Taking care of business
- Updated: February 8, 2022
Boys area tournament roundup: Oxford, Alexandria, Saks easily win openers; Clay Central edges Talladega
TUESDAY’S GAMES
6A-13: Springville 58, Southside 38
6A-13: Oxford 57, Pell City 37
5A-11: Alexandria 66, St. Clair County 26
5A-11: Moody 84, Lincoln 53
5A-8: Clay Central 64, Talladega 58
5A-8: Sylacauga 71, Shelby County 33
3A-12: Geraldine 74, Collinsville 46
3A-12: Hokes Bluff 53, Glencoe 40
3A-9: Saks 73, Wellborn 27
By East Alabama Sports Today
SPRINGVILLE – It has been a while since Oxford has been in the kind of postseason game like Tuesday night’s, but the Yellow Jackets handled it like it was a game in mid-January.
The Jackets’ season literally was on the line in the Class 6A Area 13 semifinals here. Last year they were the No. 1 seed in a four-team area with tournament games played on campus venues and for several years before that they were in a three-team area as a No. 1 seed guaranteed a spot in the subregion round.
So, it hasn’t been often lately the Yellow Jackets played in a game with so hanging in the balance.
No worries. They beat Pell City without much drama 57-37 to advance to Friday’s area championship game against top-seeded host Springville, a team they’ve played two tight games with during the season. A loss Tuesday night would have ended their season.
“It’s the first time we’ve been in this type of game in probably six years,” Oxford coach Joel VanMeter said. “It’s a different type game. This game, whoever loses, goes home, so that makes it different, the way you think about it.
“But our season as a whole prepared us for this. Our schedule, who we played, the battles that we’ve been through and the way these guys have persevered I think helped us in tonight’s game and it’s hopefully going to help us Friday.”
Rylan Houck led the Yellow Jackets with 24 points. Kyler Wright had 10 points and Mike McGraw did a masterful defensive job on Pell City guard Evan Watson, holding him to five points – all in the fourth quarter. Zurrell Garrett and Jayden Lewis combined for 10 points off the bench in the first half to help the Jackets off to a good start.
“Their play really, really helped us,” VanMeter said of Garrett and Lewis. “Zurrell had an offensive rebound put-back, took a charge, got a couple steals in the press and Jay was a great presence around the rim. Their play really gave us a boost early and we basically grinded it out.”
The Jackets led 13-6 after one quarter and 32-17 at halftime.
Oxford 57, Pell City 37
PELL CITY – Evan Watson 2 0-0 5, Caleb Gros 3 1-2 7, M.J. McClurey 2 1-1 5, Jayden Young 1 1-2 3, Collin McCombs 0 0-0 0, Baylor Smith 1 0-0 3, Garrison Hildebrant 3 0-1 6, Braeden Brewis 0 0-0 0, Jaden Coleman 3 0-0 6, Brayley Smith 0 0-0 0, Baylor Fields 0 0-0 0, Michael Snow 0 2-2 2. Totals 15 5-8 37.
OXFORD – Jaylen Alexander 2 1-1 6, Zurrell Garrett 3 0-0 6, Rylan Houck 11 1-3 24, Kyler Wright 4 0-1 10, Aaron McFarland 0 0-0 0, J.D. Jones 0 0-0 0, Mike McGraw 2 3-3 7, Jayden Lewis 2 0-0 4, Ashton Mitchell 0 0-0 0, Cristian Gibson 0 0-0 0. Totals 24 5-8 57.
Pell City 6 11 9 11 – 37
Oxford 13 19 9 16 – 57
3-point goals: Pell City 2 (Watson, Smith); Oxford 4 (Alexander, Houck, Wright 2). Total fouls: Pell City 14, Oxford 17. Officials: Davis, Johns, Parks.
Class 5A Area 11
Alexandria coach Jason Johnson was a little nervous about the game. His Valley Cubs were the No. 1 seed in the tournament, but you just never know After all, one false move and everything that’s been accomplished to this point would come crashing down.
The Cubs put any worries of their season continuing to rest early, scoring the first 15 points of the game and eventually opening a 26-point first-half lead on the way to a 66-26 rout of St. Clair County.
They’ll play Moody for the area championship Thursday with the chance to earn one more home game. They’ll play either Ramsey or Leeds in next week’s subregion game.
“We just wanted to take care of business,” Johnson said. “You’ve still got to win this game to make the playoffs and that’s our main goal every year. I was a little nervous for this game, but I thought the guys took care of business. They were all business early in the game, got out to a good lead and allowed our subs to be able to play.
“Good win all the way around. Everybody got to play, you got a little rest and you make the playoffs so now you know you’ve got at least two more games in your season.”
D’Anthony Walton (21), Julian Wright (11) and Javais McGhee (10) all scored in double figures Alexandria. They combined for all of the Cubs’ points in the first quarter, all but two of their first 29 and 34 of their 42 in the first half. Then in the second half they did all the scoring in a 16-0 run that opened the third quarter.
Wright completed another double-double with 10 rebounds. McGhee had five boards and five assists. Wright and Walton each had three assists and three steals. Damon Parr was their second-leading rebounder with seven.
Alexandria 66, St. Clair County 26
ST. CLAIR COUNTY – Kaeden Pennington 2-6 3-3 8, Jakarious Moore 3-4 0-2 7, Jayce Mickens Mickens 1-3 1-2 3, Caden Ray 1-3 0-0 3, Jordan Stephenson 1-5 0-0 2, Wendell Hardin 0-1 2-2 2, Jayden Cody 0-1 1-2 1, Garrett Whitehead 0-4 0-2 0, Jacoby Blanks 0-4 0-0 0, Quendarius Small 0-1 0-0 0, Jeremiah Hall 0-4 0-0 0, D.J. Miller 0-5 0-0 0, Joseph Coker 0-2 0-0 0, Brandon Scruggs 0-3 0-2 0. Totals 8-46 7-15 26.
ALEXANDRIA – D’Anthony Walton 9-14 0-0 21, Julian Wright 5-8 1-4 11, Javais McGhee 4-7 2-2 10, Collin Taylor 3-11 0-0 8, Cleat Forrest 1-2 2-2 5, Damon Parr 2-3 0-0 4, Braxton Tucker 2-3 0-0 4, Kory Cargal 0-0 2-2 2, Javarious Williams 0-1 1-1 1, Evan Snow 0-2 0-0 0, Drake Davis 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 26-55 8-11 66.
St. Clair County 3 11 2 10 – 26
Alexandria 21 21 19 5 – 66
3-point goals: St. Clair County 3-26 (Pennington 1-2, Moore 1-2, Mickens 0-2, Ray 1-3, Stephenson 0-1, Hardin 0-1, Whitehead 0-2, Blanks 0-3, Small 0-1, Hall 0-3, Miller 0-3, Coker 0-1, Scruggs 0-2); Alexandria 8-19 (Walton 3-6, McGhee 0-1, Taylor 2-8, Forrest 1-2, Snow 0-1, Davis 0-1). Rebounds: St. Clair County 22 (Stephenson 5, Whitehead 4); Alexandria 51 (Wright 10, Walton 7, Parr 7). Total fouls: St. Clair County 7, Alexandria 10. Officials: Phillips, Gamble, Smith.
Class 3A Area 9
CHILDERSBURG – Sean Parnell scored 11 of his game-high 21 points in the first quarter and Saks cruised to a 73-27 victory over Wellborn. The Wildcats will play top-seeded host Childersburg for the area championship.
Gavin Doss added 14 points and Malik Carlisle 11 for Saks.
Saks 73, Wellborn 27
WELLBORN – Messiah Moore 1 0-0 3, Xavier Parker 0 0-0 0, Kam Jackson 5 0-0 10, John Searcey 0 0-0 0, Liam Avery 0 0-0 0, Ollie Boot 1 0-0 3, Raymod Williams 1 1-2 3, Avery Odom 2 0-0 4, Jeremiah Scarbrough 1 2-2 4. Totals 11 3-4 27.
SAKS – Khyree Patrick 1 0-0 2, Braelan Robinson 3 0-0 6, Shon Elston 0 0-0 0, Sean Parnell 10 0-0 21, Jalen McCants 1 2-2 4, Christian Smith 2 0-0 4, Malik Carlisle 4 2-4 11, Rickey Garrett 2 0-0 4, Anthony Bothwell 2 0-0 4, Jamari McBride 1 0-0 2, Ramond Pearson 0 1-2 1, Gavin Doss 6 1-1 14. Totals 32 6-9 73.
Wellborn 7 3 6 11 – 27
Saks 23 18 25 7 – 73
3-point goals: Wellborn 2 (Moore, Boot); Saks 3 (Parnell, Carlisle, Doss). Fouled out: Boot. Total fouls: Wellborn 11, Saks 11. Officials: Paige, Hardnett, Jackson.
Class 5A Area 8
SYLACAUGA – Tanner Higgins hit four 3-pointers and scored eight of his 27 points in the fourth quarter as Clay Central pulled away for a 64-58 victory over Talladega. The Vols will play Sylacauga for the area title Thursday at 6 p.m.
Clay Central 64, Talladega 58
CLAY CENTRAL – Clay Yates 1 2-2 2, Tanner Higgins 10 3-4 27, Ejay Simmons 4 0-5 8, Elisha McNeil 3 2-5 9, Isiah Denny 3 1-4 7, Keisen Lindsey 0 2-2 2, Terry Heflin 0 0-0 0, Jayce Maxwell 1 1-2 4, Luke Shaddix 1 0-0 2. Totals 23 11-24 64.
TALLADEGA – Durquavion Truss 7 1-2 17, Jaquintez Garrett 0 0-0 0, R.J. Jones 5 0-1 13, Lecroy Wallace 1 0-0 3, Kendric Wilson 1 0-0 2, Jaylyn Lawson 1 0-2 2, Traveon Traylor 6 3-5 15, Amari Webb 1 1-2 3, Kylan Curry 1 1-2 3. Totals 23 5-14 58.
Clay Central 13 18 14 19 – 64
Talladega 18 15 15 10 – 58
3-point goals: Clay Central 7 (Yates, Higgins 4, McNeil, Maxwell); Talladega 5 (Truss 2, Jones 2, Wallace). Fouled out: Yates, Curry. Total fouls: Clay Central 16, Talladega 21. Officials: Jarrett, Kelley, Nelms.
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