonville coach Tres Buzan walked across the court for the traditional WHMA post-game interview show and before the formal questioning even began he summed up the emotion of the game.
“Too close for comfort, for sure,” he said.
Indeed. The third-seeded Lady Golden Eagles led by 17 in the first half, 18 in the third quarter, then held on for dear life to turn back Alexandria 53-42. It was a four-point game with 1:53 to play.
Alexandria’s Ashley Phillips wouldn’t quit down the stretch, pouring in 11 of her 23 points to bring the Lady Cubs back, but Jacksonville’s Kayla Broom had something to do with keeping them at bay.
Broom had eight fourth-quarter points, including four straight free throws after Alexandria cut the margin to 41-37. She was 6-for-6 from the free throw line in the game.
“Broom does everything for us,” Buzan said. “We lean on her 100 percent. She is our leading scorer and best defender. She shoots the kind of shots we want her to take and does all the things you would expect out of a senior leader.”
Amarie Curry chipped in 11 points and 12 rebounds. Amiyah Buchanan also grabbed 12 rebounds. Jacksonville won the battle of the boards 49-23.
Jacksonville came out smoking and scored the last 14 points of the first quarter to take an 18-5 lead. Broom had eight points in the quarter and Ashley Grant and Maggie Anderson each hit a 3. Phillips scored all five Alexandria points in the quarter.
Jacksonville 53, Alexandria 42
ALEXANDRIA – Ashley Phillips 8-20 3-4 23, Sarah Pelham 3-10 0-0 7, Jordyn Walker 3-7 0-0 6, Jill Cockrell 1-2 0-0 3, TyShica Woodgtt 0-2 2-4 2, Aubrey Christian 0-0 1-2 1, Chloe Gattis 0-3 0-2 0. Totals 15-45 6-12 42.
JACKSONVILLE – Kayla Broom 10-16 6-6 26, Amarie Curry 4-8 3-8 11, Ashley Grant 2-5 0-0 5, Amiyah Buchanan 2-6 0-0 4, Maggie Anderson 1-7 0-0 3, Bree Edmonson 0-5 2-5 2, Patience Carr 0-3 1-4 1, Rebekah Gannaway 0-2 1-2 1. Totals 19-52 13-25 53.
Alexandria 5 11 11 15 – 42
Jacksonville 18 8 12 15 – 53
3-point goals: Alexandria 6-24 (Phillips 4-11, Pelham 1-6, Walker 0-3, Cockrell 1-2, Gattis 0-2); Jacksonville 2-17 (Broom 0-2, Curry 0-1, Grant 1-4, Buchanan 0-1, Anderson 1-4, Edmonson 0-3, Carr 0-1, Gannaway 0-1). Rebounds: Alexandria 23 (Phillips 5, Woodgett 5); Jacksonville 49 (Curry 12, Buchanan 12, Broom 7). Total fouls: Alexandria 17, Jacksonville 14.
Oxford streaks into semis
Leah Taylor scored 23 points and Xai Whitfield had 11 as Oxford earned a berth in the semifinals with its ninth straight win overall, 55-32 over Weaver.
The second-seeded Lady Jackets, the last girls team to play its first game in the tournament, will play third-seeded Jacksonville Friday at 8 p.m.
Due to quick foul trouble, Oxford starters Taylor and Whitfield took turns playing with reserves and while the reserves were gaining valuable experience Taylor and Whitfield were scoring nine points apiece to stake the Lady Jackets to a 29-17 halftime lead.
With the starters back in, the Lady Jackets really got rolling in the third quarter and Taylor flourished. She made seven layups for 14 of Oxford’s 18 points in the quarter.
“I was disappointed in the way we played tonight,” Oxford coach Melissa Bennett said. “We missed a lot of easy shots. We got in foul trouble early that took us out of our game a bit. We never seemed to get much out of the press tonight. Weaver had a good game plan on slowing us down.”
Haley Homesley led Weaver with 18 points.
Oxford 55, Weaver 32
WEAVER – Madison Atchley 1 0-3 2, Mollie Kirby 0 0-0 0, Kinsley Marvasty 0 0-0 0, Jazmine Gregory 0 0-0-0, Taylor Lawrence 2 1-3 5, D.J. Gibbs 1 0-2 2, Tiana Lawrence 2 1-3 5, Haley Homesley 8 1-5 18. Totals 14 3-16 32.
OXFORD – Justice Woods 0 0-0 0, Zay Whitfield 4 2-2 11, Lauren Ellard 2 0-0 5, Leah Taylor 11 1-2 23, Emma McCullough 0 0-0 0, Lisa Montgomery 0 0-0 0, Ashley Paulson 0 0-0 0, Keziah Mickler 2 1-2 5, Aniya Elston 0 0-0 0, Jamea Gaston 3 1-2 7, Mikiya Wilson 1 2-2 4. Totals 23 7-10 55.
Weaver 6 11 7 8 – 32
Oxford 15 14 18 8 – 55
3-point goals: Weaver 1 (Homesley); Oxford 2 (Whitfield, Ellard), Fouled out: Giibbs.
Regular-season games
BOYS GAMES
JACKSONVILLE CHRISTIAN 68, WELLBORN 29: Tavian Alexander and Landon Wills both recorded double-doubles as the Thunder presented coach Tommy Miller with his 998th career boys/girls coaching victory.
Alexander had 18 points and 13 rebounds, and Wills had 11 points and 10 rebounds. Tanner Wilson had eight points, four assists and three steals, Ethan Burrage had eight points and Drake Shew had six points and nine rebounds.
GIRLS GAMES
White Plains 43, Munford 7
MUNFORD – Layla Tyus 2 0-4 4, Ryleigh Keith 0 0-0 0, Kelsey Goodson 0 0-0 0, Mekiah Mosley 0 0-0 0, Matillda Geffen 0 0-0 0, Kaylyn Turner 1 1-4 3. Totals 3 1-8.
WHITE PLAINS – Callyn Martin 3 4-7 13, Cheyenne Cochran 0 0-0 0, Hallie Williams 1 0-0 3, Camden Wilson 3 0-0 6, Lily Ponder 1 2-3 4, Adriana Sotelo 4 0-0 8, Angel Bozarth 5 0-1 10, Kaylee Johnson 0 2-4 2. Totals 17 8-15 43.
Munford 2 2 3 0 – 7
White Plains 16 15 6 6 – 43
3-point goals: White Plains 1 (Williams). Total fouls: Munford 12, White Plains 7. Officials: Stringer, McCombs, Roberts.
Jacksonville Christian 54, Wellborn 34
WELLBORN –Brooklyn Singleton 2 0-3 4, Mikayla Williams 7 0-1 14, Taniya Traylor 0 0-0 0, Cloie Adkison 0 0-2 0, Calla Hayes 4 0-0 8, Anna Odom 2 2-4 6, Annelies Boot 0 2-2 2, Layla Amberson 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 4-12 34.
JACKSONVILLE CHRISTIAN (5-10) –Rebekah Carter 3 8-16 14, Kara Grace 4 1-5 9, Kirsten Walker 0 1-4 1, Mia Morales 6 3-9 15, Karli Barnwell 1 1-1 3, Abbie Stovall 1 2-4 5, Hannah Clayton 2 2-2 7, Riley Sanders 0 0-0 0, Ella Kines 0 0-0 0. Totals 17 18-41 54.
Wellborn 4 14 5 11 – 34
JCA 12 17 10 15 – 54
3-point goals: JCA 2 (Stovall, Clayton). Rebounds: JCA 36 (Carter 8, Clayton 8). Steals: JCA 31 (Morales 11, Carter 9). Fouled out: Boot, Barnwell, Stovall. Total fouls: Wellborn 29, JCA 22. Officials: Barber, Nelms, Hinkle.
NOTE: Calhoun County teams are allowed to play outside games this year during the Calhoun County Tournament week once they are eliminated from the tournament.
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