Digging deep within
- Updated: January 3, 2022
Boys roundup: Weaver finds answers on the inside, rallies to beat PV; Oxford debuts grey uniforms in loss; White Plains holds back Piedmont
Monday’s scores
Vestavia Hills 58, Oxford 44
Weave 59, Pleasant Valley 53
White Plains 65, Piedmont 55
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
JACKSONVILLE – Weaver was down 13 midway through the second quarter of an important area game Monday night when coach Beau Winn called time to deliver a simple message of self-reliance.
“I can’t do it for you,” he told the players.
Tristan Brown and Kohl Perry took that message – and the one Winn delivered at halftime – to heart. They slowly brought things back the rest of the half, then simply took over in the second and helped the Bearcats pull out a 59-53 area victory over Pleasant Valley.
“I’m most proud of these boys for overcoming the adversity and knowing what it’s like to be down and believe in each other,” Winn said. “I can’t do it for you, but I can put you in the positions.“It’s y’all’s time right now to believe in one another. And you can’t do it by yourself; it’s going to take all five of you. And you can’t get it all back in one possession; we’ve got to keep chipping away. I can’t do it for you, but you can do it for yourself – and they did.”
Brown, who had only two free throws at the time of the time out, had 17 after that fateful timeout. He had nine points and several rebounds, assists and steals in the fourth quarter. His 3-pointer with 7:24 left gave the Bearcats their first lead of the game.
Perry had 13 of his 15 in the second half, including going 6-for-9 from the free throw line, 3-of-4 in the final 30 seconds. Jeffrey Miles had eight of his 17 in the third quarter.
“It basically, like, reminded us we control the game,” Brown said of the time out. “He’s going to coach us, but we’re still going to play in the game. That’s basically what he was trying to tell us and I think me and (Perry) really understood that and realized we could take over. That’s what we did.”
The Bearcats, frankly, were dreadful in the first half. They hit only three of 25 shots from the field at the time of Winn’s time out. They only turned it over four times, but they were missing too many shots to take advantage of it. They wound up shooting 7-of-34 in the half.
The second half was a lot different. The Bearcats had only two turnovers – both in the fourth quarter – but were 15-of-37 from the floor. PV, meanwhile, shot 8-of-19 from the floor in the half, but many of the shots they missed came on their anticipated 2-on-1 or 3-on-1 breaks and they turned it over 14 times in each half.
“I don’t think it was our defense, it was more we weren’t finishing,” PV coach Brad Hood said. “I said coming out (for the second half) these first four minutes are critical. We can’t come out and turn the ball over and miss assignments on rebounding and let them cut this thing to a four- or five-point game and it be like that the whole game – and that’s what happened.”
Recent JV callup Kyle Smith led the PV offense with 18 points behind four 3-pointers. Garrett Cranmer had 15 before fouling out.
Weaver 59, Pleasant Valley 53
WEAVER – Tristan Brown 7 4-4 19, Jeffrey Miles 9 0-1 19, Kohl Perry 4 6-9 15, Dawson Brooks 1 0-1 2, Buck McGregor 1 0-0 2, Zach Garner 0 2-4 2. Totals 22 12-19 59.
PLEASANT VALLEY – Garrett Cranmer 5 4-5 15, Jacob Teal 1 0-0 3, Dalton Haynes 2 0-0 5, Brayden Robinson 3 0-1 6, Kolby Battles 1 1-3 3, Zeke Johnson 1 0-0 3, Kyle Smith 7 0-0 18. Totals 20 5-9 53.
Weaver 7 14 19 19 – 59
Pleasant Valley 12 18 11 12 – 53
3-point goals: Weaver 3 (Brown, Miles, Perry); Pleasant Valley 8 (Cranmer, Teal, Haynes, Johnson, Smith 4). Technical fouls: Brown. Fouled out: Cranmer. Total fouls: Weaver 8, Pleasant Valley 15. Officials: Raley, Hoffman, Hollingsworth.
VESTAVIA HILLS 58, OXFORD 44: About the only thing the Yellow Jackets got out of this game, coach Joel Van Meter said, was “a lot of good film” to take back to practice as a visual guide for all the things they’re not doing. They fell behind the Rebels 34-19 Monday and couldn’t catch up.
Vestavia had three scorers in double figures, led by Win Miller’s 17 points. Cole Turner had 14 and Reese Gurner 10.
The Yellow Jackets didn’t have a double-figure scorer. Rylan Houck and Mike McGraw had nine points each.
The game marked the debut of Oxford’s set of non-traditional grey uniforms with black and gold trim, a Christmas present of sorts from former Oxford and MLB pitcher Jackson Stephens, who just returned to the States from a stint in the Venezuelan winter league.
Athletics director Larry Davidson is a staunch traditionalist and wasn’t going to buy grey uniforms, but Stephens wanted to do something nice for his alma mater’s athletics program. Van Meter said he told him team of the new gear a couple weeks ago, but they didn’t break them out until Monday.
Despite of losing in them, VanMeter said the jackets will wear them again.
“They were a gift from the Stephens family; they wanted to buy some uniforms and just give back to the program,” VanMeter said. “They thought it would excite our players to have the grey and we appreciate it very much. We love them to death and the great thought from them to be able to do it for us.”
Vestavia Hills 58, Oxford 44
OXFORD (10-9) – Jaylen Alexander 2 0-0 4, Zurrell Garrett 0 0-0 0, Rylan Houck 4 1-4 9, Kyler Wright 3 0-0 8, Aaron McFarland 1 0-0 3, J.D. Jones 2 2-2 7, Mike McGraw 4 0-0 9, Jayden Lewis 2 0-0 4, Ashton Mitchell 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 3-6 44.
VESTAVIA HILLS (15-2) – Win Miller 7 2-2 17, Cole Turner 6 2-2 14, Clayton Marek 1 2-3 4, Jude Cleary 1 0-2 3, Reese Gurner 4 2-2 10, Alex Armstrong 2 1-2 7, Graham Uldrich 0 0-0 0, Keown Richardson 1 0-0 2, Matthew Thackerson 0 1-2 1, William Orkus 0 0-0 0. Totals 22 10-15 58.
Oxford 12 7 15 10 – 44
Vestavia 20 14 15 9 – 58
3-point goals: Oxford 5 (Wright 2, McFarland, Jones, McGraw); Vestavia 4 (Miller, Cleary, Armstrong 2). Total fouls: Oxford 13, Vestavia 7. Officials: Howell, Warren, Batey.
WHITE PLAINS 65, PIEDMONT 55: The Wildcats started fast at the beginning of each half and used it to keep the Bulldogs at arm’s length in a game that could have county tournament repercussions.
Walker Osteen led White Plains with 19 points. He had eight points in the first and third quarters. Osteen and Z.J. Rosario both hit two 3-pointers in the third. Cole Senciboy and Daniel Williams added 11 apiece.
The Bulldogs were missing both of their top players, Alex Odam and Omarion Foster. Odam believes he could be back from his foot injury as early as the end of the week (best-case scenario) although his father and coach JoJo Odam is a bit less optimistic and project a return right before the county tournament.
In the meantime they’ll have to find offense somewhere and Cole Wilson and Ish Bethel have been happy to oblige. Wilson scored 19 points on the strength of five 3-pointers while Bethel, a freshman, scored 16 with three treys.
The teams combined for 21 3-pointers in the game.
White Plains 65, Piedmont 55
PIEDMONT – Gavin Lawler 2 0-0 5, Cassius Fairs 2 0-0 5, Cole Wilson 7 0-0 19, Ridge Fagan 1 0-1 2, Ish Bethel 6 1-2 16, Chance Murphy 1 0-0 2, Coleman Reid 2 1-1 6, Rhett Alford 0 0-0 0. Totals 21 2-4 55.
WHITE PLAINS – Tucker Pearson 1 0-0 2, Paul Laube 1 0-3 2, Dylan Barksdale 1 1-2 3, Cole Senciboy 4 0-0 11, Josh Wheeler 2 3-4 9, Z.J. Rosario 2 0-3 6, Daniel Williams 5 1-3 11, Walker Osteen 6 4-7 19, Kendrick Ball 1 0-0 2. Totals 23 0-22 65.
Piedmont 13 15 13 14 – 55
White Plains 22 11 22 10 – 65
3-point goals: Piedmont 11 (Lawler, Fairs, Wilson 5, Bethel 3, Reid); White Plains 10 (Senciboy 3, Wheeler 2, Rosario 2, Osteen 3). Fouled out: Total fouls: Piedmont 18, White Plains 12. Officials: Calkins, Jarrett, Kelley.
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