Fort Payne, AL – Calloway’s 3-pointer lifts Oxford boys to 6A, Area 13 title. Harris’ 3-pointer lifts Faith Christian to 1A, Area 8 title. Anniston, Southside and Cherokee County girls win area titles.
Oxford’s victory-over-adversity tour scored an improbable conquest Tuesday.
Dashaun Calloway’s 3-pointer with 19 seconds left stood up, and the Yellow Jackets stunned top seed and host Fort Payne 42-39 to win the Class 6A, Area 13 tournament.
Having gone most of the season without injured shooting guard T.J. Allen, and having lost several close games, Oxford entered the tournament as the third seed in a three-team area. They eliminated Gadsden City on Saturday then beat Fort Payne on Tuesday.
The Yellow Jackets will play host to the Huffman-Gardendale loser in Saturday’s 6 p.m. subregional.
“Defensively, we were locked in all night,” Oxford coach Joel Van Meter said. “I thought we made them work for everything.
“They did a great job of attacking some areas of our zone and making adjustments. We did, in turn, make some adjustments and were able to get some stops.”
Jaylen Alexander led Oxford with 17 points, including three 3-pointers. Calloway added 13 with two threes, and Jayden Lewis scored 12.
“We did a great job of gang rebounding, but Jayden Lewis controlled the glass,” Van Meter said. “Dashaun made the three off the dribble with :19 left to put us up three. We were able to get a stop and Jayden got a big rebound to seal it.”
Class 1A, Area 8 boys
FAITH CHRISTIAN 43, WINTERBORO 42: Most valuable player Carson Harris’ 3-pointer with 40 seconds left stood up, and No. 2 seed Faith Christian got to 16-16 on the season after beating host and top seed Winterboro in the final.
Harris’ 3-pointer put Faith up 43-41.
After Winterboro called timeout at 0:14, Brandon Hunter drove the lane and got fouled but missed the second of two foul shots.
Hunter scored a game-high 19 points.
Harris finished with seven points. His clutch three marked his only points of the second half.
Colton Reese hit two threes on the way to 16 points, and Joseph Carroll hit three fourth-quarter threes to finish with nine points.
Faith will play host to Gaylesville in Saturday’s 6 p.m. subregional.
Class 4A, Area 8 girls
ANNISTON 47, HANDLEY 38: A’Kayla Perry hit two 3-pointers on the way to a team-high 10 points, and top seed Anniston won the area title at home,
The Bulldogs will play host to Etowah in Friday’s 6 p.m. subregional. Handley will go on the road to play Ashville.
Tykeria Smith and Kiara Thomas added eight points apiece for Anniston, and Layla Tyus scored seven.
Takeira Tucker paced Handley with eight points.
Class 5A, Area 12 girls
SOUTHSIDE 63, ALEXANDRIA 24: Madison Shaw led the way with 13 points, and Southside made it back-to-back area titles.
The Panthers will play host to the Scottsboro-Guntersville loser in the subregional round on Friday at 6 p.m. Alexandria will go on the road to play the Scottsboro-Guntersville winner.
Scottsboro and Guntersville play Wednesday.
Grace Anne Rose added 11 points and nine rebounds, and Sara Kate Yancey scored 10 for Southside.
Alexandria’s Charlee Parris scored a game-high 17 points, including five 3-pointers. Samira Duncan had the Valley Cubs’ other field goal, a three.
Class 4A, Area 10 girls
CHEROKEE COUNTY 61, JACKSONVILLE 47: Top seed and host Cherokee County claimed the area title and will play host to Area 14 runner-up Madison County in the subregional round on Friday at 6 p.m.
No. 2 seed Jacksonville, the runner-up, will go on the road to play New Hope.
Neveah Nicholson paced Jacksonville with 17 points, and Alexis Phllips added 15 to go with six rebounds.
Class 2A, Area 7 boys
B.B. COMER 54, THORSBY 46: Kamore Harris scored 22 points to lead Comer into Thursday’s 7 p.m. area final against Central Coosa.
The Tigers also got 11 points from Cam Gaddis, nine from Chris Wilson and eight from Tae Swain.
Piedmont’s boys play host to Weaver in the Class 3A, Area 11 championship game. The winner also gets to play host to a subregional games.
Photos by Joe Medley
Photos by Joe Medley
