Lady Dawgs back in finals

By EASportsToday.com
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Updated: February 26, 2021

Anniston uses strong second half to beat Jackson, reaches 4A girls title game and shot to win back-to-back titles

**Jackson’s Deniyah McMillian (left) and Anniston’s Allasha Dudley battle for a rebound during their Class 4A girls semifinal game Friday. (Photos by Mark Almond/preps@al.com)**

By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today

BIRMINGHAM – Eddie Bullock anticipates having one more week of restless nights, but that’s OK with him. He can live with what that represents.

It means Bullock is back in the state championship game, and this time playing for a second straight Class 4A state championship.

The Lady Dawgs got in that position by beating much taller Jackson 50-34 in the state semifinals Friday at the Bill Harris Arena. They will play Rogers (27-8) for the title Thursday at 9 a.m. in a rematch of the 2019 title game. It’s their third straight year in the finals.

“I got one more week of restless nights, because Rogers will keep you awake,” Bullock said. “We’re going to prepare because they’re a great team, a great program. When they beat us a couple years ago they played a lot of freshmen, so those girls are juniors now. We already know they can shoot it. They play well together. They play fast like we do. So, whoever has the better night that night is gonna be champs and the other is going to be runner-up.”

The Lady Dawgs (25-3) won the game with their trademark defense, ramping it up in the second half to offset a cold start offensively.

They opened the second half on a 13-2 run before Jackson scored again with 1:11 left in the quarter. The Aggies (29-3) then scored the first seven points of the fourth quarter to close to within two, 36-34, but then the Lady Dawgs held them scoreless for the last seven minutes of the game.

“We’ve always been a second-half team,” Bullock said. “We corrected the mistakes we were making and were able to come out and turn it up.

“We were just going to try to limit (Jones) but not let those other girls score. We were giving up 3s and layups because we were watching the ball. I finally told them if we want to play in the championship game we’ve got to make some adjustment. It’s not (Jones) so much, we know what she’s going to do, we’ve got to stop the other girls and they stepped up to that challenge.”

Jackson coach Trinnia McKenzie-Smith said her team “just lost focus. We got in too big of a rush and went away from what we were doing in the first half.”

The fast finish, reminiscent of their Northeast Regional final, was in sharp contrast to the way the Lady Bulldogs started. Senior guard Allasha Dudley got off to another dreadful start, going 1-for-11 from the floor in the first half as Anniston fell behind 21-19. Meanwhile, Jackson’s 6-3 Naomi Jones had 15 points and 13 rebounds.

Dudley was different scorer in the second half. She scored Anniston’s first 11 points of the third quarter and 13 in the period, including a bucket at the buzzer falling back into the lane, and finished with 20 in the game.

Just as in the Northeast Regional final when her shot wasn’t falling, she found another way to score. She was 10-of-12 from the free throw line.

“We all had a vision that we wanted to go back to the state championship and win,” Dudley said

Asia Barclay had 11 points for Anniston and seven rebounds.

Naomi Jones, the tallest of the Aggies’ four Joneses (6-feet-3), led Jackson with 15 points and 18 rebounds, but the Lady Dawgs held her scoreless on only two shots in the second half.

“It’s the thrill of my life to come here,” Bullock said. “I look forward to the end of the season, but dread it if I lose.

“Anybody who gets an opportunity to sit in this room, come to this arena, it’s unbelievable. I would have never imagined in my life that I hadn’t won but one I’ve been here eight times. I thank God that I’ve been here eight times. If the Good Lord lets me see it, I want to come eight more.”

CLASS 4A FINAL FOUR
Girls Semifinals
Anniston 50, Jackson 34
JACKSON (29-3) – Janiya Jones 0-6 0-0 0, Deniyah McMillian 3-13 1-7 7, Lakeidra Martin 2-6 0-0 4, Nadia Jones 2-5 0-0 4, Naomi Jones 7-11 1-2 15, Tyra Caves 1-4 1-2 4, Jazmine Jones 0-0 0-0 0, Jameshia Powell 0-0 0-0 0, Tytianna Crayton 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 15-45 2-4 39.
ANNISTON (25-3) – Allasha Dudley 5-25 10-12 20, Alisia Person 2-7 2-2 8, Serena Hardy 1-6 2-2 4, Aaliyah Henson 0-1 0-0 0, Asia Barclay 5-6 1-2 11, Tiauna Thomas 1-3 1-2 3, Akayla Perry 1-2 0-0 2, Tykeria Smith 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 16-51 16-20 50.
Jackson                   5   16    6    7    –  34
Anniston                5   14  17  14    –  50
3-point goals: Jackson 2-12 (Jn. Jones 0-3, McMillian 1-7, Caves 1-2); Anniston 2-10 (Dudley 0-4, Person 2-5, Hardy 0-1). Rebounds: Jackson 39 (Nm. Jones 18); Anniston 31 (Barclay 7). Total fouls: Jackson 16, Anniston 10.

Rogers 55, Geneva 45
GENEVA (20-8) – Brooklyn Kemmerlin 2-7 0-0 4, Madison Johnson 7-11 0-0 15, Makaley Boswell 3-4 1-2 8, Pazley Lamb 2-5 0-0 5, Melody Watson 3-6 0-2 6, Tamaarah Johnson 0-2 0-0 0, Rayanna Ausley 0-0 0-0 0, Shelby Hammock 0-0 0-0 0, Simone Minnifield 3-7 1-2 7. Totals 20-43 2-6 45.
ROGERS (27-8) – Brooke Jones 4-9 1-2 9, Sheyenne Hankins 3-9 0-0 8, Emily Ahonen 2-3 0-0 4, Erin Brown 6-10 2-2 18, Madilyn Krieger 3-18 4-5 11, Ella Thompson 0-0 0-0 0, Gracie Rogers 1-1 0-0 3, Sadee Gray 0-0 2-2 2. Totals 19-50 9-11 55.
Geneva                    7   15  10   13   –  45
Rogers                     9   15  19   12   –  55
3-point goals: Geneva 3-9 (Johnson 1-3, Boswell 1-3, Lamb 1-3); Rogers 8-30 (Jones 0-2, Hankins 2-8, Brown 4-8, Krieger 1-11, Rogers 1-1). Rebounds: Geneva 28 (Johnson 10, Watson 10); Rogers 28 (Krieger 7). Total fouls: Geneva 16, Rogers 6.

A LOOK BACK
2019 4A CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
Rogers 46, Anniston 38
ANNISTON (29-5) – Allasha Dudley 2-12 0-0 4, Anna Garrett 3-10 0-0 7, Jordyn Johnson 2-11 0-0 5, Kiana Montgomery 1-1 1-2 3, Toniah Foster 6-13 0-0 13, Measia Kelley 0-1 0-0 0, Charliese Simmons 0-0 0-0 0, Khyla Garrett 0-0 0-0 0, Tiauna Thomas 0-0 0-0 0, Airriana Colley 0-4 0-0 0, Tekyia Jackson 0-3 1-2 1, Asia Barclay 2-5 1-2 5. Totals 16-60 3-22 38.
ROGERS (32-3) – Brooke Jones 0-5 0-1 0, Gloria Pounders 1-5 0-1 2, Erin Brown 3-5 1-4 9, Madie Krieger 6-17 10-11 23, Gabby Davis 2-8 0-0 4, Avery Glover 0-2 0-0 0, Sheyenne Hankins 2-6 0-0 6, Callie King 0-0 0-0 0, Sydney Baskins 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 15-49 11-17 46.
Anniston         10       11       3          14       –          38
Rogers             21       11       2          12       –          46
3-point goals: Anniston 3-22 (Dudley 0-6, Garrett 1-6, Johnson 1-5, Foster 1-1, Kelley 0-1, Colley 0-3); Rogers 5-20 (Jones 0-2, Pounders -4, Brown 2-4, Krieger 1-6, Hankins 2-4). Rebounds: Anniston 46 (Johnson 10, Foster 7, Barclay 7); Rogers 36 (Davis 10). Total fouls: Anniston 19, Rogers 8. Officials: Kenith Booker, Mickey Cunningham, Ken Barnett.