Piedmont, AL – Piedmont senior breaks school single-game scoring record as Bulldogs down Hokes Bluff; Faith Christian, Glencoe also advance to Northeast Regional
How primed is Alex Odam to make his last run as a high school basketball player? How about school-record, 59-points ready. The Piedmont senior reeled off his Rembrandt Tuesday and reached a new round figure in career scoring as the Bulldogs downed Hokes Bluff 96-46 in a Class 3A Northeast subregional. The victory lifted Piedmont back into the Northeast Regional for the 14th time. The Bulldogs (24-5) will play Geraldine in Monday’s 1:30 p.m. regional semifinal at Pete Mathews Coliseum. Glencoe and Plainview will play in other semifinal at 10:30 a.m.
Odam scored 47 points while helping Piedmont build a 50-38 lead at halftime. His 59 points overall broke Danny Bryan’s previous school record of 51, also set against Hokes Bluff on Feb. 11, 1966. Odam extended his school career record to 3,200 points, which is 12th on the state boys all-time scoring list. He has 743 points this season, 46 shy of passing Bryant for second on the school’s single-season list. Randall Ridley holds that record (815 in 1978-79) Odam said playing his last game in Piedmont’s gymnasium brought extra motivation. Otherwise, “I don’t know, really,” he said. “Just one of those nights, I guess.”
Piedmont coach Jonathan Odam said the Bulldogs needed every bit of Odam’s 47 first-half points. “Everybody was like, ‘Why didn’t you let him get 60?’” said Jonathan, also Alex’s father. “I didn’t have any idea. “He just went out and had a good one. He knew that was going to be his last one at Piedmont and wanted to go out with a bang.”
GLENCOE 54, SAKS 45: Ryan Chambless played his high school ball just down Alexandria-Jacksonville Road from Pete Mathews Coliseum, at Alexandria. He played for Jacksonville State University, and his Jacksonville High girls’ teams won two Northeast Regional titles. Now, he gets to bring his latest team to The Pete for another Northeast Regional.
Garrett Morgan scored 20 points, and Glencoe downed Saks 54-55 in Tuesday’s Class 3A subregional at Glencoe. The Yellow Jackets (17-12) will make their 13th Northeast Regional appearance and first since 2017. They will play Plainview in Monday’s 10:30 a.m. regional semifinal. “It’s good to get back there,” Chambless said.
To get there, he had to beat former high school teammate Jonathan Miller’s Saks team. Miller, who graduated two years ahead of Chambless at Alexandria, had his team up 22-20 at halftime and 41-35 through three quarters. Glencoe reeled off a 19-4 fourth quarter. “Saks outhustled us in the first three quarters,” Chambless said. “We did finish well the last five or six minutes, and that was the difference in the game.”
Anthony Bothwell led the way for Saks, which finished 10-13. “We played our best ball of the year the last three games,” Miller said. “Our team just couldn’t make enough shots tonight and throughout the course of the year.”
Class 1A
FAITH CHRISTIAN 81, RAGLAND 68: Faith Christian blistered the nets to the tune of 13 3-pointers and fought off Ragland rallies to advance to the Northeast Regional. The Lions will make their seventh Northeast Regional appearance and make it back-to-back appearances for the first time since 2004-05. They will play Oakwood Academy in Monday’s 7:30 p.m. Class 1A semifinal in Pete Mathews Coliseum.
Oakwood was the team Faith would’ve played in last year’s semifinals, but the Seventh Day Adventist school forfeited the Saturday afternoon game. The Seventh Day Adventist Church keeps the Sabbath from sundown on Friday to sundown on Saturday. The only complication Tuesday was cutting down the nets. The ladder was set up, but the Lions struggled to figure it out. ”It is quite obvious that we have not practiced that, but it is OK,” said a smiling Lions head coach Cory Hughes.
Thomas Curlee poured in 33 points, including a 3-pointer. The Lions took the lead at 7-6 and never trailed the rest of the way. It was not easy, as the Lions would pull ahead by eight points in the first quarter, and Ragland cut it back to 17-16 by quarter’s end. The Lions went up seven in the second quarter, and Ragland cut the lead back to 33-32.
Faith opened up 60-51 lead in the second half, but the Purple Devils chopped the lead to 60-58 with seven minutes left. The Purple Devils missed several chances to tie the game, but the Lions started a 14-point run when Conner Richerzhagen buried back-to-back 3-pointers. He had seven threes on the night and poured in 23 points. Yashua Arevalo added 13 points for the Lions. Jordan Turner led Ragland with 24 points. Taco Soles bulled his way around the lane for 17 points, and Ezra Hill scored 15. “We played really good, offensively, tonight,” Hughes said. ”Our defense made them take tough shots, but they were able to hit a few of them tonight, as they are a good team.” — Brant Locklier
Class 2A
LAFAYETTE 79, PLEASANT VALLEY 63: Film study told Pleasant Valley coach Brad Hood to set up his defense to shut down the lane. That’s what he did and it worked, but Lafayette burned the Raiders from the outside. The Bulldogs hit six 3-pointers in the game and just had too much depth and experience for the young Raiders to overcome. “They shot it pretty good,” Hood said. “They had a couple guys hit 3s. I watched five films and they hadn’t hit one. We went to a zone. I never run zone. I think I overcoached them running a zone.”
The Bulldogs got their night started with two putback dunks in the first quarter, but that didn’t faze the Raiders and they only trailed by three. It was the 3-pointers. It was a 12-point game at halftime, then LaFayette hit four 3s in third quarter, two by Martavian Dunn, when the Bulldogs scored 29 points to seize control. The Bulldogs placed three scorers in double figures, led by DeAundra Vines’ 16 with two 3-pointers.
The Raiders were trying to reach the regionals for the first time since 2000 with a team that came into the season with a lot of question marks. The coach of that last regional team, Shane Sanderson, was in attendance, arrived early and spent time on the PV bench. “That meant a lot to the kids,” Hood said. “Even though he didn’t know them, they knew him because I talk about him all the time. He was proud of their effort.” Kyle Smith led the Raiders with 19 points. Hunter Sparks had an “impressive” 18 points, mostly from under the rim, and Jesse Gannaway had 12. Kolby Sparks, the team’s only senior, had nine points in his final high school game.
“Our fans were so proud of our guys for the heart they showed,” Hood said. “I said that’s because you competed for four quarters to the best of your ability. Did the shots fall; no. Did you make some mistakes; yeah. Did you ever quit; definitely not. “The kids learned tonight. This is a huge stepping stone for our program.”
Class 5A
MOODY 68, ALEXANDRIA 65 (OT): Davion Dozier scored six of his game-high 21 points in overtime for the Blue Devils after they missed a chance to win it in regulation at the foul line in the closing seconds. Q McDowell led Alexandria with 14 points, with nine coming in the second half and four in overtime. Jaylen Henderson had 13 and Kory Cargal 12. The Valley Cubs hit eight 3-pointers in the game, but none in the fourth quarter or overtime. Kolby Seymour had 18 and Carson Dillashaw 14 for Moody. [read more…]
