The difference maker
- Updated: February 15, 2022
Phillips leads Jacksonville over Anniston to reach NE Regionals; Faith, Piedmont, Oxford also advance to JSU; Garden’s Austin giving up boys team
TUESDAY’S BOYS SUBREGION GAMES
1A: Cornerstone 80, Ragland 55
1A: Faith Christian 65, Sumiton Christian 39
2A: North Sand Mountain 44, Spring Garden 42
3A: Piedmont 50, Saks 28
3A: Childersburg 74, Weaver 50
4A: Handley 77, Etowah 73
4A: Jacksonville 77, Anniston 53
5A: Ramsay 59, Alexandria 47
5A: Brewbaker Tech 49, Clay Central 28
6A: Oxford 64, Woodlawn 51
TUESDAY’S GIRLS SUBREGION GAME
5A: Ramsay 50, Alexandria 35
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
JACKSONVILLE — Cade Phillips emerged from the raucous celebration taking place in Jacksonville’s locker room and was immediately besieged by dozens of Golden Eagle fans carrying all sorts of things for the 6-foot-9 junior to sign.
The scene was reminiscent of a rock star being surrounded by adoring fans after a sold-out concert and Phillips patiently signed as many of the dunk-of-the-year pictures and stuffed bulldogs as the faithful pushed towards him and the moment allowed.
He was the man of the moment after leading Jacksonville to a 77-53 victory over defending state champion Anniston Tuesday in the Class 4A sub-regionals and was more than happy to accommodate them.
“That’s Jacksonville,” Phillips said. “It’s an amazing community and they’ve really bought into what we’re doing and hopefully it can continue even after we’re gone. Maybe it becomes just an athletic school, like a school that pushes athletes, just the mentality around here that, you know what, we’re pretty good and it’s OK to be that good.
“That’s my school, those are my people. When they came running over it was the feeling that a lot of hard work, a lot of hard times, changes, made it kind of worth it. I’ve had that feeling for a while, but something like that and a win like that for these people just made it that much better.”
The victory sends the second-ranked Golden Eagles to play top-ranked Westminster Christian in Saturday’s 1:30 p.m. Northeast Regional semifinals at Jacksonville State. It will be a matchup that no doubt will have the feel of a state championship game.
Tuesday night’s game was one of those landmark moments, the turning point where if the Golden Eagles were to win, they would overtake the Bulldogs in the hierarchy of Class 4A.
Phillips, the transfer considered upon arrival the piece to carry the Golden Eagles to the next level, lived up to those expectations in the team’s biggest game of the year against his father’s alma mater. He had 25 points, 12 rebounds and five blocked shots.
“He came to play tonight,” Jacksonville coach Shane Morrow said. “He’s been dying and itching to play, so I was proud of him. He played hard. He carried us there for a while when we were struggling. Proud of him. Played hard. I’m just excited. Ready for Saturday now.”
“I always try to make a difference with these guys either if I’m on the bench or actually playing,” Phillips said. “Tonight I got to scoring well. You pick and choose your roles every night depending on how the game plays out.
‘Tonight I had a pretty good first quarter. When one guy gets going that’s where we’re going to keep going to and that was me tonight for probably three quarters. Tonight, I felt like more than anything being a leader was what I needed to step up and do to push us over the edge … of being that team they were last year to what we are now and what we can be.”
By the way, that dunk-of-the-year picture he was signing. It came from the first meeting of the season with Anniston, the game he actually hurt his foot and had to sit the last three weeks of the regular season.
Phillips was a factor all night. He scored the first basket of the game from underneath the goal and had his first dunk later in the quarter to tie it at 11. He had 10 points in a 14-2 second-quarter run that carried the Golden Eagles to a 30-26 halftime lead and he hit seven straight free throws when he was really taking a beating inside in a 10-0 run that gave the Golden Eagles a 14-point lead in the third quarter.
John Broom, the player most responsible for attracting Phillips to Jacksonville, added 23 points to the attack and hit 1,000 for his career on a dunk late in the fourth quarter that gave the Golden Eagles a 69-51 lead.
The loss brought a close to the illustrious career of Anniston guard Antonio Kite. The Alabama football signee who Brown called “the best player who’s ever come through Calhoun County” scored 25 points in his final high school game.
He tried to prolong that career by taking over the third quarter, but Jacksonville went to a 1-2-2 zone and it kept Kite from getting to the basket.
“I feel like I did great,” Kite said reflecting on his high school career. “I don’t feel like I left with any wants to anything. It was good.”
Jacksonville 77, Anniston 53
ANNISTON – Mark Toyer 4 0-0 11, Antonio Kite 8 6-11 25, Tadyn Jones 0 0-0 0, Jamarius Billingsley 0 0-0 0, Troy Hall 2 0-0 4, C.J. Munford 2 0-2 6, Kam Sandlin 0 1-4 1, Talib Christian 1 4-5 6, Jave Croft 0 0-0 0. Totals 17 11-22 53.
JACKSONVILLE – Cam Johnson 1 0-0 3, Caden Johnson 2 5-8 9, JaeTaj Morris 0 0-0 0, John Broom 7 9-9 23, Devin Barksdale 0 0-0 0, Cade Phillips 6 12-20 25, Hayden Robinson 0 0-0 0, Jacoby Zackery 0 0-0 0, Julian Hill 4 1-1 11, Quin Long 0 0-2 0, JaLeik Long 2 0-0 6, Ethan Duke 0 0-0 0. Totals 22 27-40 77.
Anniston 16 10 11 16 – 53
Jacksonville 11 19 17 30 – 77
3-point goals: Anniston 8 (Toyer 3, Kite 3, Munford 2); Jacksonville 6 (Cm. Johnson, Phillips, Hill 2, J. Long 2). Technical fouls: Hall 2, Phillips. Fouled out: Hall, Munford, Christian. Total fouls: Anniston 30, Jacksonville 21. Officials: Scyphers, Edwards, Simpson.
Class 1A: Lions continue to make strides
Every time the Faith Christian boys have stepped on the court over the last couple weeks it seems the Lions are breaking some kind of barrier.
Their history-making ways continued Tuesday when they crushed Sumiton Christian 65-39 to earn their first trip to the Class 1A Northeast Regional since 2011. The Lions will play Oakwood, an upset winner over Skyline, in the regional semifinals Saturday at 4:30 p.m.
“I told our guys it’s the best thing that we can do,” first-year Lions coach Cory Hughes said. “Getting to the Northeast Regional is where you want to be. After playing myself in the Northeast Regional and referee-ing in a few different regionals, we’ve got the best one at Jax State. They have no understanding of what they’re in for.”
But if they continue to play at their current level, they could be there for a long time and then some.
Their win Tuesday followed a similar path as their area tournament title win over Ragland on Saturday. They continued to collect steals at a record pace, but this time didn’t have much luck converting the easy layups early in the game. Once the lid came off the basket, though, the Lions were off and running. They scored 25 points in the second quarter.
“We’re playing the best defense we’ve been playing the whole year long,” Hughes said. “We’re really locked in step. Everything is smooth on that end.”
It was a painful victory, though. Top scorer Thomas Curlee took a shot in the face early in the second quarter and suffered a broken nose. He left for medical attention, returned to the game with about two minutes left in the first half and Hughes couldn’t recall him missing another shot the rest of the half.
He finished with 20 points. Ethan Richerzhagen was Faith’s leading scorer with 24.
“I told him if that’s what it took to make him hit shots, I’d have punched him in the nose earlier,” Hughes joked.
Curlee will be available for the semifinal game against Oakwood. The type of protection he’ll have for the nose isn’t immediately certain.
“I think he’s definitely be playing with a mask,” Hughes said.
Faith Christian 65, Sumiton Christian 39
SUMITON CHRISTIAN – Sam Nix 3 0-1 8, Noah Godwin 2 1-1 5, Jake White 3 1-5 7, Austin Scobey 0 1-2 1, Yancey Young 0 0-2 0, Brody Berger 0 0-0 0, Braden Woodard 2 0-0 5, Kannen Defoor 5 0-0 11, Sawyer Frazier 1 0-0 2. Totals 16 3-11 39
FAITH CHRISTIAN – Yashua Arevalo 2 2-2 6, Jacques Prater 1 2-4 4, Thomas Curlee 8 4-6 20, Ethan Richerzhagen 7 8-9 24, Brady Whitworth 1 0-0 2, Brodie Dodson 2 0-0 6, Demonde Bell 0 0-0 0, Tyler Bell 0 0-0 0, Eli Robinson 0 0-0 0, Colton Pahman 1 0-0 3, Damian Arevalo 0 0-0 0, Will Smith 0 0-0 0, Joseph Carroll 0 0-0 0, Conner Richerzhagen 0 0-0 0. Totals 22 16-21 65.
Sumiton 9 6 12 12 – 39
Faith 11 25 16 13 – 65
3-point goals: Sumiton 4 Nix 2, Woodard, Defoor); Faith 5 (E. Richerzhagen 2, Dodson 2, Pahman). Fouled out: Woodard, Y. Arevalo. Total fouls: Sumiton 14, Faith 16. Officials: Kelley, Paige, Fortner.
Class 6A: Oxford keeps it going
OXFORD – Oxford was working on a string of five consecutive trips to Northeast Regional, but if the Yellow Jackets wanted to make it six they knew they’d have to pick up the pace in the second half.
The Jackets were only leading by three at the break, but they erupted for 41 points in the second half and put away Woodlawn 64-51 in the Class 6A subregionals.
They’ll now play in the Northeast Regional semifinals Thursday at 1:30 p.m. against Mountain Brown, but this time on a netural court unlike last year’s region semifinals on Mountain Brook’s floor.
“When you look at our season we were 11-11 and I’m sure there weren’t very many people who thought wew could have a chance to get to the regionals,” Jackets coach Joel Van Meter said. “But our guys believed in themselves and believe in what they were doing and consistently got better.
“It’s a great accomplishment, but then, we’re not planning on being finished with just that accomplishment.”
Rylan Houck led the Jackets’ second-half resurgence with 21 of his 29 points in the half. Kyler wright had 13, with nine of them coming in the half, including a 3 in the third quarter that gave them some separation.
“I thought they did a great job of not necessarily slowing the game down, but making everything hard,” VanMeter said. “The second half I thought we were able to get out in transition a little bit more and as the game goes on they can’t sit back in that zone they play, and whenever we were able to get them out of that some it gave Rylan great opportunities to attack the basket.”
Oxford 64, Woodlawn 51
WOODLAWN – Ryan Wilson 3 3-3 9, Jaquavious Lynch 4 0-0 10, Anthony Fairfax 6 2-2 18, Asher Hawkins 0 0-0 0, Cornelius Hudson 2 0-0 4, Kharon Lewis 0 0-0 0, Christopher McGee 1 0-4 2, Mykell Richardson 3 0-0 6, Deitric Young 1 0-0 2. Totals 20 5-9 51.
OXFORD – Jaylen Alexander 2 3-6 8, Zurrell Garrett 1 2-2 5, Rylan Houck 10 8-9 29, Kyler Wright 5 1-2 13, Aaron McFarland 0 0-0 0, J.D. Jones 1 0-0 3, Mike McGraw 1 0-0 2, Ashton Mitchell 1 2-2 4. Totals 21 16-21 64.
Woodlawn 14 6 13 18 – 51
Oxford 15 8 23 18 – 64
3-point goals: Woodlawn 6 (Lynch 2, Fairfax 4); Oxford 6 (Alexander, Garrett, Houck, Wright 2, Jones). Total fouls: Woodlawn 15, Oxford 11. Officials: Childs, Dupree, Oden.
Class 3A: Piedmont makes it 8 straight
PIEDMONT – Omarion Foster had a double-double, Alex Odam came within one assist of one and Piedmont put together another strong post-season defensive effort in beating Saks 50-28 in the Class 3A subregionals.
The victory sends the Bulldogs (21-7) to face Plainview in the Northeast Regional semifinals at Jacksonville State Thursday at 7:30 p.m.
In addition to his 15 points, Odam also had nine assists. Foster had 12 points, 16 rebounds, three assists and three steals.
It will be the Bulldogs’ eighth straight trip to the regionals. They have played Plainview five times previously in the regionals, including the famous five-overtime semifinal in 2016.
Piedmont coach JoJo Odam has been really pleased with the Bulldogs’ defense since the end of the regular season. In their three postseason games so far this season – two area tournament games and the subregional – they have limited their opponents to a total of 72 points. They held the Wildcats to one point in the second quarter.
The win was the Bulldogs’ tenth win in a row and helped them complete an undefeated home schedule (11-0). Odam has led them in scoring all 10 games of the winning streak and is averaging 29.5 points a game during it. He’s actually averaging 29.7 in his last 11 games.
Piedmont 50, Saks 28
SAKS – Braelan Robinson 0 0-0 0, Malik Carlisle 0 0-0 0, Shon Elston 1 0-0 3, Sean Parnell 6 0-2 12, Jalen McCants 2 1-2 5, Christian Smith 1 0-0 2, Rickey Garrett 0 0-0 0, Anthony Bothwell 1 1-2 4, Gavin Doss 1 0-0 2. Totals 12 2-6 28.
PIEDMONT – Alex Odam 6 2-2 18, Omarion Foster 5 0-0 12, Gavin Lawler 2 0-0 6, Cassius Fairs 2 0-0 4, Cole Wilson 0 0-0 0, Ish Bethel 3 0-0 7, Chance Murphy 0 0-0 0, Coleman Reid 3 0-0 6. Totals 21 2-2 50.
Saks 9 1 10 8 – 28
Piedmont 17 16 7 10 – 50
3-point goals: Saks 2 (Elston, Bothwell); Piedmont 6 (Odam, Foster 2, Lawler 2, Bethel). Fouled out: McCants. Total fouls: Saks 11, Piedmont 5. Officials: Graves, Ingram, Battles.
Class 2A: Bowing out in coach’s final game
SPRING GARDEN – Thirteen years ago, Ricky Austin took on the admirable
duty of coaching both the girls and boys basketball programs at Spring
Garden.
He successfully brought the boys back up to the girls’ standard of deep postseason runs almost every season, including Tuesday’s heartbreaking 44-42 loss to eighth-ranked North Sand Mountain in the Class 2A Northeast Sub-Regional.
After the game, Austin announced it was his last one with the Panthers boys. He said he will still coach the Lady Panthers.
“I’ve given it all I can for 13 years (with the boys),” he said.“I feel like we’re getting in a situation where I don’t have enough time to spend with both groups. I feel like they’re not getting what they need because of my time limits.
“Football season stretches late every year, and a single boys coach can
spend more time after football season than what I can trying to share time
with two (basketball teams). I expect this bunch to keep winning, dropping
back down to 1A. We’ve got some nice pieces to fit that.
“It’s just got to the point where they need more time. I tried to tell the guys after the game I’m trying to do them a favor by stepping out of the way so they can have a coach that coaches them the way I feel ike they need to be coached, and that’s more one-on-one, more time with the coach in the gym.
“When I took the boys job, I wanted to hang a state championship banner on that wall. I feel like I’ve come up short there. I’ve still got an unbelievable passion for boys basketball. I’ll be right there in the stands hoping they win every game.”
Austin ends his boys tenure with 216 victories. With 684 girls wins, he has a combined total of 900. No. 900 came Monday night in the Lady Panthers’ 52-37 sub-regional win over Ider.
He might not have won his last boys game, but the Panthers gave it their best shot.
They rallied from a five-point deficit to tie the game at 42 with 20.1 seconds remaining on freshman John Welsh’s basket inside the paint and ensuing free throw.
Following a Spring Garden timeout, NSM’s Chandler Sullivan scored an
inside basket following a rebound with 2.2 seconds remaining to put the Bison back up by two.
The Panthers almost immediately called timeout to set up a potential
game-winning shot. However, Chaz Pope’s inbounds pass down the court
sailed out of bounds.. But Spring Garden got a second chance to win the game when Derek Bearden traveled on the inbounds pass with 1.5 seconds remaining.
Again, Pope threw the ball in for the Panthers, but this time found senior point guard Cooper Austin. The younger Austin fired a long 3-pointer
near mid-court that rimmed out at the buzzer.
“Cooper got a great look, as good a look as we could ask in those situations,” Ricky Austin said. “His whole life he’s been in the back yard doing buzzer beaters, since he was a little bitty thing. He still does it. I thought it had to be in his hands. He practices these all the time.
“I thought it was in. It was on the money, but it just rimmed out. Then the
heartbreak set in, realizing the season’s over. But what a game. I was proud of our guys for playing like they played.”
Cooper Austin led the Panthers with 15 points, including a pair of 3-pointers. Welsh netted 11 points and Pope posted 10, including a pair of treys. Bearden led the Bison with 21 points. – Shannon Fagan, WEIS Sports Director
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