Sleeping Dawgs rise
- Updated: January 22, 2021
Anniston rallies from 12 down early in the fourth quarter to turn back Jacksonville and earn spot in championship game; will be updated
CALHOUN COUNTY TOURNAMENT
Boys bracket
Friday’s games
Anniston 72, Jacksonville 63
Oxford 54, White Plains 38
Saturday’s game
Championship: Anniston vs. Oxford, 8 p.m.
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
JACKSONVILLE – Anniston was down 12 points early in the fourth quarter Friday afternoon, but with two of the most dynamic players in the state on the roster you always knew the storm was coming.
The Bulldogs had been playing catch up all game, but found their spark in the fourth quarter well before it was too late and turned back Jacksonville 72-63 to earn a spot in Saturday’s 8 p.m. boys championship game of the Calhoun County Tournament.
“No, no, no, no, you don’t ever wait for the storm that’s coming,” Brown said. “You know a run is coming, but you know the effort has got to be there. I tell them all the time that to turn a bad situation into a good situation you have to have two things happen – great attitude and great effort.
“When we didn’t see the ball go in as much our effort lacked a little bit. Once the ball started going in I think our effort picked up a whole lot and we were able to get some easy baskets for once. They stopped what we were doing well in the first half and we didn’t get any easy baskets the third quarter at all .”
The Bulldogs staged a comeback in each quarter. They were down eight in the first and battled back to earn a 17-17 tie. They were down seven in the second and fought back to tie it at 26. They were down five in the third and went on an 8-0 run to take their first lead of the game.
It was 41-38 with 3:33 to go in the third when Jacksonville went on a 15-0 run and held a 53-41 lead after John Broom’s uncontested layup off the opening inbounds play of the fourth quarter. At that point it looked as if the Golden Eagles were going to reach the County Tournament finals for the first time since 1994-95 when they last won it. But that’s when the sleeping Dawgs woke.
The charge was led by – who else – Antonio Kite and Malcolm Carlisle. Kite set the single-game scoring record for this year’s boys tournament and tied the overall tournament high with 37 points. He had 14 in the fourth quarter, including 7-for-7 from the free throw line. Carlisle had 10 of his 14 in the fourth quarter.
“I’m very comfortable in those moments, I’ve been there before, and my teammates know how to count on me in the fourth quarter, so I was able to bring it home for us,” Kite sad.
“He gave us energy all night and we fed off of his energy all night,” Brown said. “Tonight was probably one of the first times I’ve seen him look like the best player in the state.”
The Bulldogs’ comeback coincided with Jacksonville’s plan to spread things out in the fourth quarter with a seemingly comfortable lead. It took the Golden Eagles out of the rhythm they had built over the first three quarters. They did tie it at 59 on a pair of Broom baskets, then Anniston scored the next nine – four by Kite, five by Carlisle – and the lead was back to nine with under two minutes to play.
“I thought with how they were press guarding us we could get some cuts and good looks at the goal,” Jacksonville coach Cordell Hunt said. “I think we ran out of gas late, too. We have to learn how to finish close games. That comes with experience.”
Perhaps the biggest play of the game came early in the Bulldogs’ final comeback. They were down 10 when Kite when flying over Jacksonville’s Quinn Long in the lane like he was competing in a dunk contest. He got the dunk, got fouled and made the and-one. It brought the Bulldogs to life.
“It was a great energy play,” Kite said. “It helped us a lot.”
“It changed the course of the game,” Brown said. “In every part of life you want to say there’s something happens that turns things bad or turns things good. That turned the tide of the game for us and gave us a whole lot of energy, which we needed.”
Jacksonville had three scorers in double figures – John Broom (18), Caden Johnson (14) and Cam Johnson (13). Broom and Caden Johnson scored all 12 of Jacksonville’s points in the fourth.
Anniston 72, Jacksonville 63
JACKSONVLLE – John Broom 8-13 0-0 18, Caden Johnson 6-11 0-1 14, Cam Johnson 5-10 0-1 10, Nathan Barnwell 3-7 2-3 8, Omarion Adams 2-8 1-3 5, Quinn Long 1-5 0-0 3, Jaylon Prater 1-3 0-0 2, Julian Hill 0-2 0-0 0, JaeTaj Morris 0-2 0-0 0. Coby Zackery 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-59 3-8 63.
ANNISTON – Antonio Kite 14-24 7-7 37, Malcolm Carlisle 6-15 1-2 14, Tadyn Jones 2-4 0-2 8, Mark Toyer 3-8 0-0 7, Troy Hall 2-2 0-1 4, Taishun Hall 1-1 0-0 2, Kamron Sandlin 0-0 0-0 0, Jamarius Billingsley 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 30-57 8-12 72.
Jacksonville 17 13 21 12 – 63
Anniston 17 11 13 31 – 72
3-point goals: Jacksonville 8-21 (Broom 2-3, Cd. Johnson 2-5, Cm. Johnson 3-7, Adams 0-4, Long 1-1, Hill 0-1); Anniston 4-18 (Kite 2-7, Carlisle 1-7, Jones 0-2, Toyer 1-2). Rebounds: Jacksonville 33; Anniston 35 (Toyer 8, Carlisle 7). Fouled out: Long. Total fouls: Jacksonville 12, Anniston 12.
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