Adding To The Legacy – Alexandria’s Will Ginn Wins His First Game as Head Coach

Calhoun County, AL – Tuesday basketball: Alexandria’s Will Ginn wins his first game as head coach, JCA spoils Wellborn coach Justin Amberson’s debut, and more

BOYS GAMES
Alexandria 64, Talladega 52
Arab 46, Southside 28
Crossville 70, Gaylesville 53
Etowah 75, Glencoe 55
Faith Christian 50, Spring Garden 46
Hoover 74, Oxford 47
Jacksonville 69, White Plains 39
Jacksonville Christian 62, Wellborn 50
Sand Rock 71, Gaston 46
Sardis 70, Hokes Bluff 61
Westbrook 62, Weaver 50

GIRLS GAMES
Arab 52, Southside 46
Crossville 40, Gaylesville 32
Hoover 67, Oxford 32
Jacksonville 37, White Plains 28
Jacksonville Christian 77, Wellborn 37
Sand Rock 48, Gaston 30
Sardis 54, Hokes Bluff 31
Talladega 66, Alexandria 44
Westbrook 64, Weaver 36

By Al Muskewitz


Will Ginn has always wanted to be a coach. Like his brothers and his father. It didn’t matter much to him whether it was as a head coach or an assistant, he just wanted to teach and lead players in a game.

After years as an assistant, he finally got his first chance to be a head coach Tuesday night and he led the Alexandria basketball team to a victory in its season opener, 64-52 at Talladega.

“It’s good to get the first one, especially in the first game,” Ginn said. “Talladega’s got a good team, so I was proud of our guys. They played hard. They didn’t play great, but they played hard and fought . I was proud of them.”

With Ginn calling the shots for the basketball team, he extends the long-standing family legacy. His brother Todd coaches the Valley Cubs’ football team and their late father, Hall of Famer Larry Ginn, coached both programs to more than 800 victories.

“I’ve always enjoyed just kind of helping out,” the newest head coach said. “I enjoyed helping out Todd when I helped him and helping Coach (Jason) Johnson and doing the B team. I really didn’t have a real big desire to be the man in charge, but I do enjoy it (coaching). It’s a big deal to be here at Alexandria where I’m from and where Daddy coached.

“Honestly, I just enjoy doing it. I tell everybody doing junior high football, coaching that, was about the funnest time I have. Any kind of coaching to me is fun. That’s what I’ve always dreamed of doing, so it doesn’t matter if it’s junior high or B-team or varsity I enjoy it. As long as the kids are playing hard, it’s fun.”

Ginn’s first game as a head coach was a back and forth affair. The Valley Cubs jumped out front early, trailed by two at halftime and then pulled away in the second half with an equal-opportunity attack.

Drake Davis (12 points) and Kory Cargal (10) were their two leading scorers, but five others had at least six points and everyone who played scored.

“They came out and kind of punched us in the mouth early,” Ginn said. “I think we were kind of nervous. Cargal, he played last year and got good minutes, but other than that most of our guys have been on the B-team or just didn’t get a lot of minutes last year, so I think they were nervous and rightfully so. Then we kind of settled in and playing a little better.

“We made a push in the third quarter and I thought we did a pretty good job of putting the game away. We did a pretty decent job for the first game of shortening the game and being smart and putting it away.”

With the first win under his belt Now he’s only around 599 wins behind his dad. He goes after win No. 2 Thursday against Moody.

“When I playing in high school somebody asked me a question comparing me to my brothers,” he recalled. “They had already won and I said that’s not even something I even think about because I’m too far behind to ever even compare.

“My brothers had won two state championships in football and one in basketball and I was just scratching and clawing trying to get to Birmingham. I’d be stupid to try to compare myself to him. I’m just trying to do the best I can and represent Alexandria right.”

ALEXANDRIA 64, TALLADEGA 52
ALEXANDRIA – Drake Davis 5 0-1 12, Evan Snow 2 1-2 6, Antonio Ross 4 0-1 8, Jaylen Henderson 3 1-3 8, Matthew McElroy 1 0-0 2, Kory Cargal 3 4-5 10, Cleat Forrest 2 2-3 7, Van Cottrell 1 0-0 2, Caleb Folsom 3 2-2 9. Totals 24 10-16 64.
TALLADEGA – Najeh Swain 5 0-0 10, Kendric Jaylyn Wilson 0 0-0 0, Jaquintex Garrett 3 1-2 8, Jaden Townsel 1 0-0 2, Terrance Swain 4 1-1 9, LeCroy Wallace 2 0-0 4, Dontavious Cochran 2 0-0 4, Rlandis Jones 0 0-1 0, Kenny Jackson 3 1-2 7, Jaylyn Lawson 3 1-3 7. Totals 23 5-9 52

3-point goals: Alexandria 6 (Davis 2, Snow, Henderson, Forrest, Folsom); Talladega 1 (Garrett). Total fouls: Alexandria 14, Talladega 18. Officials: Tillery, Douthitt, Brown.

JACKSONVILLE 69, WHITE PLAINS 39: The Golden Eagles had their hands full with White Plains in the first half, but they looked like a different team coming out of the break.

John Broom scored 17 of his game-high 30 points in the second half when the Golden Eagles outscored the visitors 38-17. The Wildcats had made it a four-point game late in the second quarter before post Ethan Duke hit a 3-pointer and the Golden Eagles started to pull away.

White Plains’ Carter Johnson tied his career high, scoring 18 points for the second straight game. He has scored 52 points in his last three games.

JACKSONVILLE 69, WHITE PLAINS 39
WHITE PLAINS – Carter Johnson 9-12 0-0 18, Luke Bussey 4-11 1-1 10, Daniel Williams 3-5 0-0 6, Z.J. Rosario 1-8 0-0 3, Paul Laube 1-2 0-0 2, Joshua Wheeler 0-2 0-0 0, Dylan Barksdale 0-0 0-0 0, Cameron Almon 0-0 0-0 0, Coleman Ray 0-2 0-0 0, Collin Spivey 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-42 1-1 39.
JACKSONVILLE – John Broom 12-16 2-2 30, Cam Johnson 5-9 0-0 12, Devin Barksdale 2-10 2-4 7, Dee Prothro 2-3 0-1 4, Jaquan Ervin 2-3 0-0 4, Caden Johnson 2-6 0-0 4, Ethan Duke 1-3 0-0 3, Kydric Fisher 1-1 0-0 3, Jaliek Long 1-3 0-0 2, Imoree Young 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-54 4-7 69.

3-point goals: White Plains 2-16 (Bussey 1-7, Williams 0-1, Rosario 1-4, Wheeler 0-2, Ray 0-2); Jacksonville 9-25 (Broom 4-7, Cm. Johnson 2-5, Barksdale 1-9, Cd. Johnson 0-1, Duke 1-1, Fisher 1-1, Long 0-1). Rebounds: White Plains 20 (Bussey 5); Jacksonville 33 (Prothro 9). Total fouls: White Plains 6, Jacksonville 8. Officials: Prociuk, Montgomery, Oden.

JACKSONVILLE CHRISTIAN 62, WELLBORN 50: Ethan Fair scored 20 points and Jordan Garner came within one rebound of a double-double as the Thunder spoiled the coaching debut of Wellborn’s Justin Amberson.

Fair had five rebounds, three assists and five steals to go with his 20 points. Garner scored 13 points and grabbed nine rebounds.

Ethan Tidwell, a 6-foot-8 senior, led Wellborn with 20 points, boosted by four 3-pointers. The Panthers hit 10 3-pointers as a team.

“He had a great game,” Amberson said. “He has really worked on his inside/outside game. I watch and see if he is on and if he is I let him take the shots he wants.

“He is definitely one of our main leaders and it being his senior year he wants to go out with a great year, and we want to give him every opportunity to play the way he wants to play. He is a great inside guy, but he is an outside threat as well.”

JACKSONVILLE CHRISTIAN 62, WELLBORN 50
JCA – Emmanuel Kidd 0 1-2 1, Ethan Fair 7 4-5 20, Tyler Doggrell 1 3-4 6, Braxton Brown 1 0-0 3, Noah Lee 3 0-0 8, Jordan Garner 5 0-1 13, Cam Moses 3 0-0 7, Cooper Bates 2 0-0 4. Totals 22 8-12 62.
WELLBORN – Conner Woodard 1 0-0 2, Xavier Parker 0 0-0 0, Avery Odam 3 2-2 8, Carlos Hubbard 0 0-0 0, Jesse Lewis 1 0-0 3, Ollie Boot 3 0-0 8, Immanual Singleton 0 0-0 0, Raymond Williams 0 0-0 0, Ethan Tidwell 7 2-2 20, Jackson Long 3 0-0 9, Trey Downs 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 4-4 50. Lackey, Taylor, Pratt.

3-point goals: JCA 10 (Fair 2, Doggrell, Lee 3, Garner 3, Moses); Wellborn 10 (Lewis, Boot 2, Tidwell 4, Long 3). Fouled out: Boot. Total fouls: JCA 9, Wellborn 13. Officials: Lackey, Taylor, Pratt.

WESTBROOK CHRISTIAN 62, WEAVER 50: The Warriors hit 13 3-pointers and went 8-for-10 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter to hold off Weaver. Seven Westbrook players hit at least one 3-pointer in the game.

Tristan Brown and Armane Burton led Weaver with 14 points apiece. Jeffrey Miles had 13.

WESTBROOK CHRISTIAN 62, WEAVER 50
WEAVER – Tristan Brown 4 2-2 14, Elijah Smith 1 0-0 3, Jeffrey Miles 5 2-2 13, Dawson Brooks 2 0-2 4, Zach Garner 1 0-0 2, Armane Burton 7 0-3 14. Totals 20 4-9 50.
WESTBROOK – Cam White 3 0-2 9, Steven Barnes 2 3-4 8, Cooper Greer 2 1-2 7, John Gilchrist 0 0-0 0, Keaton Bean 1 0-0 3, Eli Edge 2 3-4 7, Josh Terrell 4 2-2 13, Brady Carden 2 0-0 5, Cam Carden 1 2-2 4, Isaac Armstrong 2 0-0 6. Totals 19 11-16 13.

3-point goals: Weaver 6 (Brown 4, Smith, Miles); Westbrook 13 (White 3, Barnes, Greer 2, Bean, Terrell 3, B. Carden, Armstrong 2). Technical fouls: Miles. Fouled out: Burton.  Total fouls: Weaver 15, Westbrook 9.

FAITH CHRISTIAN 50, SPRING GARDEN 46: Thomas Curlee scored 11 of his game-high 27 points in the first quarter and then the Lions held on. Curlee also grabbed 11 rebounds, while Arevalo had a team-high 13 rebounds.

FAITH CHRISTIAN 50, SPRING GARDEN 46
FAITH CHRISTIAN – Thomas Curlee 10-23 2-4 27, Yoshua Arevalo 3-10 3-6 9, Eli Robinson 3-5 0-2 7, Conner Richerzhagen 2-4 0-0 6, Tyler Bell 0-3 1-4 1, Parker Robertson 0-2 0-0 0, Joseph Carroll 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-47 6-16 50.
SPRING GARDEN – John Welsh 6 0-4 12, Jon Marc Rogers 4 1-5 9, Braxton Haney 0 0-0 0, Conner Bates 4 5-7 13, Chapel Pope 2 0-0 4, Cole Bailey 0 0-0 0, D’Angelo Wright 0 0-0 0, Cam Welsh 3 0-2 8, Totals 19-61 6-17 46.

3-point goals: Faith 8-25 (Curlee 5-11, Arevalo 0-5, Robinson 1-3, Richerzhagen 2-4, Bell 0-1, Robertson 0-1); Spring Garden 2-17 (C. Welsh 2). Rebounds: Faith 34 (Curlee 11, Arevalo 13)
Spring Garden 34. Technical foul: Hughes. Fouled out: Robinson. Total fouls: Faith 16, Spring Garden 18. Officials: Batey, McCord, Wise.

Girls

JACKSONVILLE CHRISTIAN 77, WELLBORN 37: The Lady Thunder placed five scorers in double figures and posted two double-doubles to overwhelm the Lady Panthers.

JCA’s Erin Prater led all scorers with 23 points. Rebekah Carter (10 points, 15 rebounds) and Kara Grace (10/13) had the double-doubles. Addy Lee had 13 points and Kirsten Walker added 11.

WESTBROOK 64, WEAVER 36: The Lady Bearcats stayed with Westbrook for three quarters, before the Lady Warriors pulled away. Westbrook hit five of its seven 3-pointers in the 27-point fourth quarter with Ellison Stewart hitting three and scoring 11 of her 12 points. D.J. Gibbs returned to the Weaver lineup and led the Lady Bearcats with 10 points.

WESTBROOK CHRISTIAN 64, WEAVER 36
WEAVER – Annalynna Canchucaja 1 0-0 2, Erionna Richmond 1 0-2 2, D.J. Gibbs 4 2-2 10, Ellamae Kines 0 1-2 1, Alayia D’Ambrosia 0 0-0 0, Iyanna Wright 0 1-2 1, McKenley Davis 0 0-0 0, Aaliyah Marks 2 0-3 4, Madison Atchley 3 0-0 8, Kimora Miles 3 1-2 8. Totals 14 5-13 36
WESTBROOK CHRISTIAN – Bella Millirons 6 1-4 13, Kylee Wyatt 1 0-0 2, Sara Cate Windle 0 0-0 0, Ellison Stewart 4 1-3 12, Chloe Jones 2 0-0 4, Danielle Prime 1 0-0 2, Gracie Hyfield 1 1-1 3, Kathryn Elam 0 0-2 0, Landri Lipscomb 2 2-2 7, McKayla Bean 4 2-6 11, Keyara Jones 2 0-0 5, Alyvia Carden 2 0-0 5. Totals 25 7-18 64.

3-point goals: Weaver 3 (Atchley 2, Miles); Westbrook 7 (Stewart 3, Lipscomb, Bean, Jones, Carden). Total fouls: Weaver 14, Westbrook 14. Officials: Wofford, Thomas, Smith.

TALLADEGA 66, ALEXANDRIA 44: The Lady Cubs stayed with their hosts for three quarters, then ran out of gas and Talladega pulled away. Zae Cunningham and Kailynn Williams combined for 14 points in the fourth quarter after leading scorers Trinity Webb and Houston Goins did most of their damage in the first three.

Webb and Goins scored 19 points apiece. Cunningham had 14 and Williams had 10. Jordyn Walker and Kirsten Heathcock led Alexandria with 16 and 14 points, respectively.

TALLADEGA 66, ALEXANDRIA 43
ALEXANDRIA – Jordyn Walker 6 2-5 16, Kirsten Heathcock 5 2-4 14, Jill Cockrell 0 0-0 0, Charlee Parris 3 0-0 6, Kailey Dickerson 3 0-0 7, Sumira Duncan 1 0-2 2. Totals 18 4-11 43.
TALLADEGA – Trinity Webb 7 4-7 19, Kailynn Williams 5 0-0 10, Houston Goins 7 2-2 19, Zae Cunningham 7 0-0 14, Keyoshia Garrett 0 0-0 0, Makayala White 2 0-2 4, Jekeria Wilson 0 0-2 0. Totals 28 6-12 66.

3-point goals: Alexandria 3 (Walker 2, Dickerson); Talladega 4 (Webb, Goins 3). Technical fouls: Parris. Total fouls: Alexandria 12, Talladega 11. Officials: Douthitt, Brown, Tillery.

JACKSONVILLE 37, WHITE PLAINS 28
WHITE PLAINS – Isabella Higgins 5-14 2-9 12, Cassidy Arnold 4-6 1-2 10, Braeton Moran 2-7 0-0 4, Hallie Williams 1-2 0-0 2, Abbie Dickeson 0-0 0-0 0, Kylee Provencio 0-1 0-1 0, Chloee Cromer 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 12-39 3-12 28.
JACKSONVILLE – Ashley Grant 6-24 2-2 17, Mya Swain 2-12 2-2 7, Alexis Phillips 2-6 3-4 7, Dee Prothro 3-7 0-0 6, Halaina Lozano 0-2 0-0 0, Ontarriah Braxton 0-0 0-0 0, Olivia Rowan 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 13-51 7-8 37.

3-point goals: White Plains 1-6 (Arnold 1-1, Morgan 0-4, Williams 0-1); Jacksonville 4-23 (Grant 3-12, Swain 1-7, Phillips 0-2, Lozano 0-2). Rebounds: White Plains 35 (Higgins 12, Moran 7); Jacksonville 31 (Prothro 11). Total fouls: White Plains 12, Jacksonville 14.