Making their way
- Updated: February 5, 2021
Boys roundup: Saks uses big fourth quarter to get past Piedmont, PV hits 12 3s in win, JCA wins close one, Ragland pulls away from Ohatchee
Thursday’s boys games
Anniston 99, Talladega 88
Cherokee County 60, Southside 52
Clay Central 70, Randolph County 37
Handley 90, Spring Garden 75
Jacksonville Christian 66, Ranburne 64
Lincoln 70, Munford 60
Oxford 75, Scottsboro 58
Pleasant Valley 71, West End 68
Ragland 74, Ohatchee 56
Saks 56, Piedmont 53
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
In any other year, the Saks basketball team would just about be hitting another gear after 11 games. And it would be sometime around the holidays.
Of course, this isn’t any other year.
The current state of coach Jonathan Miller’s Wildcats is that of a December team playing in February. That is, a team that has played a limited number of games still in search of its identity with the season heading into its final stages.
It’s really not their fault, though. Complications from the COVID-19 pandemic has limited their opportunity for growth, strapping them with quarantines and cancelations that have left them to play only 11 games with the area tournament right around the corner.
They’d normally have that many in by the new year regardless how far the football team goes in the playoffs.
The Wildcats did make a positive move Thursday night, erupting for a big fourth quarter to rally past potential sub-regional opponent Piedmont 56-53.
“We’ve been close or had situations to where we’ve played good teams tight, but this is the first time we’ve got over the hump, and it was good to see it happen in the fourth,” Miller said. “I think it helps our confidence. We didn’t exactly play great down the stretch tonight, but just to win one, it helps our confidence.”
After three frustrating quarters, the Wildcats (7-4) turned up the defensive intensity in the fourth and finally got some shots to fall. Patrick Williams and Conor Martin both hit a pair of 3-pointers and C.J. Grisham toss in six points as Saks erased a seven-point deficit by outscoring the Bulldogs 26-15.
Gresham was the only Saks player to score in double figures. He had 13, but Williams and Martin each had nine, and Sean Parnell and Jacob Wills each had eight.
“We hit some shots (in the fourth quarter),” Miller said. “For a lot of the night the lid was on the basket pretty tightly. It was just a game that neither team could really get going and execute probably like they hoped they would.
“The 3s in the fourth gave us a little bit of juice. Once the ball goes in, it improves everyone on the floor’s confidence. And we just rolling. A couple steals, hit a couple 3s and then the thing just snowballed.”
Piedmont’s Alex Odam led all scorers with 33 points. He was 14-of-20 from the field. Omarion Foster had eight points, seven rebounds, four assists and three steals. Sean Smith was scoreless, but had five rebounds, four assists and four steals.
Saks 56, Piedmont 53
PIEDMONT (14-7) – Alex Odam 14 2-4 33, Omarion Foster 4 0-3 8, Luke Bussey 3 2-2 9, Jack Hayes 0 0-0 0, Jadon Calhoun 0 0-0 0, Coleman Reid 0 1-2 1, Jakari Foster 1 0-0 2, Sean Smith 0 0-0 0. Totals 22 5-11 53.
SAKS (7-4) – Patrick Williams 3 0-0 9, Will Mixson 3 0-0 6, Shon Elston 1 0-0 3, Sean Parnell 3 1-3 8, Jalen McCants 0 0-1 0, Conor Martin 2 3-4 9, Kelvin Bolding 0 0-0 0, C.J. Gresham 6 1-6 13, Jacob Wills 3 1-2 8. Totals 21 6-16 56.
Piedmont 12 11 15 15 – 53
Saks 12 6 12 26 – 56
Bussey. Total fouls: Piedmont 15, Saks 17.
Pleasant Valley 71, West End 68
WALNUT GROVE – First-year varsity player Zeke Johnson hit five 3-pointers on the way to a 19-point night, Oliver Young hit the last of Pleasant Valley’s 12 treys with 30 seconds left to break a 68-all tie and the Raiders held on.
Johnson was one of four PV scorers in double figures. Josh Ballew hit four 3-pointers and had 16 points, Justin Winningham had 15 and Pelham Parris had 11.
“He’s stepping up as a good defender and great shooter under pressure,” Raiders coach Brad Hood said of Johnson.
After Young’s tie-breaking 3, the Raiders got a defensive stop and Young was fouled with five seconds left. He missed the front end of his one-and-one, but all the Patriots could muster was a desperation shot at the finish.
Pleasant Valley 71, West End 68
PLEASANT VALLEY – Garrett Cranmer 2 2-2 7, Josh Ballew 6 0-0 16, Oliver Young 1 0-1 3, Kolby Battles 0 0-0 0, Zeke Johnson 7 0-0 19, Pelham Parris 5 0-0 11, Justin Winningham 6 3-5 15. Totals 27 5-8 71.
WEST END – Marty Wooten 2 2-4 6, Brady Jenkins 1 0-0 2, Thad Pearce 7 3-6 19, Eli Pearce 1 0-0 2, Eli Golden 1 0-0 3, Isaiah Roberson 6 2-2 14, Daniel Hawkins 3 1-2 7, Hunter Tucker 0 0-0 0, Trevor Willett 1 0-0 2, Gavin Knue 4 0-0 11, Team 1 0-0 2. Totals 27 8-14 68.
Pleasant Valley 12 20 22 17 – 71
West End 19 17 19 13 – 68
3-point goals: Pleasant Valley 12 (Cranmer, Ballew 4, Young, Johnson 5, Parris); West End 6 (T. Pearce 2, Golden, Knue 3). Total fouls: Pleasant Valley 12, West End 11. Officials: Graves, Rookie, Whitmire.
Ragland 74, Ohatchee 56
OHATCHEE – Kentrell Turner scored 11 points and Matthew Trammell had nine to fuel a 27-point third-quarter outburst that stretched the Purple Devils’ halftime lead.
Four of Ragland’s five starters scored in double figures. Trammell hit six 3-pointers – four in the second half – and finished with 21 points. Turner had 19, Lawler 12 and Phillips 10.
Trey Pesnell led Ohatchee with 21 points. He had 12 in the first half. Justin Powell scored nine of his 11 in the second half.
Ragland 74, Ohatchee 56
RAGLAND – C.J. Lawler 5 0-0 12, Matt Trammell 7 1-2 21, Jordan Turner 1 2-2 5, Josh Phillips 3 4-6 10, Kentrell Turner 9 0-0 19, Owen Schall 2 0-0 5, Jakolbe Brewster 1 0-2 2. Totals 28 7-12 74.
OHATCHEE – Noah Fuller 1 0-0 2, Jacob Buckelew 3 0-0 7, Trey Pesnell 9 2-7 21, Justin Powell 4 2-2 11, Konnor Baswell 0 1-3 1, Aiden Simpson 1 0-0 2, David Reed 0 4-4 4, Kelbe Crook 3 2-4 8. Totals 21 11-20 56.
Ragland 14 17 27 16 – 74
Ohatchee 11 12 19 14 – 56
3-point goals: Ragland 11 (Lawler 2, Trammell 6, J. Turner, K. Turner, Schall); Ohatchee 3 (Buckelew, Pesnell, Powell). Technical fouls: J. Turner. Fouled out: Trammell. Total fouls: Ragland 16, Ohatchee 11. Officials: Kelley, Jarrett, Dickerson.
JCA 66, Ranburne 64
JACKSONVILLE – Sophomore Ethan Fair came off the bench to score a season-high 17 points and grab eight rebounds and the Thunder held its breath as the Bulldogs missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer.
Landon Wills (16), Tavian Alexander (12) and Tanner Wilson (11) also scored in double figures for JCA (16-6). Drake Shew had seven points, nine rebounds and four steals.
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