Another milestone Monday
- Updated: February 1, 2021
Boys roundup: Oxford’s Van Meter scores his 200th career coaching victory, Odam becomes Piedmont boys all-time leading scorer, and more
Monday’s boys scores
Alexandria 75, St. Clair County 47
Donoho 66, Gaylesville 30
Handley 77, Lafayette 52
Munford 72, Pleasant Valley 59
Oxford 66, Ramsay 58
Piedmont 72, Glencoe 29
Saks 66, Sardis 36
Spring Garden 71, Cleburne County 41
Weaver 77, Ohatchee 67
Westbrook Christian 67, Faith Christian 39
Winterboro 53, Wadley 38
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
PIEDMONT – Sophomore Alex Odam became the all-time leading scorer in Piedmont boys basketball history Monday night when he went for 17 points in the Bulldogs’ 72-39 rout of Glencoe.
Odam, who has been playing on the varsity since the seventh grade, needed 17 points – his career scoring average – to pass Danny Bryan on the Bulldogs’ boys all-time scoring list, and he hit it right on the number.
The scored the milestone points on a layup off a sideline inbounds pass in the third quarter. He did not play in the fourth.
He now has 1,687 points in 99 career games (No. 100 will be Tuesday at Cherokee County). Bryan amassed his career total in 78 games from 1964 to 1967.
“It was fun, pretty special,” Odam said of achieving the milestone. “I’m glad I got to do it with this group of guys and my dad being the coach. It was pretty special.
“It’s kind of hard to wrap my head around right now, I guess. Maybe when I get older I’ll understand it more and all the great players who played here and stuff. I do understand it’s pretty special. I’m just blessed to be able to accomplish it.”
He was 8-of-11 from the floor shooting with three assists and three steals. He took only one 3-point attempt.
The next target on the list is the school’s all-time leading scorer boys or girls. That spot is currently occupied by Terrace Ridley, Piedmont’s current girls coach, who scored 2,064 points for the girls team as Terrace Spears from 1985 to 1989. Odam passed Ridley’s brother-in-law, Randall Ridley, to become the No. 2 on the boys list.
Odam wasn’t the only Bulldog to have a big night against the Yellow Jackets. Omarion Foster scored a career-20, with 16 coming in the first half. He also had seven rebounds, three assists and three steals.
“He played good,” Odam said. “He really got us going in the first half. It’s the best I’ve seen him play in a while. He does everything. He’s fun to play with.”
Sean Smith and Luke Bussey each added 10 points for the Bulldogs. Bussey also had six rebounds, four assists and six steals.
Piedmont 72, Glencoe 29
GLENCOE – Levi Long 1 0-0 2, Braylen Smith 2 0-0 5, Nolan Fairley 0 1-4 1, Cameron Atchley 1 0-0 2, Garrett Gaskin 1 1-1 3, Aiden Cornutt 1 0-0 3, Kade Kueny 0 0-0 0, Jacob Perry 0 0-0 0, Reid Drenner 1 0-0 3, Andrew Greene 4 0-0 8. Totals 12 2-5 29.
PIEDMONT – Alex Odam 8 1-1 17, Omarion Foster 10 0-0 20, Luke Bussey 3 2-2 10, Jadon Calhoun 2 0-0 4, Jack Hayes 0 1-2 1, Coleman Reid 4 0-0 8, Cassius Fairs 0 0-0 0, Jakari Foster 1 0-0 2, Sean Smith 4 2-2 10. Totals 32 6-7 72.
Glencoe 6 6 10 7 – 29
Piedmont 16 24 18 14 – 72
3-point goals: Glencoe 3 (Smith, Cornutt, Drenner); Piedmont 2 (Bussey 2). Total fouls: Glencoe 11, Piedmont 9. Officials: Pratt, Lee, Hyde.
Van Meter gets 200th win
BIRMINGHAM – Oxford’s Joel Van Meter got his 200th career coaching victory Monday night and the milestone kind of caught him off guard.
He didn’t know until they said something on the bench after the Yellow Jackets turned back 5A No. 1 Ramsay 66-58 for their 20th straight victory of the season.
“I’ll be honest with you, I didn’t even know,” said Van Meter, in his 11th season with the Jackets. “Coach D (athletics director Larry Davidson) got our guys together on the bench after the game. I didn’t know what he was talking about.
“It’s just an example of I’ve had great players, I’ve had and have great assistant coaches, our administration’s been tremendous, my family’s been tremendously supportive of me, I’m in a great spot. I love the place that I’m at and, more than anything, I couldn’t do what I do if it weren’t for all the people who played for our guys and the people who coached before I coached here and built our program and the tradition that’s there into what it is.
“I’m just a guy who stands over on the sidelines. I’ve never made a jump shot for Oxford High School. I’ve never made an assist. I’ve never got a rebound. I’m just a small part of it.”
The more he thought about it, it might have been the first No. 1-ranked team he has beaten among the 200 victories. And it came on the road.
They did it with their Big Three – Rylan Houck, Justin Moore and Roc Taylor – all going for double-doubles. Moore led the way with 26 points and 10 rebounds. Houck had 16 points and 12 rebounds. Taylor had 13 points and 10 rebounds.
And the role players were, Van Meter said, “tremendous” handling the pressure. The Jackets (24-2) led by three at halftime and led by double digits in the second half.
“Our leadership and our toughness kind of stood through,” Van Meter said. “I talked about this a lot in the County Tournament with our players: You get to the County Tournament part of the year and forward, you win those games by defending and rebounding, and our guys completely and utterly 100 percent from top to bottom are bought into that.
“You don’t go on the road and beat a team like Ramsay at their place by outscoring them; that’s not going to happen. You’re going to have to defend and rebound every possession and they’re still going to make good plays against you and then you’re going to have to turn around and counter what they do. I thought our leadership was tremendous.”
Oxford 66, Ramsay 58
OXFORD (24-2) – Cordell Chatman 1 0-1 2, Rylan Houck 7 1-1 16, Peyton Watts 0 0-0 0, Mike McGraw 3 0-0 7, Roc Taylor 6 1-2 13, Bakari Dailey 1 0-0 2, Justin Moore 11 4-5 26, Kyler Wright 0 0-0 0. Totals 29 6-9 66.
RAMSAY – Preston Davis 0 0-0 0, Calvin Burns 2 0-0 4, Keshawn Murphy 4 0-0 8, Kerrigton Kiel 6 2-2 14, Kamren Ivory 0 0-0 0, Skylar Lykes 0 0-0 0, Cameron White 1 0-0 3, Brandon Nixon 5 0-0 13, Montez Duson 2 1-5 6, Jalen Jones 5 0-0 10. Totals 25 3-7 58.
Oxford 16 15 17 18 – 66
Ramsay 13 15 10 20 – 58
3-point goals: Oxford 2 (Houck, McGraw); Ramsay 5 (White, Nixon 3, Duson). Total fouls: Oxford 10, Ramsay 11. Officials: Horn, Williams, Brooks.
SPRING GARDEN 71, CLEBURNE COUNTY 41: Senior guard Ryley Kirk connected on five 3-pointers and finished with 21 points to lead Class 2A No. 8 Spring Garden. Four of Kirk’s treys came in the third quarter. He also had three rebounds, three steals, two steals and a blocked shot for the Panthers (17-7).
“He’s been stressing over missing shots,” Spring Garden coach Ricky Austinsaid. “I told him the other night, ‘You keep working. You keep shooting. I’ll worry about the misses.’
“He was in the gym at 8:30 Saturday morning, 8:30 Sunday morning, not to mention the other things we did. He does all that stuff, and that’s not just within the past week. He’s done that his whole career. He got a little hot tonight, and I’m glad to see him dothat.”
While Kirk had the hot hand in the third quarter, sophomoreforward Cam Welsh helped Spring Garden get off to a good start in thefirst. Welsh scored six of his 10 points in the opening quarter, which Spring Garden led 24-14. By halftime, the Panthers pulled ahead 44-22. Behind Kirk’s 12-point thirdquarter, Spring Garden built a 64-36 edge.
Cooper Austin and Weston Kirk both contributed 12 points for the Panthers.Weston Kirk also had five boards, five assists, a steal and a blocked shot.Rico Jordan and Kyle Downey both had nine points to lead Cleburne County. – Shannon Fagan, WEIS Radio
Spring Garden 71, Cleburne County 41
CLEBURNE COUNTY – Rico Jordan 3 1-2 9, Ben Casey 3 0-0 7, Brody Higgins 0 0-0 0, Kyle Downey 3 0-0 9, Manney Rollins 0 0-0 0, Hudson Miller 0 0-0 0, Seth Brown 2 3-4 8, Brayden Moore 0 0-0 0, Dee Prothro 3 0-0 6, J.T. Cosby 1 0-0 2. Totals 15 4-6 41.
SPRING GARDEN (17-7) – Weston Kirk 4 2-2 12, Cooper Austin 4 2-2 12, Andrew Floyd 2 0-0 5, Ryley Kirk 7 2-2 21, Luke Welsh 2 2-2 7, Chaz Pope 2 0-0 4, Cam Welsh 4 2-2 10. Totals 25 10-10 71.
Cleburne County 14 8 14 5 – 41
Spring Garden 24 20 20 7 – 71
3-point goals: Cleburne County 7 (Jordan 2, Casey, Downey 3, Brown); Spring Garden 11 (W. Kirk 2, Austin 2, Floyd, R. Kirk 5, L. Welsh). Total fouls: Cleburne County 13, Spring Garden 10.
ALEXANDRIA 75, ST. CLAIR COUNTY 47: The Valley Cubs put the finishing touches on the No. 1 seed and closed out their area season with a big win. Landan Williams scored 18 of his 22 points in the first half as the Cubs opened a 38-26 halftime lead. Julian Wright had 16 and D’Anthony Walton had 15 for Alexandria.
Alexandria 75, St. Clair County 47
ST. CLAIR COUNTY – Gatlin Daniel 2 0-2 5, Cameron Pope 1 0-0 2, Jonte Ware 0 0-0 0, Steven Black 2 0-0 5, Ian Newland 5 0-0 11, D.J. Miller 1 0-0 2, Jackson Lindsey 5 0-0 14, Bayler Farmer 0 0-0 0, Stephenson 1 0-1 2, Jacoby Blanks 1 0-2 2, Luke Fondren 1 0-0 2, Jayden Farmer 1 0-1 2. Totals 20 0-6 47.
ALEXANDRIA – Javais McGhee 3 1-2 7, D’Anthony Walton 6 2-3 15, Collin Taylor 2 3-4 7, Kory Cargal 2 2-3 6, Julian Wright 8 0-2 16, Seth Johnson 0 2-2 2, Landan Williams 10 2-3 22. Totals 31 12-18 75.
St. Clair Co. 12 14 15 6 – 47
Alexandria 17 21 24 13 – 75
3-point goals: St. Clair Co. 6 (Lindsey 4, Newland, Daniel); Alexandria 1 (Walton). Total fouls: St. Clair Co. 21, Alexandria 11. Officials: Brown, Dupree, Roberts.
MUNFORD 72, PLEASANT VALLEY 69: The Lions moved closer to a winning season and matching their most wins in a season since 2012-13 with this road victory. The Lions are 12-10. The 2012-13 team had 13 wins. They’ll need to win one of their two remaining regular-season games to guarantee a winning season.
The Lions placed three scorers in double figures, led by Jay Tuck’s 19 points. Tuck had 14 points in the first half as the Lions opened a 35-22 halftime lead. The Raiders, playing their 14th game in 27 days, played them basically even in the second half.
Munford 72, Pleasant Valley 59
MUNFORD – Jaquan Anderson 5 2-2 13, Dwight Moore 5 2-4 14, Rashard Russell 3 3-4 9, Jay Tuck 8 2-4 19, Ron Ervin 1 2-2 5, Caderio Holland 1 2-3 4, Conner Morgan 2 3-5 8. Totals 25 16-24 72.
PLEASANT VALLEY – Michael Glass 3 0-0 7, Garrett Cranmer 6 1-1 13, Josh Ballew 7 4-5 19, Oliver Young 0 0-0 0, Kolby Battles 0 0-1 0, Zeke Johnson 1 0-0 3, Parris 1 0-0 2, Justin Winningham 6 3-4 15. Totals 24 8-11 59.
Munford 18 17 13 24 – 72
Pleasant Valley 12 10 13 22 – 59
3-point goals: Munford 6 (Anderson, Ervin, Tuck 3, Morgan); Pleasant Valley 3 (Glass, Ballew, Johnson). Total fouls: Munford 14,
Pleasant Valley 16.
WESTBROOK CHRISTIAN 67, FAITH CHRISTIAN 39: Grayson Wright scored nine of his 13 points in the first half as the Warriors opened a 32-16 lead on the Lions. Cade Phillips scored nine of his 14 in the third quarter when Westbrook pulled away. Thomas Curlee led Faith with 12 points and seven rebounds.
Westbrook Christian 67, Faith Christian 39
WESTBOOK CHRISTIAN – Luke Jones 0 0-0 0, Caiden Wyatt 1 0-0 2, Evans 3 0-0 6, Jackson Bowman 1 0-0 3, Bryce Wood 2 1-2 5, Cooper Long 3 0-0 6, Brodie Self 4 2-6 10, Cade Phillips 6 2-9 14, Will Phillips 0 0-0 0, Grayson Wright 6 1-2 13, Christian Morris 3 0-0 6, Carl Henry 1 0-0 2. Totals 30 6-19 67.
FAITH CHRISTIAN – Nic Goodgame 4 4-4 12, Jacque Prater 1 1-4 3, Thomas Curlee 5 2-6 12, Ethan Richerzhagen 2 0-0 5, Yoshua Arevalo 0 1-2 1, Andrew Folsom 1 0-0 2, Seth Abston 2 0-0 4. Totals 15 8-16 39.
Westbrook 16 16 19 16 – 67
Faith 8 8 9 14 – 39
3-point goals: Westbrook 1 (Jackson); Faith 1 (Richerzhagen). Total Fouls: Westbrook 15, Faith 13. Officials: Morriss, Askew, Avery.
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