Jackets come back
- Updated: February 10, 2023
Thursday’s girls roundup: Oxford girls solve Gadsden City’s Sharp, comes back after Titans score first 12 points to win; Pleasant Valley, Piedmont earn right to play host to subregional games
THURSDAY’S GIRLS SCORES
CLASS 1A AREA 12
Championship game: Spring Garden 81, Cedar Bluff 39
Cross: Spring Garden hosts Woodville, Cedar Bluff travels to Skyline
CLASS 2A AREA 9
Championship: Pleasant Valley 59, Ranburne 57
Cross: Pleasant Valley hosts Horseshoe Bend, Ranburne travels to Lanett
CLASS 3A AREA 11
Championship game: Piedmont 63, Saks 25
Cross: Piedmont hosts Glencoe, Saks travels to Ohatchee
CLASS 4A AREA 8
Championship game: Handley 53, Talladega 45
Cross: Area 10 (Cherokee County vs. Jacksonville)
CLASS 6A AREA 13
Championship: Oxford 47, Gadsden City 37
Cross: Area 10 (Shades Valley vs. Pell City)
By East Alabama Sports Today
GADSDEN — Oxford’s girls routed a Gadsden City team missing center Jaedyn Sharp at home two weeks ago. Thanks to a major comeback, the Yellow Jackets found the secret sauce to beat the Titans on Thursday.
Oxford rallied after Gadsden City scored the game’s first 12 points and beat the Titans 47-37 to win the Class 6A Area 13 title on Gadsden City’s home floor.
The Yellow Jackets earned the right to play host to Monday’s subregional game against the Shades Valley-Pell City loser from Area 10.
A victory sends Oxford, the reigning Class 6A state runner-up, back to the Northeast Regional.
Thursday’s game marked the third meeting between the two teams this season. With Sharp playing, Gadsden City beat Oxford 61-48 at Gadsden on Jan. 13. Sharp sat out of Oxford’s 70-31 victory on Jan. 27.
A change in the Alabama High School Athletic Association’s tiebreaker system moved the coin toss down the list for this season, and Gadsden City prevailed in the new tiebreaking setup. The Titans got to play host to the area tournament and had Sharp.
She fouled out with six points.
“Our bigs played awesome tonight,” Oxford coach Melissa Bennett said. “They battled so hard on the boards and matched the physicality.”
Still, Oxford had to overcome what Bennett called “probably the worst start you could have. We couldn’t do anything right or get anything going.”
Gadsden City jumped out to a 12-0 lead and led 15-5 at the end of the first quarter, but Xai Whitfield scored 12 of her team-high 15 points in the final three quarters. LaMya McGrue scored nine of her 11 in the final three quarters and now has 995 total for her career.
Oxford outscored Gadsden City 16-4 in the second quarter to put the game on equal footing. The Yellow Jackets also held Gadsden City to one 3-point field goal and four total points in the fourth quarter and hit 15 of 20 free throws on the night.
“I’m so unbelievably proud of the fight and effort,” Bennett said. “We battled back from the big deficit.”
OXFORD – Xai Whitfield 5 5-6 15, Justice Woods 2 4-6 8, Keziah Mickler 0 0-2 0, LaMya McGrue 4 2-2 11, JaMea Gaston 2 1-1 6, Kaylen Kenney 2 1-1 5, Shay Montgomery 0 2-2 2. Totals 10 15-20 47.
GADSDEN CITY – Karleigh Sheffield 0 1-2 1, Mariah Ragland 2 0-0 6, Ajainay Tinker 4 3-4 12, Aniyah Williams 5 0-0 10, Jaedyn Sharp 3 0-1 6, Teona Usher 1 0-0 2. Totals 15 4-7 37.
| Oxford | 5 | 16 | 15 | 11 – | 47 |
| Gadsden City | 15 | 4 | 14 | 4 – | 37 |
3-point goals: Oxford 2 (McGrue, Gaston), Gadsden City 3 (Ragland 2, Tinker). Total fouls: Oxford 14, Gadsden City 19. Fouled out: Sharp. Technical fouls: none. Officials: Engle, Simpson, Davis.
Class 2A Area 9
PLEASANT VALLEY 59, RANBURNE 57: Pleasant Valley held Ranburne all-state standout Briley Merrill to nine points and upset the Bulldogs on the road to win the area title.
The Raiders will play host to a subregional game for the first time since 2019 and play Horseshoe Bend on Monday at 6 p.m.
Ranburne will go on the road to play Lanett.
Merrill scored 38 and 34 points in two previous meetings against Pleasant Valley this season. On Thursday, the Raiders rotated Ella Parris and Haylie Lee on Merrill and played zone behind them to stop her drives.
“We wanted to make sure she wasn’t going to beat us, and the girls executed the game plan to perfection,” Pleasant Valley coach Colton Morris said.
Ranburne nearly overcame it with 10 3-pointers. Jadie Phillips hit five on the way to 15 points.
Led by Laney Robinson’s four 3-pointers, Pleasant Valley hit eight. Macey Roper led the Raiders with 16 points, scoring on a layup with 20 seconds left to give Pleasant Valley the lead and hitting a free throw at 8.5 seconds.
After Roper missed the second free throw, Merrill rebounded, starting a sequence that led to Phillips missing a contested 10-footer at the buzzer.
“Our three seniors led unbelievably well all week, and our young girls played lights out tonight,” Morris said. “This team is so special. They’re tough as they come.
“This was a game they went and took. I couldn’t be more proud.”
PLEASANT VALLEY – Macey Roper 7 2-6 16, Rebekah Gannaway 1 0-0 2, Kianna Hester 3 0-0 8, Laney Robinson 4 0-0 12, Hailey Lee 5 0-2 12, Ella Parris 4 0-0 8. Totals 24 2-8 59.
RANBURNE – Autumn Lovvorn 0 0-1 0, Autumn Phillips 2 0-0 6, Briley Merrill 2 5-8 9, Aubrey Anglin 5 0-0 11, Brylee Bailey 7 0-2 14, Jadie Phillips 5 0-0 15. Totals 15 4-7 57.
| Pleasant Valley | 13 | 19 | 12 | 15 – | 59 |
| Ranburne | 16 | 9 | 18 | 14 – | 57 |
3-point goals: Pleasant Valley 8 (Robinson 4, Hester 2, Lee 2), Ranburne 10 (J. Phillips 5, Anglin 3, A. Phillips 2). Total fouls: Pleasant Valley 11, Ranburne 10.
Class 3A Area 11
PIEDMONT 63, SAKS 25: Ava Pope hit four 3-pointers while leading Piedmont with 18 points, and the Bulldogs held Saks to three single-digit quarters.
Piedmont improved to 16-13 headed into Monday’s subregional game at home against Glencoe. Saks will go on the road to play Ohatchee.
Piedmont’s Jaycee Glover chipped in 13 points, and LeLe Ridley added nine.
Jakailyn Carter paced Saks with 12 points.
SAKS – Jakailyn Carter 5 0-2 12, Sania Angel 2 2-2 6, Alona Crews 1 0-1 2, Madison Turner 0 0-2 0, Hughley 1 0-0 2, Camarie Denham 1 0-0 3. Totals 10 2-7 25.
PIEDMONT – Ava Pope 7 0-0 18, Jaycee Glover 4 3-3 13, LeLe Ridley 4 1-2 9, Cayla Brothers 4 0-0 8, Melanie Studdard 1 0-0 2, Carson Young 1 0-0 2, Gracie Naugher 3 2-3 9, Hannah Kate Barber 1 0-0 2, Totals 25 6-8 63.
| Saks | 7 | 5 | 11 | 2 – | 25 |
| Piedmont | 15 | 26 | 18 | 4 – | 63 |
3-point goals: Piedmont 7 (Pope 4, Glover 2, Naugher), Saks 3 (Carter 2, Denham). Total fouls: Piedmont 8, Saks 10. Fouled out: none. Officials: Graves, Simpson, Miller.
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