Getting after it
- Updated: November 19, 2021
Oxford turns up its defensive pressure in the second half to beat Plainview and remain undefeated
THURSDAY’S GIRLS GAMES
Gadsden City 62, Jacksonville 8
Jacksonville Christian 54, ASD 27
Munford 28, Weaver 26
Oxford 58, Plainview 47
Sardis 56, Glencoe 32
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
OXFORD – Plainview coach Luke Griggs came back to the bench after halftime and lamented to no one in particular if his Lady Bears had boxed out better in the first half they’d be leading by a lot more than the eight that showed on the scoreboard.
It ultimately came back to haunt them.
Oxford turned up its defensive pressure in the second half and it was too much for the young visitors to handle. The Lady Jackets handed Plainview its first loss of the season 58-47 while remaining undefeated in the process.
“I love defense, I love defense,” Oxford coach Melissa Bennett said. “We talk about how a lot of times early on that press doesn’t look super great, but the intensity of it, the repetition of it, staying in it, it shows up in the second half of games.
“When you’re having to work for every inch of the floor, every single possession, that’s our goal for it. We want to make the other team earn every single inch that they’re taking the ball up the floor.”
Griggs noted his team had more turnovers than rebounds in the game, and that’s never a good formula. The Lady Jackets (3-0) turned them over 15 times in the second half and scored 20 points off those turnovers in the first 13 minutes of the half to go from 32-24 down at halftime to 56-43 ahead with three minutes left in the game.
They held the Lady Bears (3-1) to one field goal in the third quarter and just four in the second half. Plainview last led 36-35 with 2:34 left in the third before the Lady Jackets rana off the next seven points to take the lead for good.
“They got really aggressive, we had a hard time getting in any kind of offensive flow; our young players had hard time dealing with it,” Griggs said. “They’re pretty athletic and fast, I figured it would give us some trouble, but I really expect us to box out.”
Justice Woods and LaMya McGrue played big roles in the Oxford comeback. Woods entered the game for the first time in the second quarter, a non-starter because she’d been sick. She led the defensive effort and scored seven of her 11 points in the second half. McGrue scored eight of her 10 points in the second half.
“I think our defense definitely helped us come back; we just turned it on and it worked for us,” Woods said. “We knew we had to step it up. Together as a whole we had to have each other’s back; that’s what we did.”
The Lady Bears built their halftime lead on the strength of their outside shooting. They hit all five of their 3-pointers in the half, with seventh-grader Sawyer Hulgan nailing three. Hulgan was their leading scorer with 11 points. She has 13 3-pointers in four games.
“At halftime we didn’t chew their tails,” Bennett said. “We told them to relax; quite the opposite. We told them you know what to do, you set yourself up for this. You know how to play offense, keep being aggressive defensively. Turn it on. Quite hesitating and just play. You got this.”
The victory had “extra meaning” in another way for the Lady Jackets. It avenged one of their seven losses of a year ago, a particularly bitter defeat in which they lost a four-point lead with less than a minute to play.
“We remember that,” Bennett said.
Oxford 58, Plainview 47
PLAINVIEW (3-1) –Ali Price 2 1-4 5, Mylie Butler 1 0-0 2, Sawyer Hulgan 3 2-2 11, Kami Sanders 3 0-0 6, Saydi Jackson 4 4-6 13, Lauren Jimmerson 2 1-4 5, Jocelyn Hatfield 0 0-0 0, Hannah Regula 2 0-0 5. Totals 17 8-16 47.
OXFORD (3-0) –Justice Woods 4 1-4 11, Xai Whitfield 3 1-2 8, Lauren Ellard 2 0-0 4, LaMya McGrue 5 0-0 10, Leah Taylor 3 5-6 11, Mea Gaston 0 0-0 0, Keziah Mickler 3 0-0 6, Shanya Calloway 1 0-0 3, Kaylen Kenney 1 1-2 3, Mikiya Wilson 1 0-0 2, Jaslyn Montgomery 0 0-0 0. Totals 23 8-14 58.
Plainview 19 13 5 10 – 47
Oxford 10 14 17 17 – 58
3-point goals: Plainview 5 (Hulgan 3, Jackson, Regula); Oxford 4 (Woods 2, Whitfield, Calloway). Total fouls: Plainview 15, Oxford 17.
Gadsden City 62, Jacksonville 8
GADSDEN – Ajainay Tinker scored 20 points to lead Gadsden City’s offense and the Lady Titans’ defense held Jacksonville without a field goal in the second half.
Gadsden City 62, Jacksonville 8
JACKSONVILLE (0-3) – Amarie Curry 1-5 0-4 2, Halaina Lozano 1-3 0-0 2, Ashley Grant 1-2 0-2 2, Kiara LaCount 0-2 1-2 1, Alyssa Willingham 0-1 1-2 1, DeAsia Prothro 0-2 0-0 0, Olivia Rowan 0-1 0-0 0, Lamiah Steagall 0-0 0-0 0, MiArah Hardy 0-0 0-0 0, Alexis Phillips 0-1 0-0 0, Rachel Sanders 0-0 0-0 0, Mya Swain 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 3-27 2-10 8.
GADSDEN CITY – Ajainay Tinker 6-8 6-7 20, Tameah Gaddis 6-10 0-0 12, Zaniyah Brooks 3-5 2-2 9, Aniyah Williams 3-7 0-2 6, Jaedyn Sharp 3-8 0-1 6, Monique Curry 1-4 1-4 3, Karleigh Sheffield 1-1 0-0 2, Zyaja Lindsey 1-3 0-0 2, Mariah Ragland 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 25-48 9-16 62.
Jacksonville 2 4 1 1 – 8
Gadsden City 14 15 24 9 – 62
3-point goals: Jacksonville 0-12 (Lozano 0-1, Grant 0-9, Willingham 0-1, Phillips 0-1); Gadsden City 3-11 (Tinker 2-2, Gaddis 0-3, Brooks 1-2, Williams 0-1, Curry 0-1, Lindsey 0-2). Rebounds: Jacksonville 25 (Curry 6, Prothro 5); Gadsden City 29 (Williams 7). Total fouls: Jacksonville 12, Gadsden City 10.
Jacksonville Christian 54, ASD 27
TALLADEGA – Hannah Clayton scored 17 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead the Thunder to their first victory of the season. Addy Lee had 12 points and six assists, while Kara Grace grabbed 13 rebounds.
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