Saks back, in
- Updated: February 10, 2021
Tournament roundup: Lady Wildcats beat Wellborn on first day back from quarantine, claim spot in 3A sub-regional; JCA, J’ville, Saks, Ragland boys to play for area titles
WEDNESDAY’S TOURNAMENT GAMES
BOYS
1A-10: Ragland 76, Donoho 48
1A-10: Jacksonville Christian 54, Faith Christian 52
3A-9: Saks 76, Wellborn 44
4A-10: Jacksonville 72, Ashville 40
4A-10: Etowah 75, Cherokee County 52
1A-8: Talladega Co. Central 85, Woodland 54
1A-8: Winterboro 1, Wadley 0 (forfeit)
2A-7: Lanett 72, Randolph County 31
2A-7: LaFayette at Ranburne
2A-12: Sand Rock 93, Gaston 35
2A-12: Spring Garden 67, Westbrook Christian 51
5A-8: Sylacauga 69, Shelby County 51
5A-8: Talladega 72, Clay Central 27
GIRLS
3A-9: Saks 49, Wellborn 23
By East Alabama Sports Today
With all that has happened to the Saks girls basketball team this season, the goal for the Lady Wildcats has become simple:
“We just want to make it through the season,” coach Dwight McDonald said.
That season got extended by at least two games Wednesday after the Lady Wildcats got past Wellborn 49-23 in the Class 3A Area 9 Tournament semifinals.
The victory sends them to play Childersburg for the area championship at noon Saturday and a berth in the state sub-regional round against either Ohatchee or Piedmont.
The game was their first one back after being on COVID quarantine these past two weeks. They didn’t get back together as a team for the first time until about 30 minutes before the start of Wednesday’s game for a quick refresher.
“When they came in the classroom I said I forgot what you looked like,” McDonald said. “I knew my starting point guard as going to be out so I knew we’d have a few turnovers, but I told them before the game we’re going to try to make everything simple, try to slow everything up. Communication was going to be important. If they would just listen to me we’ll make it through it.”
The Lady Wildcats have been playing musical chairs with COVID-19 protocols all season, to the point they’ve played only 11 games, a circumstance not exactly conducive to developing any kind of rhythm. Understandably, they came out sluggish against Wellborn, but they eventually played through it and started making shots.
Because they missed it on the scheduled date, the Lady Wildcats used the occasion to celebrate their Senior Night, where they recognized Miracle Bass and Alysia Gooden.
Kayleigh Thomas led them with 14 points. Bass had 12, Keilynn Williams nine (off three 3-pointers) and Gooden eight.
Boys games
JCA edges Faith
If Jacksonville Christian wanted a shot at going back to the Final Four this year, the Thunder had to win its Class 1A Area 10 tournament opener against Faith Christian. There was no two ways about it.
It was a battle to the end, but the Thunder eventually pulled it out 54-52 when Tavian Alexander hit a late free throw and it held its breath as a final shot by Faith’s Ethan Richerzhagen missed the mark.
JCA made its first appearance ever in the boys Final Four last year, but it had to win its area tournament opener to keep the season alive. Now, the Thunder travels to Ragland to play for the area title, but will be going to the sub-regional round regardless of the outcome.
“It’s over if we don’t win tonight,” JCA coach Tommy Millerr said. “It’s going to be very, very difficult to go to Ragland and play also, but there’s not much pressure because you aren’t done if you don’t win.
“What happened last year has not been discussed. We’ve talked about how that team got to the Final Four, as far as that goes we talked about that recently, but there’s not been any comparisons of what we’ve done.”
The Thunder had to work to keep their season alive. After trailing most of the game, Faith took the lead with 4:04 to play and stretched it to five. JCA retook the lead on a bucket by Landon Wills.
Richerzhagen cut the Thunder’s lead to one with five seconds left. Alexandria was fouled on the next possession and hit one of two free throws with 2.6 seconds left to make it a two-point. The Lions threw a long inbounds pass that bounced off a JCA player and right to intended target Richerzhagen, who fired up a 3 at the buzzer that didn’t connect.
“I am thrilled that we didn’t fold when we had that little bad spot in the fourth quarter and they took all the momentum,” Miller said. “We could’ve folded there and didn’t. That was a big part of the game.”
Wills and Tanner Wilson each scored 17 points for JCA. Ethan Burrage scored 13 points and did the defensive job on Richerzhagen. Jacques Prater led Faith with 14 points, while Burrage limited Richerzhagen to 12.
The loss brought an end to Schuessler Ware’s first season as Faith’s coach. He came out of retirement to coach the Lions’ boys and girls teams after a legendary 19-year run at Anniston.
JCA 54, Faith Christian 52
JACKSONVILLE CHRISTIAN – Tanner Wilson 5 3-7 17, Ethan Fair 0 0-0 0, Ethan Burrage 5 0-2 13, Tavian Alexander 1 3-8 5, Landon Wills 5 4-4 17, Drake Shew 1 0-0 2. Totals 17 10-21 54.
FAITH CHRISTIAN –Nic Goodgame 3 0-1 6, Jacques Prater 5 1-3 14, Thomas Curlee 3 0-2 6, Ethan Richerzhagen 5 1-2 12, Yoshua Arevalo 3 0-0 8, Andrew Folsom 2 0-2 4, Seth Abston 1 0-0 2. Totals 22 2-10 52.
JCA 14 12 10 18 – 54
Faith 6 13 12 21 – 52
3-point goals: JCA 10, (Wilson 4, Burrage 3, Wills 3); Faith 6 (Prater 3, Richerzhagen, Arevalo 2). Rebounds: JCA 35 (Alexander 10, Wills 7); Faith 23 (Richerzhagen 5, Y. Arevalo 5). Assists: JCA 9; Faith 9 (Prater 6). Total fouls: JCA 8, Faith 17.
RAGLAND 76, DONOHO 48: Jordan Turner and Josh Phillips combined for 26 points in the first half to give Ragland control of the game. Donoho played its hosts close in the second half, but the margin was too wide to overcome. Turner led all scorers with 25 points. Phillips had 17 and Kentrell Turner 11. Spencer Wigley led Donoho with 15 points.
Ragland 76, Donoho 48
DONOHO – Spencer Wigley 6 1-4 15, Connor Goodson 2 0-0 5, Brady Patterson 1 0-0 2, Ethan Miles-Jameson 0 3-4 3, Richard Goad 2 0-0 5, Eric Tolson 1 0-0 2, Drew Williamson 4 2-2 11, Garrett Steed 2 0-0 5. Totals 18 6-10 48.
RAGLAND – C.J. Lawler 2 3-3 7, Matt Trammell 3 2-4 8, Jordan Turner 9 6-12 25, Josh Phillips 8 1-3 17, Kentrell Turner 5 0-0 11, Owen Schall 1 0-0 2, Jakolbe Brewster 2 0-2 4, Tavaris Turner 1 0-0 2. Totals 31 12-24 76.
Donoho 11 9 14 14 – 48
Ragland 21 21 16 18 – 76
3-point goals: Donoho 6 (Wigley 2, Goodson, Goad, Williamson, Steed); Ragland 2 (J. Turner, K. Turner). Fouled out: Goodson. Total fouls: Donoho 16, Ragland 11.
JACKSONVILLE 72, ASHVILLE 40: Caden Johnson led four Jacksonville scorers in double figures with 21 points and John Broom contributed 15 points and seven rebounds as the Golden Eagles earned their fourth straight trip to the Class 4A sub-regionals.
Quinn Long added 14 points and Omarion Adams had 11. The four leading scorers were a combined 23-of-38 from the floor. Adams was 3-for-3 from 3-point range.
Jacksonville will host Etowah for the 4A Area 10 title Saturday. They cross with Anniston and White Plains in the sub-regionals.
Jacksonville 72, Ashville 40
ASHVILLE – Elijah Turner 8-12 0-1 16, Jacob Wilson 4-6 0-0 8, Ashton Vann 3-4 0-0 6, Caleb Bailey 2-2 0-0 4, Adriane Hernandez 1-5 0-1 2, Gabe Sawyer 1-1 0-0 2, Donnie Morphis 1-1 0-0 2, Hayden Phillips 0-2 0-2 0, Chandler McGinnis 0-0 0-0 0, Jonah Carden 0-1 0-0 0, Cole Hyatt 0-0 0-0 0, Brady Northam 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-35 0-4 40.
JACKSONVILLE – Caden Johnson 8-12 4-5 21, John Broom 5-14 5-6 15, Quinn Long 6-8 2-5 14, Omarion Adams 4-4 0-0 11, Nathan Barnwell 2-2 0-0 4, Julian Hill 1-2 0-0 3, Ethan Duke 1-2 0-0 2, Jaylon Prater 1-1 0-0 2, Coby Zackery 0-2 0-0 0, JaeTaj Morris 0-6 0-1 0. Totals 28-53 11-17 72.
Ashville 6 18 10 6 – 40
Jacksonville 20 11 21 20 – 72
3-point goals: Ashville 0-5 (Turner 0-1, Vann 0-1, Phillips 0-2, Carden 0-1); Jacksonville 5-10 (Johnson 1-1, Broom 0-2, Adams 3-3, Hill 1-1, Zackery 0-1, Morris 0-1). Rebounds: Ashville 26 (Turner 7); Jacksonville 27 (Broom 7). Total fouls: Ashville 11, Jacksonville 7.
This story will be updated.
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