Getting started
- Updated: December 7, 2021
Piedmont opens its season with area win over Ohatchee, Odam goes for 27; Faith makes it 6 in a row, Jacksonville gets back on track and more boys games
TUESDAY’S SCORES
Alexandria 59, Moody 49
Anniston 80, White Plains 45
Donoho 61, Ranburne 51
Faith Christian 62, Coosa Christian 60
Jacksonville 93, Cherokee County 72
Piedmont 70, Ohatchee 43
Ragland 64, Victory Christian 34
Southside 55, Glencoe 50
Weaver 71, Pleasant Valley 61
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Todaay
PIEDMONT – Alex Odam got the ball out on the left wing with barely 15 seconds gone in the season. He surveyed the situation down around the basket looking for an opening. Suddenly, a wide lane opened to the basket and the Piedmont guard didn’t hesitate to make his move.
He drove hard to the basket and laid it in for the first points of the game. And, thus, it began.
| TOP DOGS | |
| (Piedmont’s career scorers) | |
| Alex Odam (106 games) | 1876 |
| Danny Bryan (78) | 1686 |
| Randall Ridley (71) | 1570 |
| Marquise Diamond (115) | 1409 |
| Darnell Jackson (140) | 1393 |
| Taylor Hayes (153) | 1369 |
| Jamaal Johnson (103) | 1366 |
| Ty Ford (100) | 1319 |
Odam scored 27 points and controlled the action on the floor as the Bulldogs opened their season Tuesday night with a 70-41 area victory over Ohatchee.
Things started rather slow for for the Bulldogs, understandable since their state championship football season ended five days ago and the full basketball team had only two practices together.
Odam had only one other shot and two more points on free throws the rest of the quarter after his initial bucket. But the junior got going in the second, hitting eight of nine shots to throw in 17 as the Bulldogs outscored the Indians 28-9 to stretch a one-point lead to 20 at halftime. He made five straight shots for 10 points in an 11-2 run that put the Bulldogs in control.
In addition to his points, Odam grabbed three rebounds, had three steals, six regular assists and four more “coaches assists” – passes that get a teammate in position to score, but he gets fouled on the way has to settle for a couple foul shots.
“I was pretty comfortable,” he said. “I didn’t get a lot of in-rhythm shots, but it was pretty comfortable. I wanted to make a statement early and then I let everyone else get going. When the score was still kind of close I felt like I had to get more involved.”
Two of his sharpest real assists were a bullet pass to Omarion Foster for a layup that put the Bulldogs in front for good 11-10 and later in the game he took it all the way to the basket and gave up a sure layup to swing around and whip it into Chance Murphy for an easy two. Foster finished with 16 points and Murphy had four.
“This is probably the smartest team I’ve ever played with,” he said. “They know it better than teams in the past. It’s easy to play with those guys, they cut a lot and stuff like that. I really enjoy this group.”
In assessing his team’s opening-night performance, Piedmont coach JoJo Odam said it was about what he expected.
“It was going to be ugly, we’re not in shape, we’re not going to make layups,” he said. “We just talked about playing hard. I 100 percent loved the effort. The effort was there.
“We knew it wasn’t going to be pretty early; we’ve just got to get to that point. But I was pleased with the effort. I thought all 11 guys played really, really hard. I know we made a lot of mistakes, but you can live with that if you’re playing hard.”
With Piedmont finally hitting the floor, Saks remains the only boys team in Calhoun County yet to open its season. The Wildcats debut Thursday at home against White Plains.
Piedmont 70, Ohatchee 43
OHATCHEE (0-3) –Eli Teem 6 0-0 15, Jake Roberts 1 0-0 3, Jesse Baswell 1 0-0 2, Carson Tittle 2 3-3 8, Colby Hester 0 0-0 0, Jake Roberson 1 0-0 2, Nathan Dover 0 0-0 0, Brent Jennings 0 1-2 1, Luke Vinson 0 0-0 0, Ayden McNair 1 0-0 3, Kelbe Crook 2 5-6 9. Totals 14 9-11 43.
PIEDMONT (1-0) – Alex Odam 12 2-3 27, Omarion Foster 6 4-6 16, Gavin Lawler 1 0-0 3, Cassius Fairs 0 2-2 2, Cole Wilson 2 0-0 5, Ridge Fagan 1 0-0 2, Ish Bethel 4 0-0 9, Jake Rhinehrat 0 0-0 0, Chance Murphy 1 2-2 4, Coleman Reid 1 0-0 2, Rhett Alford 0 0-0 0. Totals 28 10-13 70.
Ohatchee 10 9 13 11 – 43
Piedmont 11 28 21 10 – 70
3-point goals: Ohatchee 6 (Teem 3, Roberts, Tittle, McNair); Piedmont 4 (Odam, Lawler, Wilson, Bethel). Total fouls: Ohatchee 11, Piedmont 14. Officials: McGraw, Merritt, Wise.
WEAVER 71, PLEASANT VALLEY 61: Tristan Brown hit five of the Bearcats’ 10 3-pointers and finished with 19 points.
The Bearcats hit five of the 3-pointers in a 25-point third quarter – three by Brown – that gave them an 11-point lead going into the fourth quarter. Armane Burton scored 10 of his 14 points in the fourth quarter as the Bearcats held off PV’s final charge.
The Raiders hit nine 3-pointers in the game. They also put four scorers in double figures. Curiously, the teams combined for 19-pointers, but only eight free throws.
Weaver 71, Pleasant Valley 61
PLEASANT VALLEY –Garrett Cranmer 5 0-0 12, Brayden Robinson 4 0-0 10, Colby Battles 5 4-4 14, Zeke Johnson 2 0-0 6, Pelham Parris 6 0-0 14, Kyle Smith 2 0-0 5. Totals 24 4-4 61.
WEAVER –Tristan Brown 7 0-0 19, Jeffrey Miles 7 2-2 16, Kohl Perry 5 0-2 12, Dawson Brooks 2 0-0 5, Buck McGregor 1 0-0 3, Armane Burton 5 3-4 14, Brayden Character 0 0-0 0. Totals 27 5-8 71.
Pleasant Valley 11 13 18 19 – 61
Weaver 18 10 25 18 – 71
3-point goals: Pleasant Valley 9 (Cranmer 2, Robinson 2, Johnson 2, Parris 2, Smith); Weaver 10 (Brown 5, Perry 2, Brooks, McGregor, Burton). Total fouls: Pleasant Valley 8, Weaver 8. Officials: Lackey, Taaylor, Zawacki.
Class 4A Area 9
ANNISTON 80, WHITE PLAINS 45: Antonio Kite scored all 20 of his points in the first half, 14 in a 34-point second quarter that carried the Bulldogs to a 57-16 halftime lead.
Kite, who didn’t play in the second half, had five of Anniston’s 11 3-pointers. Talib Christian had 17 points, eight in the third quarter, Kentucky move-back C.J. Munford had 13 (all in the first half) and Martez Reed had 10.
Z.J. Rosario led White Plains with 14 points. He was 8-of-10 from the free throw line and the Wildcats’ only scorer in double figures.
Anniston 80, White Plains 45
ANNISTON – Jayden Lewis 3 0-0 6, Antonio Kite 7 1-1 20, Tadyn Jones 0 0-0 0, Jamarius Billingsley 0 0-0 0, Martez Reed 3 2-3 10, Jacques Thomas 1 1-4 3, Troy Hall 1 0-0 2, C.J. Munford 5 0-0 13, Malik Beisley 3 1-2 8, Kam Sandlin 0 1-2 1, Talib Christian 8 1-2 17. Totals 31 7-14 80.
WHITE PLAINS – Tucker Pearson 1 3-4 6, Paul Laube 1 0-0 3, Dylan Barksdale 0 0-1 0, Cole Senciboy 1 0-1 2, Josh Wheeler 2 0-0 4, ZJ Rosario 3 8-10 14, Braden Knight 0 2-2 2, Daniel Williams 2 0-0 4, Walker Osteen 3 1-2 8, Kendrick Ball 1 0-0 2. Totalas 14 14-20 45.
Anniston 23 34 13 10 – 80
White Plains 9 7 18 11 – 45
3-point goals: Anniston 11 (Kite 5, Reed 2, Munford 3, Beisley); White Plains 3 (Pearson, Laube, Osteen). Total fouls: Anniston 22, White Plains 13. Officials: Kelley, Jarrett, Batey.
Class 4A Area 10
JACKSONVILLE 93, CHEROKEE COUNTY 72: John Broom scored 20 points, Caden Johnson posted a double-double and the Golden Eagles bounced back from a tough loss on the road to pick up an area victory.
Broom went 7-of-12 from the floor and also had four rebounds and two assists. Johnson had 14 points and 14 rebounds. Freshman Devin Barksdale scored 14 points, grabbed five rebounds and had three steals. Cade Phillips was 5-for-5 from the floor, scored 10 points and blocked six shots.
Cherokee County’s Jackson Amos led all scorers with 25 points.
Jacksonville 93, Cherokee County 72
CHEROKEE COUNTY –Jackson Amos 7-16 10-11 25, Jaden Wilson 7-12 1-6 15, C.J. Gresham 4-7 1-2 10, Cade Hopper 3-8 0-0 6, Landon Caldwell 1-10 2-4 4, Gabe Chester 1-5 0-0 3, Braden Chandler 1-2 0-0 2, Malachi Horton 1-4 0-0 2, Jackson Neyman 1-3 0-0 2, Eli Martin 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 26-69 14-23 72.
JACKSONVILLE –John Broom 7-12 5-6 20, Caden Johnson 5-8 4-5 14, Devin Barksdale 5-9 3-6 14, Cade Phillips 5-5 0-6 10, Julian Hill 3-10 0-00 9, Ethaan Duke 2-3 3-7 7, Taaj Morris 3-4 0-0 6, Camren Johnson 3-7 0-0 6, Jacoby Zackery 2-6 0-0 5, Kydric Fisher 1-5 0-0 2, Hayden Robinson 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 36-70 15-30 93.
Cherokee County 11 25 15 21 – 72
Jacksonville 25 23 26 19 – 93
3-point goals: Cherokee County 6-31 (Amos 1-6, Gresham 1-2, Hopper 3-8, Caldwell 0-6, Chester 1-5, Chandler 0-1, Horton 0-1, Neyman 0-1, Martin 0-1); Jacksonville 6-22 (Broom 1-3, Barksdale 1-4, Hill 3-6, Cm. Johnson 0-3, Zackery 1-3, Fisher 0-2, Robinson 0-1). Rebounds: Cherokee County 43 (Wilson 9, Gresham 6); Jacksonville 49 (Cd. Johnson 14, Duke 8). Fouled out: Amos, Wilson, Neyman. Total fouls: Cherokee County 24, Jacksonville 19.
Class 5A Area 11
ALEXANDRIA 59, MOODY 49: D’Anthony Wright went for 25 points and Julian Wright scored nine of his 18 in the first quarter to get the Valley Cubs started.
Alexandria 59, Moody 49
ALEXANDRIA (1-1) – Javais McGhee 1 2-6 5, D’Anthony Walton 8 7-8 25, Collin Taylor 1 1-2 3, Kory Cargal 0 4-6 4, Julian Wright 8 2-3 18, Javarious Williams 1 0-0 2, Braxton Tucker 0 0-0 0, Damon Parr 1 0-0 2. Totals 20 16-25 59.
MOODY – Mason Trimm 3 2-2 9, Adam Davis 0 0-0 0, Dayton Dozier 7 5-5 20, Morgan Pinkney 2 0-0 5, Payton Isbell 0 0-0 0, Tyre Brown 1 0-0 2, Caden Helms 2 0-0 5, Mason Myers 1 0-0 2, Carson Dillashaw 3 0-0 6. Totals 19 7-7 49.
Alexandria 14 10 17 18 – 59
Moody 10 11 11 17 – 49
3-point goals: Alexandria 3 (McGhee, Walton 2); Moody 4 (Trimm, Dozier, Pinkney, Helms). Fouled out: Pinkney. Total fouls: Alexandria 12, Moody 20. Officials: Pretner, Clark, Pretner.
Class 1A Area 10
FAITH CHRISTIAN 62, COOSA CHRISTIAN 60: Ethan Richerzhagen scored 26 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in 26 minutes and the Lions held on at the end to win their sixth in a row and go 4-0 in their area.
Jacques Prater had 17 points and Yoshua Arevalo came up big for the second time in as many nights with 11 points, eight boards and three assists. Arevalo had 11 points and five rebounds in Faith’s win over JCA Monday night. The Lions (8-4) played without high-scoring forward Thomsa Curlee, who missed the game due to illness.
DONOHO 61, RANBURNE 51: Drew Williamson had 10 of his 18 first-half points in the second quarter as the Falcons took control with a 22-8 period. Williamson finished with 28 points. Eric Tolson scored 13 of his 15 in the second half as the Falcons put the finishing touches on the game.
Donoho 61, Ranburne 51
RANBURNE – Tate Bailey 1 0-0 2, Tyler Craft 13 3-4 29, Cody Jackson 0 0-0 0, Cade Mitchell 2 3-4 8, Bo Young 1 0-0 2, Others 4 0-1 10. Totals 21 6-9 51.
DONOHO – Dean Harrell 1 0-0 2, Isiah Smith 0 2-2 2, Nick Goad 3 0-1 6, Drew Williamson 11 6-6 28, Sean Keel 0 0-0 0, Rich Goad 3 0-0 6, Jack Burgess 1 0-2 2, Eric Tolson 7 1-2 15. Totals 26 9-13 61.
Ranburne 12 8 15 16 – 51
Donoho 10 22 16 13 – 61
3-point goals: Ranburne 3 (Mitchell, Others 2). Fouled out: Tate Bailey. Total fouls: Ranburne 18, Donoho 10.
RAGLAND 64, VICTORY CHRISTIAN 34: Jordan Turner hit four 3-pointers and scored 22 points to lead the Purple Devils to a victory.
Ragland 64, Victory Christian 34
VICTORY CHRISTIAN – Cam Cheatwood 0 0-0 0, Miles Martin 0 0-0 0, Shephard Sargent 4 2-4 12, Cayden Brunson 0 0-0 0, Payton Scott 4 2-5 10, Billy Davenport 1 0-0 2, Cody Blackman 0 0-0 0, William Henter 4 4-7 10. Totals 13 8-16 34.
RAGLAND – Dante Pickett 1 0-0 2, Javaris Turner 3 1-3 7, Jordan Turner 8 2-2 22, Kentrell Turner 3 0-1 6, Tacorion Soles 2 0-0 4, Taevon Williams 3 1-2 8, Ezra Hill 3 0-0 7, D.J. Turner 4 0-1 8, Chase Forman 0 0-0 0, Braxton Layton 0 0-0 0. Totals 27 4-9 64.
Victory 9 8 8 7 – 34
Ragland 13 16 24 11 – 64
3-point goals: Ragland 6 (Jo. Turner 4, Williams, Hill). Technical fouls: Ja. Turner. Total fouls: Victory 10, Ragland 18. Officials: Pratt, Mallicoat, Dyar.
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