E.A. Sports Today

Friday basketball

Oxford, White Plains pick up wins as several games are played in and around Calhoun County opposite the county tournament

BOYS GAMES
Alexandria 56, Southside 35
B.B. Comer 72, Isabella 30
Coosa Christian 48, Jefferson Christian 44
Hokes Bluff at Glencoe
Lincoln 75, Sylacauga 70
Oxford 73, Gadsden City 64
Plainview 68, Cherokee County 51
Ragland 67, Victory Christian 41
Randolph County 39, Woodland 37
Sand Rock 62, Gaston 52
Spring Garden at Gaylesville
White Plains 58, Saks 31
Winterboro 59, Talladega Co. Central 39

GIRLS GAMES
B.B. Comer 48, Isabella 45
Gadsden City 61, Oxford 48
Glencoe 41, Hokes Bluff 31
Jefferson Christian 44, Coosa Christian 15
Sand Rock 69, Gaston 17
Southside 59, Alexandria 33
Spring Garden 57, Gaylesville 23
Woodland 58, Wadley 45
White Plains 62, Saks 16

By East Alabama Sports Today

GADSDEN –
  A winning bus is a happy bus.

“A full celebration in there,” Oxford coach Joel VanMeter said as the team bus rolled into the parking lot. “They’re (wins) hard to come by, so you make sure you celebrate each one of them.”

The Yellow Jackets played for the first time in nine days Friday night and showed little rust in taking down Gadsden City 73-64.

“Sometimes it’s good to play and sometimes it’s good to practice,” VanMeter said. “I think it’s all about the way your team approaches things. For us, the practice was good. We got back in the gym and kind of worked on our toughness that I thought was struggling a little bit and I thought that was evident tonight because we did a great job of offensive rebounding the basketball and keeping balls live and rebounding the back side of the zone.

“And then we got to prepare for who we were playing next. When you get that many days to prepare for somebody you kind of focus in on them, so I thought that helped as well. You can do all the stuff you want to do, but if your players don’t respond it doesn’t do you any good, that’s why you have to give them a ton of credit.”

Jaylen Alexander scored 22 points, Brock Reaves had 21 points and “probably his best rebounding game of his career,” and T.J. Allen had 18 to lead the Jackets. The trio was a combined 20-of-28 from the free throw line; the Jackets were 22-of-37 as a team. Reaves was 9-of-10 from the line and also had four 3-pointers and Allen had three.

VanMeter also praised the “tremendous” minutes Cristian Gibson and Jordan Kelley gave them off the bench.

“Overall, you saw some guys more confident,” VanMeter said. “I think you saw some guys who had been through the ringer in terms of schedule and who we played. It’s a marathon. John Calipari was saying that the other night; it’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon. You might have lost some games and might not have played well, but are you getting better, and I thought (the break) gave us a chance to get better.”

Oxford held a 58-43 lead after a big third quarter, then Gadsden City’s Jakobi Sharp got loose for 19 of his team-high 22 points in the fourth to bring the Titans back into the game. 

The Jackets won’t have as long to wait for their next game. They hit the court again Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. in the county tournament against the winner of Monday’s Faith Christian-Donoho game.

OXFORD – Jaylen Alexander 7 7-10 22, Caleb Sanders 1 0-0 2, Dashaun Callaway 0 0-0 0, T.J. Allen 5 4-8 18, Jordan Kelley 0 0-0 0, Brock Reaves 4 9-10 21, Jayden Lewis 3 1-8 7, Cristian Gibson 1 1-1 3. Totals 21 22-37.
GADSDEN CITY – Steven Jones 3 0-0 7, Braydon Mayes 1 2-3 5, Khalil Hughley 0 2-2 2, Lashun Harris 3 0-0 9, Jordan Walker 2 5-7 11, John Hiller Roberts 1 0-0 2, Curry 3 0-0 7, Javien McCants 0 0-0 0, Lucas Green 0 1-2 1, Matthew Lucas 0 0-0 0, Jakobi Sharp 7 5-5 22, Qwon Bridges 0 0-0 0, Elijah Dunn 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 15-19 64.
Oxford                        14        18        26        15 –     73
Gadsden City            14        13        16        21 –     64
3-point goals: Oxford 9 (Reaves 4, Allen 3, Alexander); Gadsden City 9 (Jones, Mayes, Harris 3, Curry, Sharp 3). Fouled out: Curry. Total fouls: Oxford 18, Gadsden City 27.

WHITE PLAINS 58, SAKS 31: Luke Bussey hit three 3-pointers and led the Wildcats with 15 points.  The Wildcats spread the wealth with 10 of their 12 hitting the scoring column. Z.J. Rosario had nine points and Carter Johnson and Daniel Williams had eight apiece. All eight of Johnson’s points came in the second half.

SAKS – Jakari Streeter 1 1-1 3, Dee Elston 1 0-0 2, Christian Smith 2 1-3 5, Jay Weeks 0 0-0 0, Anthony Bothwell 1 0-2 2, Tae Elston 0 0-0 0, Keondre Johnson 5 1-3 11, Christian Hall 2 2-4 8. Totals 12 5-13 31.
WHITE PLAINS – Dylan Barksdale 2 0-0 4, Paul Laube 2 0-0 5, Z.J. Rosario 4 0-0 9, Silas Hines 0 0-0 0, Josh Wheeler 1 0-0 2, Coleman Ray 1 0-0 3, Cam Almon 1 0-0 2, Daniel Williams 3 2-2 8, Daye Diallo 1 0-0 2, Collin Spivey 0 0-0 0, Luke Bussey 6 0-0 15, Carter Johnson 4 0-0 8. Totals 25  2-2 58.
Saks                 9         11        6          5 –       31
White Plains   17        11        17        13 –     58

3-point goals: Saks 2 (Hall 2); White Plains 6 (Laube, Rosario, Ray, Bussey 3). Total fouls: Saks 6, White Plains 15. Officials: Burroughs, Nelms, Pratt.

GIRLS GAMES
SOUTHSIDE 59, ALEXANDRIA 33:
 Madison Shaw scored nine of her team-high 18 points in the first quarter to help the Lady Panthers jump out to a 23-1 lead and went 7-for-7 from the free throw line in the game.

Southside held the Lady Cubs to one point in the first quarter, then Jordyn Walker settled in and scored 13 of her game-high 21 in the second quarter. Walker hit five 3-pointers in the game.

SOUTHSIDE – Lexi Darnell 3 0-1 6, Emma Knowlton 0 0-2 0, SaraKate Yancey 0 4-4 4, Mallory Brooks 3 0-0 8, Laylah Davis 1 1-2 3, Ella Knowlton 0 0-0 0, Graceanne Rose 5 1-2 11, Leah Lewis 2 4-5 9, Madison Shaw 5 7-7 18, Rylann Shaw 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 17-23 59.
ALEXANDRIA – Jordyn Walker 6 4-6 21, Kirsten Heathcock 0 0-0 0, Jill Cockrell 0 0-0 0, Cassidy Hartsfield 2 0-0 3, Kailey Dickerson 0 0-0 0, Charlee Parris 0 0-1 0, Sumira Duncan 1 1-2 3, Allyssa Hunt 1 2-3 4. Totals 10 7-12 33.
Southside       23        9          14        13 –     59
Alexandria      1          16        7          9 –       33
3-point goals: Southside 4 (Brooks 2, Lewis, M. Shaw); Alexandria 6 (Walker 5, Hartsfield). Total fouls: Southside 15, Alexandria 15. Officials: McClellan, Ware, Montgomery.

WHITE PLAINS 62, SAKS 16: Cooper Martin led three White Plains scorers in double figures with 17 points. Isabella Higgins scored 10 in the first quarter and finished with 16. Addison Bradley had 11.

SAKS – Deihanna Taylor 0 0-0 0, Sania Angel 1 2-2 4, Alonna Crews 0 1-2 1, Madison Turner 1 0-0 2, Alayah Christopher 1 0-0 2, Jada Foster 0 0-2 0, English 1 1-2 4, Neal 1 1-2 3, Carter 0 0-0 0, Camrie Denham 0 0-0 0. Totals 5 5-10 16.
WHITE PLAINS – Cooper Martin 7 1-7 17, Isabella Higgins 8 0-1 16, Abbie Dickeson 1 0-0 2, Anna Fouche 1 0-0 2, Hallie Williams 3 0-0 7, Addison Bradley 5 1-2 11, Chloee Cromer 0 0-0 0, Braeton Moran 2 0-0 4, Cassidy Arnold 1 0-2 3. Totals 28 2-12 62.
Saks                 6          5          4          1 –       16
White Plains  18        17        18        9 –       62
3-point goals: Saks 1 (English); White Plains 4 (Martin 2, Williams, Arnold). Total fouls: Saks 12, White Plains 11. Officials: Alexis, Wood, Pratt.

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