Ellard saves the day
- Updated: February 8, 2021
Girls roundup: Ellard’s 3-pointer lifts Oxford to victory; includes scores from girls area tournaments from in and around Calhoun County
MONDAY’S GIRLS SCORES
1A-10: Faith Christian 44, Jacksonville Christian 41
2A-7: Horseshoe Bend 48, Randolph County 18
3A-11: Ohatchee 70, Pleasant Valley 65
3A-11: Piedmont 53, Weaver 36
3A-12: Collinsville 69, Glencoe 47
3A-12: Hokes Bluff 53, Geraldine 41
4A-9: Cleburne County 68, Munford 19
5A-11: Alexandria 47, Moody 37
5A-11: Lincoln 52, St. Clair County 46
6A-13: Oxford 36, Southside 33
6A-13: Pell City 52, Springville 42
By Brant Locklier
For East Alabama Sports Today
OXFORD – Lauren Ellard calmly knocked down a 3-pointer with seven seconds left to give Oxford a 36-33 victory over a Southside team that came to play an elimination game in the Class 6A Area 13 girls tournament Monday night.
The Yellow Jackets (22-8) had to fight for their lives against a team they had beaten twice this year, but the third time was their toughest. The game sets up Thursday night’s Area 13 championship with Pell City. The Jackets have beaten Pell City twice this year in close games.
“My blood pressure is off the charts right now,” Oxford head coach Melissa Bennett said.
Fortunately, Ellard was much calmer.
“During the timeout, coach told me to shoot just like I do in practice and to take my time,” she said. “I did that and the shot was good. My emotions were all over the place in those last four minutes. Everybody was nervous and I just had to calm down before taking the shot.”
Oxford had pulled ahead in the third quarter by holding the Panthers without a field goal and rallying to take a 27-22 lead entering the final quarter. Southside went without a field goal for more 11 minutes in the second half until it scored with 4:45 left to cut the lead to 29-24.
Four straight turnovers by Oxford over the next few minutes and and all of a sudden, the Jackets were down 31-29 with 2:20 to play.
With the season on the brink, Xai Whitfield nailed two free throws and made a layup off a Lisa Montgomery steal and the Jackets were tied at 33 with 50 seconds to go.
Oxford got the ball back on a Southside turnover with 18 seconds left and got the ball to Ellard in the corner. Her high-arching shot got nothing but the bottom of the net to give Oxford the lead for good. The Lady Jackets got a turnover on the ensuing inbounds pass and were able to run out the clock and advance to the next round of the play-offs.
Ellard made the first two points of the game for Oxford and the last three points of the game.
“The last three points were the most enjoyable from my side of it,” she said.
Ellard was carrying two bags of ice home after the game, the result of taking a lot of bumps and bruises in the game.
“Coach told me to try and not hit the floor so hard, but it did not work out so well,” said a smiling Ellard.
Whitfield, a freshman, led the Jackets with 13 points and Montgomery had a big three-point basket to start the second half.
Ellard’s game-winning shot offset a brilliant fourth-quarter performance by Southside’s Sydney Yancey, who scored the last seven Panther points.
Nerves were apparent in the opening quarter as Southside’s Lynnsey Hunt hit a 3 to start the game and there were only five combined baskets the rest of the quarter in an 8-6 Panthers lead.
The Southside defense continued to pack a 2-3 zone in tight down low and pressured the guards on the outside, forcing the Lady Jackets into long possessions trying to get off good shots. The middle was open, but the Jackets struggled getting the ball in there. But on the other side the Oxford defense was shutting down the Southside offense.
Oxford was down 16-9 when Leah Taylor was able to slip inside the Panther zone for a couple of quick baskets to cut the margin. Southside did most of its damage from the free throw line in the second quarter, connecting on 4-of-6 to hold on to a 19-15 halftime lead.
Oxford 36, Southside 33
SOUTHSIDE – Kynsey Marble 0 0-0 0, Lexi Darnell 0 0-0 0, Lexy Cline 0 0-0 0, Sydney Yancey 5 1-2 11, Lynnsey Hunt 3 0-0 8, Sara Yancey 0 2-2 2, Ziniah Hardy 2 3-7 7, Jovi Marble 0 0-0 0, Ally Gilliland 0 0-0 0, Madison Shaw 0 1-2 1, Ella Knowlston 1 2-2 4. Totals 11 9-15 33.
OXFORD (22-8) – Justice Woods 0 0-0 0, Xai Whitfield 5 3-4 13, Lauren Ellard 2 2-3 7, Maya McGrue 3 0-0 6, Kaleah Taylor 3 0-1 7, Emma McCullough 0 0-0 0, Lisa Montgomery 1 0-0 3, Ashley Paulson 0 0-0 0, Chloe Hulsey 0 0-0 0, Keziah Mickler 0 0-0 0, Aniya Elston 0 0-0 0, Jamea Gaston 0 0-0 0, Mikiya Wilson 0 0-0 0. Totals 14 5-8 36.
Southside 8 11 3 11 – 33
Oxford 6 9 12 7 – 36
3-point goals: Southside 2 (Hunt 2); Oxford 3 (Ellard, Taylor, Montgomery).
Piedmont presses on
PIEDMONT – Practicing the press isn’t fun and isn’t easy, but Piedmont girls coach Terrace Ridley told her team it was going to need it and when the Lady Bulldogs played it, they’d have to play it hard.
That time came in the second half of their Class 3A Area 11 tournament game and it carried the Lady Bulldogs to a 53-36 win over Weaver.
Piedmont got off to a slow start and trailed at halftime 26-23. It opened the second half in the press and it fueled a 16-2 quarter that gave the Lady Dawgs the lead.
The comeback actually started in the second quarter when Armoni Perry came off the bench to hit back-to-back 3-pointers that forced Weaver out of its zone, but it kicked in in earnest after they talked about things at the break.
“We put the press on them and created turnovers and go our scoring going,” Ridley said. “The press is something we don’t do unless we have to use it.
“We’ve been working on it and working on it ever since we played the last time. I told them we’re going to have to pull it out and when we do you have to go at it hard. We executed it well.”
Piedmont (11-12) didn’t have a big scorer, but had balanced scoring. Ava Pope was the Lady Bulldogs leading scorer with 11 points, but Z’Hayla Walker and Emily Farmer each had nine and all seven of their scorers had at least five points.
LeLe Ridley had seven points and 19 rebounds with four steals and three blocked shots. Farmer had six steals and four rebounds.
Weaver’s Haley Homesley led all scorers with 19 points.
Piedmont will play at top-seeded Ohatchee Thursday for the area championship.
Piedmont 53, Weaver 36
WEAVER – Madison Atchley 2 1-3 6, Taylor Lawence 1 0-0 3, Tiana Lawrence 4 0-0 8, Haley Homesley 6 6-9 19, Nevaeh Hawkins 0 0-0 0, Iyanna Wright 0 0-0 0. Totals 13 7-12 36.
PIEDMONT (11-12) – Ava Pope 5 1-3 11, Jaycee Glover 2 0-1 5, LeLe Ridley 1 5-8 7, Cayla Brothers 3 0-0 6, Armoni Perry 2 0-0 6, Gracie Naugher 0 0-0 0, Z’Hayla Walker 4 1-2 9, Emily Farmer 3 2-3 9. Totals 20 9-17 53.
Weaver 11 15 2 8 – 36
Piedmont 6 17 16 14 – 53
3-point goals: Weaver 3 (Atchley, Ta. Lawrence, Homesley); Piedmont 4 (Glover, Perry 2, Farmer). Total fouls: Weaver 12, Piedmont 11. Officials: Stringer, Woodham, Weston.
Faith Christian 44, JCA 41
JACKSONVIILLE CHRISTIAN – Rebekah Carter 1 2-7 4, Erin Prater 1 0-0 3, Kara Grace 2 2-2 6, Kirsten Walker 0 0-0 0, Mia Morales 2 2-2 7, Karli Barnwell 5 7-8 21, Abbie Stovall 0 0-0 0, Hannah Clayton 0 0-0 0. Totals 11 13-19 41.
FAITH CHRISTIAN – Ona Marple 0 0-0 0, Ari Arevalo 1 2-7 4, Anna Strautman 3 0-4 9, Alligrace Emerson 1 0-2 2, Joelle Tillery 2 0-1 6, Erin McVeigh 0 0-0 0, Megan Ford 3 0-0 6, Babat Aremu 8 1-3 17. Totals 18 3-17 44.
JCA 3 10 16 12 – 41
Faith 6 6 12 20 – 44
3-point goals: JCA 6 (Prater, Morales, Barnwell 4); Faith 5 (Strautman 3, Tillery 2). Rebounds: JCA 43 (Morales 11, Grace 8); Faith 53 (Aremu 21, Ford 12, Arevalo 8). Steals: JCA 11 (Carter 6), Faith 4. Assists: Faith 11 (Emerson 4). Blocked shots: Faith 6 (Tillery 3). Fouled out: Marple, Emerson. Total fouls: JCA 15, Faith 20. Officials: Miller, Whitmire, Ellison.
Ohatchee 70, Pleasant Valley 65
PLEASANT VALLEY – Lily Henry 6 0-0 17, Rylee Haynes 7 3-5 17, Marlie Wright 3 0-0 9, Kianna Hester 1 0-0 3, Gracie Hood 4 0-0 9, Macey Roper 5 0-0 10. Totals 26 3-5 65.
OHATCHEE – Gracyn Snow 0 0-0 0, Tori Vice 8 8-11 24, Whitney McFry 1 0-0 3, Gracie George 0 0-1 0, Millie Rainwater 4 2-2 13, Jorda Crook 11 1-5 23, Alyssa Davis 3 1-1 7. Totals 27 12-20 70.
Pleasant Valley 13 14 23 15 – 65
Ohatchee 20 22 15 13 – 70
3-point goals: Pleasant Valley 10 (Henry 5, Wright 3, Hester, Hood); Ohatchee 4 (McFry, Rainwater 3). Fouled out: Wright. Total fouls: Pleasant Valley 18, Ohatchee 7. Officials: Oden, Wright, Moore.
Cleburne County 68, Munford 19
MUNFORD – Layla Tyus 4 1-4 11, Ryleigh Keith 2 0-2 4, Kelsey Goodson 0 0-0 0, Mekiah Mosely 0 0-0 0, Matilda Geffen 0 0-0 0, Abrielle Meadows 1 0-2 2, Kaylyn Turner 1 0-0 2. Totals 8 1-8 2 19.
CLEBURNE COUNTY – Faith Brown 10-16 2-2 22, Brooklyn McDaniel 8-14 1-2 19, Hailey Price 5-12 2-2 13, Makenzie Frames 3-5 1-2 9, Kaydence Wright 2-2 0-0 4, Haven Freeman 0-2 1-2 1, Julie Wilkerson 0-1 0-0 0, Libby Altman 0-2 0-0 0, Annie Brown 0-1 0-0 0, Chloe Kerr 0-1 0-0 0, Olivia McDaniel 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 28-59 7-10 68.
Munford 7 4 4 4 – 19
Cleburne County 21 20 12 15 – 68
3-point goals: Munford 2 (Tyus 2); Cleburne County 5-18 (Brown 0-2, B. McDaniel 2-5, Price 1-5, Frames 2-4, Altman 0-2). Rebounds: Cleburne County 32 (B. McDaniel 9, Brown 8, Price 6). Steals: Cleburne County 18 (Brown 5, B. McDaniel 5). Total fouls: Munford 5, Cleburne County 7.
Alexandria 47, Moody 37
MOODY – Sydney White 2 0-4 4, Jaylon Fields 4 1-2 9, Toni Pyles 4 0-0 9, Micah Grames 4 0-0 9, Maddie Barfield 3 0-0 6, Emma Kile 0 0-1 0, Alex Harvard 0 0-0 0, Kendall Stephens 0 0-0 0. Totals 17 1-3 37.
ALEXANDRIA – Ashley Phillips 4 7-11 18, Jordyn Walker 2 2-6 7, Jill Cockrell 2 0-0 6, Sarah Pelham 3 2-3 9, Kailey Dickerson 1 0-0 2, TyShica Woodgett 1 3-6 5. Totals 13 14-26 47.
Moody 6 12 7 12 – 37
Alexandria 13 13 8 13 – 47
3-point goals: Moody 2 (Pyles, Grames); Alexandria 7 (Phillips 3, Walker, Cockrell 2, Pelham). Total fouls: Moody 17, Alexandria 12. Officials: McCareeth, Travis, Kendon.
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