By Al Muskewitz
Friday’s boys roundup: Alexandria’s Walton, Wright double up on Saks in fourth quarter; Cherokee County, Lincoln squeeze out wins, Faith Christian tops PV
FRIDAY’S BOYS GAMES
Alexandria 64, Saks 52
Cherokee County 42, White Plains 39
Faith Christian 53, Pleasant Valley 33
Lincoln 55, Anniston 52
Vincent 62, Ragland 52
There aren’t many teams in the state that boast the double dose of size and power Alexandria can put on the floor, and it’s that threat that gives the Valley Cubs the potential to make some noise in the upcoming Class 5A tournament.
In their final tune-up before next week’s area tournament Friday night, the Valley Cubs’ double dose of inside trouble turned into a double dose of double-doubles in a 64-52 victory over Saks that they never really secured until the fourth quarter.
D’Anthony Walton scored 24 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, while Julian Wright had 14 and 12. They also blocked five shots, had three steals and dished six assists between them.
“It’s a great advantage to have,” Cubs coach Jason Johnson agreed. “We’re blessed in a way we haven’t been blessed around here. It’s nice to have. Hopefully we’re going to keep taking advantage of it.”
The power pair were particularly impactful in the fourth quarter when the Cubs finally shook their visitors. They scored 16 of the Cubs’ 24 fourth-quarter points helping stretch a three-point lead entering the quarter to 17 heading into the final two minutes of the game.
“It’s just our chemistry,” Walton said. “Me and him just go real good together. We know where the other is going to be and stuff like that. It’s good to have another big guy on the floor. I love playing with him.”
They just have a combination of size and speed that’s hard to guard. Walton is 6-4, 185 and Wright is 6-6, 215. You don’t want to get in either one’s way.
“It’s just really hard for teams to find a way to guard us both at the same time,” Wright said. “If they stop one of us, the other one is going to score. It’s a domino effect. If we get there at the same time it’s hard for teams to stop us.”
Sean Parnell and Shon Elston brought the Wildcats back from a 10-point halftime deficit with their outside shooting. Both hit four 3-pointers in the game and had five of them in the second half.
Parnell finished with a team-high 23 points, 15 in the second half. Elston had 14 points (11 in the second half) and five steals. Jalen McCants scored only two points, but had seven rebounds, five assists and seven steals.
Alexandria 64, Saks 52
SAKS – Sean Parnell 9-21 1-4 23, Shon Elston 5-13 0-2 14, Gavin Doss 2-5 0-0 4, Brealan Robinson 2-4 0-3 4, Christian Smith 1-1 0-0 3, Jalen McCants 1-4 0-0 2, Malik Carlisle 1-5 0-0 2, Anthony Bothwell 0-3 0-0 0, Rickey Garrett 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 21-57 1-9 52.
ALEXANDRIA – D’Anthony Walton 9-13 5-8 24, Julian Wright 6-9 2-3 14, Collin Taylor 3-6 2-4 10, Javais McGhee 3-9 0-0 7, Kory Cargal 2-5 1-2 5, Damon Parr 1-3 2-2 4, Braxton Tucker 0-1 0-0 0, Evan Snow 0-1 0-0 0, Javarious Williams 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-47 12-19 64.
Saks 10 8 19 15 – 52
Alexandria 16 12 12 24 – 64
3-point goals: Saks 9-31 (Parnell 4-12, Elston 4-12, Doss 0-2, Smith 1-1, Carlisle 0-2, Bothwell 0-2); Alexandria 4-12 (Wright 1-3, Taylor 2-4, McGhee 1-2, Cargal 0-1, Parr 0-1, Snow 0-1). Rebounds: Saks 27 (McCants 7); Alexandria 39 (Walton 10, Wright 12). Total fouls: Saks 12, Alexandria 9. Officials: Roberts, Robinson, Smith.
FAITH CHRISTIAN 53, PLEASANT VALLEY 33: The Lions came out after halftime and held Pleasant Valley without a field goal in the third quarter while stretching their five-point halftime lead to 18. The Raiders were 7-of-24 from the field in the first half with both of their 3-pointers, but 0-for-10 in the third quarter.
Thomas Curlee scored 18 of his game-high 21 and Faith’s 24 in the first half. Ethan Richerzhagen had nine of his 13 in the big third quarter and the Lions had all four of their 3-pointers in the fourth.
Faith Christian 53, Pleasant Valley 33
PLEASANT VALLEY – Braxton Williams 0-2 0-0 0, Brayden Maye 0-3 2-2 2, Garrett Cranmer 7-14 1-4 15, Jacob Teal 0-0 0-0 0, Dalton Haynes 0-3 0-2 0, Braden Robinson 1-4 2-2 4, Kolby Battles 2-8 1-3 5, Zeke Johnson 1-6 1-2 4, Luke Cranmer 0-0 0-1 0, Kyle Smith 1-8 0-2 3. Totals 12-48 7-18 33.
FAITH CHRISTIAN – Yoshua Arevalo 2-7 0-0 5, Jacques Prater 2-8 0-0 4, Thomas Curlee 10-18 0-2 21, Ethan Richerzhagen 5-15 3-5 13, Brady Whitworth 0-2 0-0 0, Brodie Dodson 1-1 0-0 3, Demonde Bell 1-1 0-0 2, Tyler Bell 1-1 0-1 2, Eli Robinson 0-1 0-0 0, Colton Pahman 1-3 0-0 3, Damian Arevalo 0-1 0-0 0, Will Smith 0-0 0-0 0, Joseph Carroll 0-1 0-0 0, Connor Richerzhagen 0-7 0-0 0. Totals 23-66 3-8 53.
Pleasant Valley 10 9 2 12 – 33
Faith Christian 10 14 15 14 – 53
3-point goals: PV 2 (Johnson, Smith); Faith 4 (Y. Arevalo, Curlee, Dodson, Pahman). Total fouls: PV 8, Faith 16. Officials: Burroughs, Hoffman, Wood.
CHEROKEE COUNTY 42, WHITE PLAINS 39: Jackson Amos scored a game-high 14 points with four 3-pointers and the Warriors hit nine of 12 free throws in the fourth quarter, but they had to hold their breath as Walker Osteen’s potential game-tying 3-pointer rattled in and out at the buzzer.
The Warriors opened a 16-8 lead in the first quarter, but Luke Bussey got the Wildcats back within two by halftime with three 3s in the second. Cole Senciboy had seven of his 10 points in the fourth quarter to keep White Plains in it, but the disparity at the line in the quarter proved to be the difference; the Wildcats were 0-for-3.
Cherokee County 42, White Plains 39
WHITE PLAINS – Paul Laube 0 0-1 0, Dylan Barksdale 1 0-0 2, Cole Senciboy 4 0-0 10, Josh Wheeler 2 0-1 4, Z.J. Rosario 0 0-0 0, Braden Knight 0 0-0 0, Daniel Williams 0 2-3 2, Walker Osteen 5 1-1 12, Luke Bussey 3 0-0 9. Totals 15 3-6 39.
CHEROKEE COUNTY – Jackson Amos 4 2-2 14, Malachi Horton 1 2-2 4, Cade Hopper 1 0-0 3, Jaden Wilson 1 2-4 4, C.J. Gresham 1 2-4 4, Gabe Chester 0 0-0 0, Landon Caldwell 1 3-4 6, Eli Martin 0 0-0 0, Jackson Neyman 0 1-2 1, Braden Chandler 2 1-2 6. Totals 11 13-20 42.
White Plains 8 14 6 11 – 39
Cherokee County 16 8 6 12 – 42
3-point goals: White Plains 6 (Senciboy 2, Osteen, Bussey 3); Cherokee County 7 (Amos 4, Hopper, Caldwell, Chandler). Total fouls: White Plains 19, Cherokee County 13. Officials: Caldwell, Smith, Mason.
LINCOLN 55, ANNISTON 52: The homestanding Golden Bears edged Anniston in the final regular-season games for both team. The Bulldogs played the second half without Antonio Kite, who sat out the half as precaution for his injured right hand. They already were without Mark Toyer.
Toyer has been out since injuring his knee in the season opener at Spain Park’s tournament. He is expected to play in the Bulldogs’ area tournament opener Wednesday. [*** read more]
