Showing some heart
- Updated: February 1, 2023
Jacksonville turns it on against No. 1 Plainview, bounces back from a dreadful showing against another No. 1 team Saturday
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
JACKSONVILLE – The last time Jacksonville played a No. 1 basketball team in the state the Golden Eagles looked terrible and had their effort questioned by an outsider.
Nobody was questioning their effort Tuesday night – especially the way they came out after halftime.
Three days after being dismantled by the No. 1 team in Class 5A, the Golden Eagles dismantled the No. 1 team in Class 3A, crushing Plainview 76-52.
They looked like a completely different team than the one that was listless against Ramsay in their last start. They shot 63 percent from the field, forced their usually steady visitors into 17 turnovers (for 23 points) while limited their own to 12 and outscored the Bears 48-24 in the second half. Against Ramsay they shot 31 percent from the field, committed 22 turnovers and were smoked in the second half 31-13 after trailing at halftime.
“I think the guys felt that we let ourselves down the other night, we didn’t play to our potential, and tonight was the springboard we needed to play the rest of this season,” Jacksonville coach Tres Buzan said. “Because that’s who we are and that’s who we’re going to stay.”
The Golden Eagles did to the Bears, while Ramsay did to them on Saturday when senior Cam Johnson conceded “we laid down” and they suffered one of their most lopsided defeats in recent memory, certainly since they became state championship contenders. It was the Bears’ worst loss since Anniston got them by 25 this week in 2021.
Jacksonville seized the momentum in this one with a steal-infused 9-0 run in the first 61 seconds of the second half and led by as many as 15 before Plainview’s Luke Smith hit another buzzer-beating 3.
Caden Johnson (14), John Broom (13) and Cam Johnson (10) combined for 37 points in the second half. Caden finished with 25 points and 10 rebounds, Broom had 24 points and nine boards and Cam Johnson had 13 points.
At the height of their run the Golden Eagles were aggressively attacking the basket, often finishing off fast breaks with dunks, and demonstrating crisp ball movement. They only took 10 3-pointers in the game. When the Bears got within eight early in the fourth quarter, they turned it up even more and zipped off 19 straight points to win going away.
Cam Johnson called it “probably the best second half we had all season.”
“We got dog in us, we got fight,” he said. “That’s all I want people to know.”
As a final gesture the Bears that they had had enough, Jacksonville’s John Broom dribbled near the midcourt line from the 2:40 mark until Buzan called time with 1:49 left to get subs in the game without the Bears even making an effort to approach him.
“It was two great quarters the first two quarters and I did challenge them at halftime to match that energy and intensity,” Buzan said. “Because when we play four quarters like that we’re pretty tough and they definitely met that challenge and exceeded it. It was effort and heart, that’s all it is.”
The way they played Saturday prompted a locker room visit from Jacksonville grad and MLB veteran Shed Long after the game to talk to them about pride and effort.
“Before this game we were soul-searching,” guard Devin Barksdale said. “A lot of people questioned our fight and that talk that our coaches had helped us out. Having Shed come in there and share that with us helped us a lot.”
“We definitely got a reality check,” Broom said, “but that’s Jacksonville basketball we just played out there. We just didn’t give up, we kept playing. We all just kept fighting and once we kept fighting we just kept going. There was no laying down. We’re not playing around no more.”
PLAINVIEW – Luke Smith 6-12 2-3 16, Landon White 5-6 2-3 12, Jonah Williams 3-6 0-0 9, Dylan Haymon 2-9 2-5 7, Levi Brown 1-2 0-0 3, Owen Wilborn 1-2 1-2 3, Sawyer Frayley 1-1 0-0 2, Ben Chandler 0-0 0-0 0, Ty Griggs 0-1 0-0 0, Caleb Clines 0-0 0-0 0. Total 19-39 7-13 52.
JACKSONVILLE – Caden Johnson 10-14 4-5 25, John Broom 11-14 0-0 24, Cam Johnson 4-7 5-6 13, Devin Barksdale 4-8 1-3 9, Dee Prothro 1-4 1-2 3, Damonte Sinclair 1-1 0-0 2, Ethan Duke 0-1 0-0 0, Jaquan Ervin 0-0 0-0 0, Kydric Fisher 0-0 0-0 0, Imoree Young 0-0 0-0 0. Total 31-49 11-16 76.
| Plainview | 17 | 11 | 14 | 10 – | 52 |
| Jacksonville | 14 | 14 | 25 | 23 – | 76 |
3-point goals: Plainview 7-17 (Smith 2-3, Williams 3-6, Haymon 1-6, Brown 1-2); Jacksonville 3-10 (Cd. Johnson 1-2, Broom 2-4, Cm. Johnson 0-1, Barksdale 0-3). Rebounds: Plainview 16 (Smith 6); Jacksonville 34 (Cd. Johnson 10, Broom 9, Cm. Johnson 6). Total fouls: Plainview 15, Jacksonville 17. Officials: Baker, McClendon, Richardson.
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