White Plains, AL – White Plains’ boys end regular season with victory at Faith Christian to reach 8-2 since season-turning trip to the beach; Welsh family leads Spring Garden over Donoho, and more
FRIDAY’S BOYS GAMES
Alexandria 62, Saks 42
Fayetteville 57, Talladega Co. Central 49
Glencoe 60, Southside 59
Jacksonville 82, Oxford 44
Jacksonville Christian 86, Valley Head 58
Piedmont 81, Westbrook 48
Ohatchee 70, Ragland 67
Sand Rock 57, Cedar Bluff 40
Spring Garden 70, Donoho 49
White Plains 56, Faith Christian 48
By Joe Medley
Chris Randall could be forgiven for talking about beach trips to Florida on a cold February night, but this was no rather-be-there meandering for the veteran White Plains coach. That Dec. 27-30 tournament has a lot to do with the Wildcats’ stride heading into area-tournament play next week. Stride on White Plains did Friday, absorbing Faith Christian’s senior-night best for a 56-48 victory to round out the regular season.
Faith Christian eyes Tuesday’s Class 1A, Area 8 tourney game against Donoho at Winterboro. Having won eight of its last 10 games, White Plains will face Cherokee County in the 4A, Area 10 tourney at Jacksonville on Thursday. The Wildcats’ recent roll includes a home victory over Cherokee County. Randall points to White Plains’ trip to Sandestin. “I don’t think we’ve had a bad night since we got back from Florida,” Randall said. “We lost two games, but we’ve played hard. We’ve been connected. “We’ve just got to keep doing what we’re doing.”
The seminal moment saw White Plains fall behind 27-5 to Whitewater (Ga.), a school with 2,500 kids. The Wildcats rallied and took the lead in the final minute. A block/charge call with four seconds left decided it. “I just remember Josh Wheeler taking a charge at the very end, and ref getting it wrong,” White Plains senior Luke Bussey said. “We would’ve won, but everybody was pitching in to make plays. Everybody was making the extra pass. “We really played like a team. It looked good.”
Seeing the positives from that game in Florida didn’t happen immediately for Randall. It took White Plains assistant coach Bradley Dawson talking him off of the proverbial ledge. “I’m ready to jump off the roof of the Hilton, and Bradley’s saying, ‘That’s the best thing that could’ve happened to us,’” Randall said. “It just glued us. I think it galvanized us. “It changed our season. It showed our guys what we can do if we played together and grew up and got a lot tougher as a team.” It showed Friday, with a big answer to Faith Christian’s first-quarter challenge. [read more…]
SPRING GARDEN 70, DONOHO 49: There have been Kirks, Welshes and Austins in the Spring Garden basketball program for as long as boys coach Levi Hatcher can remember. In the final regular-season game of the year, the Welsh family combined for 56 points to lead the Panthers to their fifth straight victory. Jake Welsh was the most active, scoring a game-high 30 points and grabbing six rebounds. Twin brother John had 16 points and 11 rebounds. And cousin Cam had 10 points behind three 3-pointers.
“I haven’t been around the program a lot, but there’s not been a year go by where there wasn’t one or two or five of them,” Hatcher said. “All three of them are kind of like our driving forces. We’ve got other players who have their roles and do their things to keep the team going, but John has a high motor, offensive, defensive end he’s constantly laying it out on the line. “Usually he’s the one giving us a lot of buckets on the offensive side, but today he did a great job on defense, rebounding, altering shots. I thought Jake was probably the most aggressive I’ve seen him all year and it’s coming at the right time. We talk about him all the time being a dominant presence, just commanding your space, and he finally did and you can tell by the results what happens.”
Jake got right to it. He scored Spring Garden’s first nine points and had 11 in the first quarter. What he didn’t get, John got on a couple 3s, and then Cam opened the second quarter with the Panthers’ first six points. Jake is averaging 19.0 points during the five-game winning streak. The Panthers led by seven early in the third quarter, then pulled away with a 19-2 run the rest of the way to carry a 24-point lead into the fourth.
“Last night we played Handley and … we ended up pulling that one out, so we had a bunch of confidence going into it,” Hatcher said. “I told them this can’t be one where you had an emotional game the night before and then you have a letdown. “I think we came out a little bit flat on the defensive side, so we just addressed some defensive rotations that needed to take place, a few miscues, and they came out and executed much better the third quarter on the defensive end.” – Al Muskewitz
ALEXANDRIA 62, SAKS 42: Alexandria hit more 3-pointers (12) than two-point field goals (nine) and got out to a 24-7 lead through the first quarter, 39-15 at haftime.
Jaylen Henderson hit a team-high five threes and led the Valley Cubs with 19 points. Drake Davis hit four threes and finished with 14 points.
Cristian Smith paced Saks with 11 points.
Alexandria awaits the Southside-Lincoln winner in Thursday’s Class 5A, Area 12 championship game. Saks will play Weaver in the 3A, Area 11 tourney on Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Piedmont.
GLENCOE 60, SOUTHSIDE 59, OT: Braylen Smith’s free throw with 15 seconds left in overtime stood up as the difference as Glencoe finished the regular season 14-12. The reigning Etowah County champions turn their attention to next week’s Class 3A, Area 12 tournament. The Yellow Jackets will Westbrook Christian on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
Garrett Morgan led four Glencoe players in double figures with 18 points Friday. Wade Segrest added 16, Aiden Cornutt 14 and Andrew Greene 10. Cornutt’s 3-pointer at the end of regulation forced overtime, and the Yellow Jackets went on to celebrate senior night for Greene and Nolan Fairley in style. Cayden McMichael led Southside with 21 points, and William Shirley added 17.
PIEDMONT 81, WESTBROOK CHRISTIAN 48: Rollie Pinto tied Cole Wilson with a team-high three 3-pointers and led Piedmont with 21 points. Wilson scored 12 points.
Alex Odam added 19 points and Ishmael Bethel 15 for the Bulldogs (21-5), who play host to Wellborn in Tuesday’s Class 3A, Area 11 tourney opener.
OHATCHEE 70, RAGLAND 67: Jake Roberson hit four 3-pointers en route to 22 points to lead Ohatchee.
Kelbe Crook added 14 points and Jesse Baswell 12. Baswell hit two threes.
Ohatchee will play Hokes Bluff in the Class 3A, Area 12 tournament on Tuesday.
JACKSONVILLE CHRISTIAN 86, VALLEY HEAD 58: Ethan Fair and Braxton Brown scored 27 points apiece to lead the Thunder (17-8). Fair also grabbed nine rebounds, dished five assists and collected seven steals. Cam Moses had 11 points and Tyler Doggrell had eight rebounds.
