Special night
- Updated: January 29, 2021
Girls roundup: Injured Houston draws start on Cleburne County’s Senior Night and turns it into a night to remember
Friday’s girls scores
Cherokee County 57, Fort Payne 51
Cleburne County 77, Donoho 30
Ohatchee 62, Munford 12
Ranburne 59, White Plains 42
Southside 55, Glencoe 34
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
HEFLIN – Kendall Houston knew she was going to take part in Cleburne County’s Senior Night, but what happened once she got in the game made a memory for a lifetime.
The Lady Tigers’ senior guard was expected to miss the entire basketball season after tearing the ACL in her right knee in the final regular-season match of the volleyball season. She wasn’t expected to be cleared until March, but coach Todd Gable told her he’d give her the honor of starting against Donoho on Senior Night.
The plan was to put her on the wing at the far end of the floor and then call time once the Lady Tigers got the ball to get her out of the game as safely as possible. She didn’t even warm up. Not even her father knew she was going to start.
You know what they say about best laid plans.
Donoho started the game at midcourt and scored on the opening possession. The Lady Tigers brought it back down and Micah Pentecost zipped a pass to Houston who fired up a 3 and hit nothing but net. Cleburne County went on to win 77-30.
“The place went nuts,” Gable said. “There wasn’t a dry eye in the house.”
“Tonight will definitely be a night I will never forget,” Houston said. “Coach Gable letting me start on the court one last time meant the entire world to me. It has been heartbreaking not being able to play with my team this season, but hitting that 3 tonight definitely made up for all the missed games. It will forever be something I hold onto.”
Don’t think the players on the floor pulled a fast one of their coach after his classy gesture.
“We talked about if we got a rebound or a steal to throw it down there and see what she can do, but I didn’t think we would get the chance or he actually score a 3 with a defender closing out on her,” Gable said. “I turned to the bench (after the bucket) and said ‘just like we drew it up.’”
The Lady Tigers carried the emotion of Houston’s 3-ball all the way through the game.
Brooklyn McDaniel led four Cleburne County scorers in double figures with 18 points; she was 8-for-8 from the floor. Haven Freeman had 15 points (on 6-of-8 shooting), Haley Price had 14 and Faith Brown had 13. The Lady Tigers shot 31-for-50 from the floor as a team, 5-for-9 from 3-point range.
Anna Grace Jones led Donoho with 16 points. She had eight points in each half and three 3-pointers.
Cleburne County 77, Donoho 30
DONOHO – Victoria O’Neill 1 2-2 5, Anastasia O’Neill 1 2-3 5, Janie Sills 0 2-4 2, Anna Grace Jones 6 1-2 16, Amelia Baker 0 0-1 0, Cailin Campbell 1 0-0 2. Totals 9 7-12 30.
CLEBURNE COUNTY – Brooklyn McDaniel 8-8 1-2 18, Haven Freeman 6-8 3-4 15, Hailey Price 6-10 1-1 14, Faith Brown 4-4 4-4 13, Olivia McDaniel 2-2 0-2 4, Makenzie Frames 1-6 0-0 3, Kendall Houston 1-1 0-0 3, Kaydence Wright 1-4 0-0 2, Julia Wilkerson 1-2 0-0 2, Libby Altman 1-3 0-0 2, Annie Brown 0-2 1-2 1, Micah Pentecost 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 31-50 10-15 77.
Donoho 7 6 8 9 – 30
Cleburne County 26 18 16 17 – 77
3-point goals: Donoho 5 (V. O’Neill, A. O’Neill, Jones 3); Cleburne County 5-9 (B. McDaniel 1-1, Price 1-2, Brown 1-1, Frames 1-3, Houston 1-1, Altman 0-1). Total fouls: Donoho 10, Cleburne County 15. Officials: Pratt, Jarrett, McCareeth.
RANBURNE 59, WHITE PLAINS 42: Things couldn’t have gone better for White Plains in the first half, but it was completely different story in the second half.
The Lady Wildcats hit shots in the first half and built a five-point halftime lead, but Ranburne found something during the break and held its hosts to 13 points the rest of the game.
Angel Bozarth hit all three of her 3-pointers in the first half, while Lily Ponder scored nine points and Camden Wilson eight as the Lady Wildcats opened a 29-24 halftime lead.
Briley Merrill and Abigail Howle each scored 11 in the second half to fuel the Lady Bulldogs’ comeback. Merrrill finished with 18 points and Howle with 15.
White Plains took 29 shots in the first half, but was just 3-of-18 from the floor in the second.
Ranburne 59, White Plains 42
RANBURNE –Briley Merrill 6 4-5 18, Julianna Merrill 3 2-4 9, Abigail Howle 5 3-4 15, Natalie Merrill 4 0-0 11, Auburn Rollins 3 0-0 6, Crimson Rollins 0 0-1 0, Brylee Bailey 0 0-0 0. Totals 21 9-14 59.
WHITE PLAINS –Callyn Martin 0 1-2 1, Cheyenne Cochran 0 0-1 0, Hallie Williams 0 0-0 0, Camden Wilson 4 0-1 8, Lily Ponder 4 1-2 11, Adriana Sotelo 0 0-0 0, Angel Bozarth 3 3-6 12, Kaylee Johnson 3 3-4 10. Totals 14 8-16 42.
Ranburne 10 14 21 14 – 59
White Plains 10 19 4 9 – 42
3-point goals: Ranburne 8 (B. Merrill 2, J. Merrill, Howle 2, N. Merrrill 3); White Plains 6 (Ponder 2, Bozarth 3, Johnson). Total fouls: Ranburne 15, White Plains 13.
OHATCHEE 62, MUNFORD 12: Tori Vice and Jorda Crook scored 15 points apiece as the Lady Indians celebrated a big night on Senior Night. Crook had eight in the first quarter as the Lady Indians jumped out to a 21-2 lead. Vice had 11 in the second half. Alyssa Davis added 10 points to the cause, with six coming in the second quarter.
Ohatchee 62, Munford 12
MUNFORD – Layla Tyus 1 3-6 5, Ryleigh Keith 3 0-0 7, Kelsey Goodson 0 0-0 0, Mekiah Mosely 0 0-0 0, Matilda Geffen 0 0-0 0, Kaylyn Turner 0 0-0 0. Totals 4 3-6 12.
OHATCHEE – Gracyn Snow 0 0-0 0, Lyda Elders 0 0-0 0, Rachel Dunaway 1 0-0 3, Tori Vice 4 5-6 15, Whitney McFry 0 1-2 1, Morgan Foushee 1 2-2 4, Mia Waters 4 0-2 8, Gracie George 1 0-0 2, Millie Rainwater 2 0-2 4, Jordan Crook 7 1-2 15, Laci Teem 0 0-0 0, Alyssa Davis 5 0-2 10. Totals 25 9-18 62.
Munford 2 1 7 2 – 12
Ohatchee 21 14 18 9 – 62
3-point goals: Munford 1 (Keith); Ohatchee 3 (Dunaway, Vice 2). Total fouls: Munford 12, Ohatchee 6.
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