Instant classic
- Updated: January 18, 2023
No 3 seed Alexandria prevails at the foul line after exchange of haymakers with No. 6 White Plains in Calhoun County quarterfinals
CALHOUN COUNTY TOURNAMENT
(At Jacksonville State)
Wednesday’s Boys Games
Alexandria 66, White Plains 63
Piedmont 66, Anniston 53
Thursday’s Boys Games
Alexandria vs. Oxford, 4:30 p.m.
Jacksonville vs. Piedmont, 7:30 p.m.
Friday’s Boys Game
Championship, 8 p.m.
By Joe Medley
East Alabama Sports Today
JACKSONVILLE – Years gone by, since WIll Ginn’s first Calhoun County tournament game as a head coach, but he filed away the feeling of that Oxford-Ohatchee mismatch.
His first county-tourney win? Coaching his alma mater? On his college home floor and matching wits with one of the county’s longest-serving and best coaches?
Ginn could smile once his third-seeded Alexandria team survived No. 6 White Plains 66-63 in Wednesday’s classic quarterfinal in Pete Mathews Coliseum.
The Valley Cubs earned a shot against … wait for it … No. 2 Oxford in Thursday’s 4:30 p.m. semifinal.
Ginn was a “young buck” when he coached one year at Ohatchee, he said. He went to Alexandria, where he’s in his first season as the Valley Cubs’ varsity head coach.
It’s a little different, coaching the county’s second-biggest school against the county’s only 6A school. That other time, he tried it with now-3A Ohatchee.
“We got beat pretty good by Oxford,” he said. “We got Oxford first game. We had some young guys, and they played tough.”
Come Thursday, Ginn will coach 5A Alexandria against an Oxford team looking to extend its string of four county titles and five in six years. The Valley Cubs could prevent Oxford from making its seventh consecutive appearance in the finals.
To get that chance, Ginn’s Alexandria team had to survive long-time White Plains’ coach Chris Randall’s latest offering, with Luke Bussey and Josh Wheeler doing their best to keep the Wildcats even in a four-quarter haymaker exchange.
“I knew Coach Randall would have them prepared, and they have some talented guys,” Ginn said. “The Bussey kid can play. He can shoot it and see the floor so well.”
Bussey finished with 21 points, including long 3-pointers with 56.2 and 42.9 seconds left to bring the Wildcats within 58-55 and 60-58.
He issued a long 3 between the top and right elbow in the game’s final sequence.
Randall saw something deeper in Bussey’s last-minute dramatics. He came after he made a steal and missed a layup.
“The thing I’ll take from this game is Luke Bussey,” Randall said. “Luke missed a layup, and that’s a great opportunity to hide, a great opportunity to pout and quit … and not finish the game, and what does he do?
“No excuses. He comes back and hits some huge ones that gave us a chance to win.”
The WIldcats also got 19 points from Z.J. Rosario and five 3-pointers and 17 points from Wheeler.
In a game that saw 11 lead changes and seven ties, things almost went according to script, Randall said.
“Their kids made the shots we wanted them to take,” he said.
White Plains wanted Alexandria’s shooters to have to make shots, and they did. Drake Davis finished with 23 points, including five 3-pointers. Fouled on a 3-point attempt, in the second quarter, he hit all three free throws to give Alexandria a 29-26 lead.
Davis, who has hit several big shots for the Valley Cubs this season, called it the latest evidence of how much he likes playing in The Pete.
“I didn’t play in here last year,” he said. “I just warmed up, but last year in warmups, I didn’t miss a shot.
“I don’t know what it is about this place.”
Alexandria also got 3-point buckets from Evan Snow, Jaylen Henderson and Cleat Forrest.
Their shooting complemented Alexandria’s overall inside strength, which helped the Valley Cubs get in the bonus early in the second half and double bonus in the fourth quarter. Between Alexandria getting to the bonus early and White Plains having to foul late to stop the clock, the Valley Cubs shot 27 free throws in the second half.
They hit 15 of 24 in the fourth quarter, with Forrest hitting 4 of 6, T.K. Downie 3 of 4 and Davis 2 of 2 in the final minute.
“I feel like we had the advantage on the inside,” Ginn said. “Even though they had the big kid (6-foot-7 Carter Johnson), I felt like we had the advantage, overall, on the inside.
“They were trying to be real physical with us, and we did a better job of not being so loose with the ball, being strong with the ball in the third quarter, and that helped the fouls to start building up.”
WHITE PLAINS – Z.J. Rosario 8 1-1 19, Josh Wheeler 6 0-0 17, Luke Bussey 8 1-1 21, Carter Johnson 3 0-0 6. Dylan Barksdale 0 0-0 0, Paul Laube 0 0-0 0. Totals 25 2-2 63.
ALEXANDRIA – Drake Davis 6 6-7 23, Evan Snow 1 0-3 3, Antonio Ross 7 0-3 14, T.K. Downie 1 5-7 7, Jaylen Henderson 2 0-0 5, Kory Cargal 1 7-10 9, Cleat Forrest 1 2-4 5. Totals 19 20-34 66.
| White Plains | 14 | 15 | 15 | 19 – | 63 |
| Alexandria | 15 | 14 | 15 | 22 – | 66 |
3-point goals: White Plains 11 (Rosario 2, Wheeler 5, Bussey 4), Alexandria 8 (Davis 5, Snow 1, Henderson 1, Forrest 1). Total fouls: White Plains 21, Alexandria 16.
Cover photo: Alexandria’s Drake Davis shoots on his way to 23 points against White Plains in Wednesday’s Calhoun County quarterfinal action in Pete Mathews Coliseum. (Photo by Greg Warren)
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