Rainwater rewarded
- Updated: January 25, 2021
Girls roundup: Hard-working Ohatchee guard has career high, Jacksonville rallies to dump Alexandria, Donoho edges JCA and more
MONDAY’S GIRLS GAMES
Anniston 81, Cleburne County 37
Childersburg 53, Saks 25
Coosa Christian 61, Faith Christian 46
Donoho 61, Jacksonville Christian 58
Jacksonville 49, Alexandria 44
Ohatchee 81, Pleasant Valley 56
Springville 55, Oxford 43
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
OHATCHEE – Millie Rainwater does a lot of things that don’t get noticed in the box score and goes about her business without complaint. Monday night the game rewarded her.
The Ohatchee guard took advantage of Pleasant Valley’s defensive approach and hit five 3-pointers in the first half, scoring a career-high 20 points and leading the Lady Indians to a 81-56 victory to remain in the hunt for the No. 1 seed in their area.
The Lady Raiders were playing a gadget defense on Ohatchee’s top scorers, Tori Vice and Jorda Crook, and it left Rainwater with the open shot. In addition to her 3-pointers, she also scored on a couple of floaters off the glass coach Bryant Ginn has been encouraging her take when she gets in the lane.
“They just kept leaving her open,” Ginn said. “They were trying to triangle-and-two us, sink off, help on Jorda, help on Tori. We just kept swinging it over there to her and she kept drilling 3s.
“I’ve been trying to get her to shoot the ball more at the 3. She’s got a great shot. I was just happy for her for a night like that to come together because she does all the dirty work that nobody ever notices.”
Rainwater scored 19 of her points in the first half as Ohatchee opened a 45-23 halftime lead. Vice scored all 14 of her points in the first half. Crook had 17, with 11 coming in the third quarter.
Macey Roper led PV with 22 points. Rylee Haynes had 16.
Ohatchee 81, Pleasant Valley 56
PLEASANT VALLEY – Lily Henry 1 1-3 4, Sadie Naugher 1 0-0 2, Rylee Haynes 7 2-2 16, Marlie Wright 1 1-2 4, Kianna Hester 1 0-0 3, Gracie Hood 1 0-0 3, Macey Roper 5 12-19 22, Anna Worthy 1 0-1 2, Erin Rose 0 0-4 0. Totals 18 16-32 56.
OHATCHEE – Gracyn Snow 1 0-0 2, Lyda Elders 2 0-0 5, Rachel Dunaway 3 1-2 7, Tori Vice 6 2-2 14, Whitney McFry 0 0-2 0, Morgan Foushee 0 1-2 1, Gracie George 3 0-0 6, Millie Rainwater 7 1-2 20, Jorda Crook 6 5-5 17, Laci Teem 0 0-0 0, Alyssa Davis 3 3-4 9. Totals 31 13-19 81.
Pleasant Valley 11 12 18 15 – 56
Ohatchee 26 19 23 13 – 81
3-point goals: Pleasant Valley 4 (Henry, Wright, Hester, Hood); Ohatchee 6 (Elders, Rainwater 5). Fouled out: Haynes, Foushee. Total fouls: Pleasant Valley 16, Ohatchee 22. Officials: Jarrett, Pratt, Hall.
Lady Golden Eagles make late charge
Amiyah Buchanan scored on a put back with 2:05 to play to give Jacksonville the lead for good and Kayla Broom sank three free throws in the final 30 seconds to help the Lady Golden Eagles rally past Alexandria 49-44.
Jacksonville trailed by seven with 6:45 to play before putting its winning rally in motion. Rebekah Gannaway’s 3-pointer with 4:38 left snapped a 39-39 tie. Alexandria’s Ashley Phillips hit two game-tying baskets, but Buchanan answered each one to keep her team ahead.
“I knew that we were down and we needed something to get our energy back up and the flow of the game to go better,” Gannaway said. “So I knew right when they passed it to me and they were closing out I was like go shoot it, shoot it.
“I’m really proud of my teammates for kicking the energy up as well. I think if we would have gotten down ourselves it would have been a totally different story.”
Jacksonville rallied from a similar deficit early in the game to get back in it. Alexandria led 16-9 before Jacksonville hit a series of 3s to briefly regain the lead before Phillips hit a 3 to put the Lady Cubs up 28-26 at halftime. Phillips hit three of her four 3-pointers in a 17-point first half and led all scorers with 26 points.
Jacksonville, meanwhile, spread the wealth. Broom was the Lady Golden Eagles’ leading scorer with 11 points, but Gannaway had 10, Ashley Grant nine and Buchanan seven. Broom and Buchanan were huge on the boards for Jacksonville, pulling down 10 and 12 rebounds, respectively. Broom also had eight assists and four steals.
“Recently it’s been kind of Broom and (Amarie) Curry who have carried us point-wise and tonight I thought we spread it around,” Jacksonville coach Tres Buzan said. “Buchanan, she’s not always scored like that, but she had a really good game and she got some more minutes.
“Gannaway did an awesome job knocking down some shots and I think Maggie (Anderson) and Ashley (Grant) had one in there apiece. We’ve got to score like that. We’ve got to score as a team. We can’t have one individual scoring all the points. We’re much better when we’re all scoring.”
Jacksonville 49, Alexandria 44
JACKSONVILLE – Kayla Broom 2-8 7-9 11, Rebekah Gannaway 4-9 0-1 10, Ashley Grant 3-7 0-0 9, Amiyah Buchanan 3-6 1-2 7, Maggie Anderson 2-6 0-0 5, Amarie Curry 2-11 1-2 5, Patience Carr 1-7 0-0 2. Totals 17-54 9-14 49.
ALEXANDRIA – Ashley Phillips 11-24 0-2 26, Jordyn Walker 4-7 1-2 9, Sarah Pelham 2-10 0-0 5, Tyshica Woodgett 2-3 0-0 4, Jill Cockrell 0-4 0-0 0, Christian Hess 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-48 1-4 44.
Jacksonville 13 13 6 17 – 49
Alexandria 18 10 6 10 – 44
3-point goals: Jacksonville 6-24 (Broom 0-4, Gannaway 2-5, Grant 3-6, Anderson 1-5, Curry 0-2, Carr 0-2); Alexandria 5-24 (Phillips 4-12, Pelham 1-8, Cockrell 0-4). Rebounds: Jacksonville 42 (Broom 10, Buchanan 12); Alexandria 33 (Woodgett 8, Cockrell 7). Total fouls: Jacksonville 11, Alexandria 11. Officials: Robinson, Richardson, Harrell.
DONOHO 61, JCA 58: Donoho coach Korielle Beavers challenged the players who weren’t the team’s usual scorers to get more involved and Janie Sills answered the call. Sills scored 12 points, eight in the first quarter, to give the Lady Falcons just the boost they needed.
“Coach Korielle has been on the team since our loss against Weaver in the County (Tournament) about players who weren’t the top scorers stepping up,” Sills said. “I really felt like I needed to start getting my shots in and being confident with my dribbling down the court.
“This was one of our big area games that we needed to win to secure a 2-seed in the area tournament. With two of our best players out with fouls, I felt like I had to put my absolute all into the game and the results came.”
Sills’ spark helped the Lady Falcons grab a 22-15 first-quarter lead, a margin they maintained to halftime. JCA got back in the game by tightening its defense in the third quarter that led to transition baskets, but the Lady Falcons beat back the press in the fourth quarter to survive.
Rebekah Carter scored 11 of her game-high 27 points in the third quarter points to spark the JCA comeback. The Lady Falcons turned the tables in the fourth quarter, though, with Victoria O’Neill scoring seven of her team-high 23 points in the quarter and Julie Cleckler pitching in five of her 11.
Carter also grabbed nine rebounds for JCA. Kara Grace had 10 points and 17 rebounds, while Mia Morales had 12 points and seven boards.
Donoho 61, Jacksonville Christian 58
DONOHO – Victoria O’Neill 7 7-9 23, Anastasia O’Neill 3 0-0 9, Janie Sills 5 2-3 12, Anna Grace Jones 2 0-0 4, Julie Cleckler 5 1-9 11, Amelia Baker 1 0-0 2, Cailin Campbell 0 0-0 0. Totals 23 10-21 61.
JACKSONVILLE CHRISTIAN (5-11) – Rebekah Carter 10 3-6 27, Kara Grace 4 2-2 10, Kirsten Walker 0 0-0 0, Mia Morales 4 2-2 12, Karli Barnwell 3 0-2 8, Abbie Stovall 0 0-1 0, Hannah Clayton 0 1-2 1. Totals 21 8-15 58.
Donoho 22 12 8 19 – 61
JCA 15 12 23 8 – 58
3-point goals: Donoho 5 (V. O’Neill 2, A. O’Neill 3); JCA 8 (Carter 4, Morales 2, Barnwell 2). Fouled out: V. O’Neill, Morales. Totala fouls: Donoho 16, JCA 19. Officials: Howell, Nelms, Wood.
SPRINGVILLE 55, OXFORD 43: The Lady Jackets were back on the floor in an area game less than 48 hours after playing in the Calhoun County Tournament championship game and the turnaround proved too quick. The Lady Jackets trailed by three at halftime, then were outscored 13-6 in the third quarter. Springville’s Farrah Hawkins led all scorers with 16 points.
Lauren Ellard led Oxford with 13, including three 3-pointers.|
Springville 53, Oxford 43
OXFORD – Justice Woods 0 0-4 0, Xai Whitfield 2 0-2 5, Lauren Ellard 5 0-0 13, LaMya McGrue 3 1-2 7, Kaleah Taylor 2 2-7 6, Emma McCullough 1 0-0 3, Lisa Montgomery 2 5-6 9, Jamea Gaston 0 0-0 0, Mikiya Wilson 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 8-21 43.
SPRINGVILLE – Makalyn Kyser 3 0-4 6, Abbie Talton 1 4-4 7, Tatum Bartlett 3 2-2 8, Bennett Patterson 2 1-2 6, Farrah Hawkins 7 1-5 16, Ava Vaughn 1 0-0 2, Isabella Bullington 4 0-0 8. Totals 21 8-17 53
Oxford 14 7 6 16 – 43
Springville 16 8 13 16 – 53
3-point goals: Oxford 5 (Whitfield, Ellard 3, McCullough); Springville 3 (Talton, Patterson, Hawkins). Fouled out: Ellard, Bartlett. Total fouls: Oxford 16, Springville 19. Officials: Brooks, Jackson, Claybrook.
COOSA CHRISTIAN 61, FAITH CHRISTIAN 46: Bella Millirons scored 22 points, Erin Snow had 11 and Chloe Davidson had 10 for the Lady Conqurerors. Millirons scored 14 in the second half. Ari Arevalo had eight of her team team-high 10 points in the second half. Joelle Tillery had both of her 3-pointer in the third quarter.
Coosa Christian 61, Faith Christian 46
COOSA CHRISTAN – Bella Millirons 10 2-3 22, Chloe Davidson 4 1-2 10, Caitlyn Cates 3 0-0 8, Erin Snow 5 1-2 11, Katie Ellen Davis 1 0-0 2, Cayden Jones 0 0-0 0, Emma Justus 0 0-0 0, Kailah East 0 2-2 2, Gemma Littlejohn 2 2-6 6, Macy Martin 0 0-0 0. Totals 25 8-15 61.
FAITH CHRISTIAN – Ona Marple 2 0-0 4, Ariana Arevalo 5 0-2 10, Anna Strautman 2 0-0 6, Serenity Pate 1 1-2 3, Alligrace Emerson 3 1-2 7, Joelle Tillery 2 0-0 6, Erin McVeigh 1 0-0 2, BabaT Aremu 4 0-2 8. Totals 20 2-8 46.
Coosa Christian 11 14 17 19 – 61
Faith Christian 6 12 13 15 – 46
3-point goals: Coosa 3 (Davidson, Cates 2); Faith 4 (Strautman 2, Tillery 2). Total fouls: Coosa 10, Faith 15. Officials: Jackson, Ware, Gamble.
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