Getting Started – Basketball Season in Calhoun County is Underway

December 8, 2021  
By Al Muskewitz  
East Alabama Sports Today  

Piedmont opens its season with area win over Ohatchee, Odam goes for 27; Faith makes it 6 in a row, Jacksonville gets back on track and more boys games

TUESDAY’S SCORES
Alexandria 59, Moody 49
Anniston 80, White Plains 45
Donoho 61, Ranburne 51
Faith Christian 62, Coosa Christian 60
Jacksonville 93, Cherokee County 72
Piedmont 70, Ohatchee 43
Ragland 64, Victory Christian 34
Southside 55, Glencoe 50
Weaver 71, Pleasant Valley 61

PIEDMONT – Alex Odam got the ball out on the left wing with barely 15 seconds gone in the season. He surveyed the situation down around the basket looking for an opening. Suddenly, a wide lane opened to the basket and the Piedmont guard didn’t hesitate to make his move.

He drove hard to the basket and laid it in for the first points of the game. And, thus, it began.

Odam scored 27 points and controlled the action on the floor as the Bulldogs opened their season Tuesday night with a 70-41 area victory over Ohatchee.

Things started rather slow for for the Bulldogs, understandable since their state championship football season ended five days ago and the full basketball team had only two practices together.

Odam had only one other shot and two more points on free throws the rest of the quarter after his initial bucket. But the junior got going in the second, hitting eight of nine shots to throw in 17 as the Bulldogs outscored the Indians 28-9 to stretch a one-point lead to 20 at halftime. He made five straight shots for 10 points in an 11-2 run that put the Bulldogs in control.

In addition to his points, Odam grabbed three rebounds, had three steals, six regular assists and four more “coaches assists” – passes that get a teammate in position to score, but he gets fouled on the way has to settle for a couple foul shots.

“I was pretty comfortable,” he said. “I didn’t get a lot of in-rhythm shots, but it was pretty comfortable. I wanted to make a statement early and then I let everyone else get going. When the score was still kind of close I felt like I had to get more involved.”

Two of his sharpest real assists were a bullet pass to Omarion Foster for a layup that put the Bulldogs in front for good 11-10 and later in the game he took it all the way to the basket and gave up a sure layup to swing around and whip it into Chance Murphy for an easy two. Foster finished with 16 points and Murphy had four. 

“This is probably the smartest team I’ve ever played with,” he said. “They know it better than teams in the past. It’s easy to play with those guys, they cut a lot and stuff like that. I really enjoy this group.”

In assessing his team’s opening-night performance, Piedmont coach JoJo Odam said it was about what he expected. [**read more]

Class 4A Area 9

ANNISTON 80, WHITE PLAINS 45: Antonio Kite scored all 20 of his points in the first half, 14 in a 34-point second quarter that carried the Bulldogs to a 57-16 halftime lead.

Kite, who didn’t play in the second half, had five of Anniston’s 11 3-pointers. Talib Christian had 17 points, eight in the third quarter, Kentucky move-back C.J. Munford had 13 (all in the first half) and Martez Reed had 10.

Z.J. Rosario led White Plains with 14 points. He was 8-of-10 from the free throw line and the Wildcats’ only scorer in double figures. [**read more]

Class 4A Area 10

JACKSONVILLE 93, CHEROKEE COUNTY 72: John Broom scored 20 points, Caden Johnson posted a double-double and the Golden Eagles bounced back from a tough loss on the road to pick up an area victory. 

Broom went 7-of-12 from the floor and also had four rebounds and two assists. Johnson had 14 points and 14 rebounds. Freshman Devin Barksdale scored 14 points, grabbed five rebounds and had three steals. Cade Phillips was 5-for-5 from the floor, scored 10 points and blocked six shots.

Cherokee County’s Jackson Amos led all scorers with 25 points. [**read more]

Class 5A Area 11

ALEXANDRIA 59, MOODY 49: D’Anthony Wright went for 25 points and Julian Wright scored nine of his 18 in the first quarter to get the Valley Cubs started. [**read more]

Class 1A Area 10

FAITH CHRISTIAN 62, COOSA CHRISTIAN 60: Ethan Richerzhagen scored 26 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in 26 minutes and the Lions held on at the end to win their sixth in a row and go 4-0 in their area.

Jacques Prater had 17 points and Yoshua Arevalo came up big for the second time in as many nights with 11 points, eight boards and three assists. Arevalo had 11 points and five rebounds in Faith’s win over JCA Monday night. The Lions (8-4) played without high-scoring forward Thomsa Curlee, who missed the game due to illness.

DONOHO 61, RANBURNE 51: Drew Williamson had 10 of his 18 first-half points in the second quarter as the Falcons took control with a 22-8 period. Williamson finished with 28 points. Eric Tolson scored 13 of his 15 in the second half as the Falcons put the finishing touches on the game. [**read more]

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