Jacksonville, AL – Thursday boys roundup: JCA, Gaylesville put up 80 3-pointers, connect on 24; Piedmont suffers first loss; will be updated
THURSDAY’S BOYS GAMES
Anniston 51, Lincoln 41
Cherokee County 77, Alexandria 59
Handley 63, Munford 31
Jacksonville Christian 84, Gaylesville 65
Jacksonville 87, Talladega 69
Saks 61, Wellborn 33
Spring Garden 56, Cedar Bluff 52
Westbrook Christian 63, Piedmont 60
By Al Muskewitz
Jacksonville Christian and Gaylesville didn’t really live outside the 3-point arc all game Thursday night, it just looked that way.
In a softer, high school version of Grinnell College’s 111-shot 3-for-all last Thursday, the two Class 1A teams combined to hit 24 of 80 3-point attempts before the Thunder came away with an 84-65 area victory.
Five JCA players connected on 10 of the team’s 36 attempts from 3-point range. Gaylesville’s shot chart shows the Trojans hitting 14-of-44 with “Super” Kuper Bradley – a freshman – draining eight of them.
“We didn’t go into the game with any intention of living at the 3-point line,” Thunder coach Tommy Miller said. “I didn’t think we played quite as well inside as we’re capable of playing, but we had open shots out there. We didn’t really plan that, it just worked out that way.”
The 80 combined 3-point attempts become part of a three-way tie on the AHSAA’s all-time list with Plainview-North Sand Mountain and Headland-Rehobeth games, both in the 2017-18 season. A 2021 Plainview-Spring Garden game holds the record (90).
The 24 combined made 3s tied the Headland-Rehobeth game for 10th on the state’s all-time single-game list.
It might not have been designed that way by JCA (7-3), but it certainly was by the one-win Trojans (1-10). Ten of the Trojans’ first 12 buckets were 3s and at one stretch there were nine in a row. They took a total of 21 shots inside the arc.
“You see we really don’t have a big guy, so we do live out there,” first-year Gaylesville coach Colby Brannon said. “On the season we shoot about 6-7 points (better) inside. We hit shots tonight, we just didn’t play defense.
“We did on offense what we’d like to do. Our goal is usually 60 shots – 40/20 (favoring) 3s. When we shoot 3s, it’s like 0.68 points per shot and for 2s it’s about 0.73. We might as well shoot them out there, they’re roughly the same.
“We’ve got one senior who plays a lot, so we’re young. Our thing is the more we can shoot this year, the better we’ll shoot it next year. Unless somebody moves in who’s a big guy, that’s what we’re going to be having to do.”
The Thunder took control of the game with a 14-1 run over the first and second quarters after the Trojans hit back-to-back 3s to get within 15-13. When the Trojans did start scoring in the second quarter it was from beyond the arc. Curiously, they could hit the 3 in the quarter – they had five – but they couldn’t make a free throw and JCA led 50-29 at the break.
In the second half, it was almost all 3s. JCA had four among its 12 field goals in the half, plus one three-point play. Six of Gaylesville’s 10 were 3-balls.
Every player but one who got in the game for JCA took at least one 3-pointer. Fair was 4-of-10 from beyond the arc and led JCA with 20 points. Jordan Garner, Tyler Doggrell and Cooper Bates all were strong inside the arc and scored 17, 11 and 11, respectively.
Doggrell scored eight straight points for JCA at the end of the first half. Garner scored the Thunder’s first seven points of the second half. Doggrell also grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds and Garner had nine.
“Our five starters, all of them are capable of scoring,” Miller said. “And coming off the bench we have Bates inside who can score some and Noah (Lee) can make 3s and he can go inside. We do try to spread the ball around, get to the open man. We’re not trying to get it just to person.”
GAYLESVILLE (1-10) – Collin Hendon 4 0-3 11, Kuper Bradley 9 1-2 27, Karrson Ray 0 1-3 1, J.J. Yarbrough 1 0-0 3, Matthew Cox 0 0-2 0, Kyler Bradley 2 3-5 8, Tanner Eads 4 4-8 12, Braden Sharp 0 0-0 0, Caden Angle 1 0-0 3. Totals 21 9-23 65.
JACKSONVILLE CHRISTIAN (7-3) – Ethan Fair 6 5-6 21, Travis Barnhill 0 1-2 1, Tyler Doggrell 5 1-1 11, Braxton Brown 2 0-0 6, Noah Lee 2 0-0 6, Justin Crocker 0 0-0 0, Jordan Garner 6 4-8 17, Asher McNeal 0 0-0 0, Cam Moses 3 1-3 7, Elijah Martin 0 0-0 0, Cooper Bates 5 1-2 11, Hunter Brown 1 1-2 4. Totals 30 14-24 84.
Gaylesville 14 15 19 17 – 65
JCA 21 29 20 14 – 84
3-point goals: Gaylesville 14 (Hendon 3, Ku. Bradley 8, Yarbrough, Ky. Bradley, Angle); JCA 10 (Fair 4, B. Brown 2, Lee 2, Garner, H. Brown). Rebounds: JCA 52 (Doggrell 11, Garner 9, Moses 9, Lee 8). Fouled out: Ky. Bradley. Total fouls: Gaylesville 19, JCA 18. Officials: Burroughs, Nelms, Hoffman.
WESTBROOK 63, PIEDMONT 60: Eli Edge hit four free throws in the final 28 seconds and Westbrook held its breath as Ish Bethel and Alex Odam missed potential game-tying 3-pointers in the final 11 seconds of a cold fourth quarter.
The Warriors held Piedmont to six points in the fourth quarter and handed the Bulldogs (4-1) their first loss of the season.
Edge led all scorers with 21 points. Odam led Piedmont with 20. Cole Wilson scored 19 with five 3-pointers and Rollie Pinto had another double-figure night with 11 points.
PIEDMONT (4-1) – Alex Odam 9 2-5 20, Rollie Pinto 5 1-2 11, Ish Bethel 3 0-0 7, Colten Proctor 1 0-0 2, Rhett Alford 0 1-2 1, Luke Rhinehart 0 0-0 0, Trevor Pike 0 0-0 0, Chance Murphy 0 0-0 0, Cole Wilson 7 0-0 19. Totals 25 4-9 60.
WESTBROOK (8-1) – Cam White 4 0-0 11, Steven Barnes 0 0-0 0, Eli Edge 7 7-7 21, Josh Terrell 5 0-1 15, Brady Carden 3 0-0 7, Cameron Carden 3 0-0 5, Isaac Armstrong 1 0-0 3, Cole Potter 0 0-0 0, Ben Morrison 0 1-2 1. Totals 22 8-10 63.
Piedmont 21 12 21 6 – 60
Westbrook 14 14 22 13 – 63
3-point goals: Piedmont 6 (Bethel, Wilson 5); Westbrook 11 (White 3, Terrell 5, B. Carden, C. Carden, Armstrong). Total fouls: Piedmont 16, Westbrook 12. Officials: Battles, Thomas, Ingram.
JACKSONVILLE 87, TALLADEGA 68: Devin Barksdale returned to the Golden Eagles’ lineup after missing several games with an ankle injury and hit 3 of 5 3-pointers off the bench for 12 points to join three other double-figure scorers.
John Broom led all scorers with 28 points behind 12-of-16 shooting from the floor. He also had four assists and five steals. Twin teammates Caden and Cam Johnson had 18 and 16, respectively. Caden Johnson led the Golden Eagles with nine rebounds.
The Tigers also placed four scorers in double figures. Najeh (18/11) and Terrance Swain (10/14) both had double-doubles (points/rebounds). Jaden Townsel had 16 points and Dontavious Cochran 15.
JACKSONVILLE – John Broom 12-16 1-2 26, Caden Johnson 5-11 8-12 18, Cam Johnson 6-10 3-4 16, Devin Barksdale 4-7 3-5 12, Kydric Fisher 2-5 0-0 6, Jaleik Long 2-7 1-2 5, Ethan Duke 1-2 0-0 2, Jaquan Ervin 1-1 0-0 2, Dee Prothro 0-0 0-2 0, DaMonte Sinclair 0-0 0-0 0, Imoree Young 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 33-59 14-23 87.
TALLADEGA – Najeh Swain 5-12 8-15 18, Jaden Townsel 5-13 3-4 16, Dontavious Cochran 6-7 1-4 15, Terrance Swain 5-11 0-0 10, Kenny Jackson 1-5 1-2 3, Kendric Wilson 0-1 3-4 3, Jaquintez Garrett 1-8 0-0 2, Lecory Wallace 1-1 0-2 2, Patrick Whiteson 0-2 0-0 0, Rlandis Jones 0-0 0-1 0. Totals 24-60 16-32 69.
Jacksonville 15 27 26 19 – 87
Talladega 11 17 21 20 – 69
3-point goals: Jacksonville 7-17 (Broom 1-2, Cm. Johnson 1-3, Barksdale 3-5, Fisher 2-5, Long 0-2); Talladega 5-16 (N. Swain 0-1, Townsel 3-8, Cochran 2-2, Wilson 0-1, Garrett 0-4). Rebounds: Jacksonville 37 (Cd. Johnson 9); Talladega 43 (T. Swain 14, N. Swain 11). Fouled out: N. Swain. Total fouls: Jacksonville 28, Talladega 20.
SAKS 61, WELLBORN 33: Christian Smith led four Saks scorers in double figures with 16 points, all of it coming in the middle two quarters as the Wildcats stretched the lead. Dee Elston scored eight of his 12 in the first quarter to help the Wildcats open a 19-3 lead. Jakari Streeter (13) and Anthony Bothwell (10) also scored in double figures.
SAKS – Jakari Streeter 6 0-0 13, Dee Elston 5 0-0 12, Joshua Todd 1 0-0 2, Christian Smith 8 0-2 16, Jay Weeks 2 0-4 4, Tae Elston 0 0-0 0, Anthony Bothwell 4 0-0 10, Keondre Johnson 1 2-2 4. Totals 27 2-8 60.
WELLBORN – Avery Odom 3 1-2 7, C.J. Hubbard 0 0-0 0, Jesse Lewis 2 0-0 4, Ollie Boot 2 0-4 6, Raymond Williams 2 0-1 4, Ethan Tidwell 2 2-2 6, Jackson Long 2 0-0 4, Trey Downs 1 0-0 2. Totals 14 3-9 33.
Saks 19 12 15 15 – 61
Wellborn 3 10 11 9 – 33
3-point goals: Saks 4 (Streeter, D. Elston 2, Bothwell); Wellborn 2 (Boot 2). Total fouls: Saks 11, Wellborn 9. Officials: Mahone, Mallicoat, Merritt.
CHEROKEE COUNTY 77, ALEXANDRIA 59: Jack Amos hit three of his four 3-pointers in the first quarter to help stake Cherokee County to the lead and Landon Caldwell finished it off in the second half with all 13 of his points. Amos finished with 20.
ALEXANDRIA – Drake Davis 3 4-4 12, Evan Snow 1 2-2 4, T.K. Downie 5 4-6 14, Jaylen Henderson 0 1-4 1, Matthew McElroy 1 0-0 2, Kory Cargal 7 5-6 19, Cleat Forrest 3 1-2 7. Totals 20 17-24 59.
CHEROKEE COUNTY – Jack Amos 8 0-0 20, Malachi Horton 2 1-2 5, Cade Hopper 4 2-2 12, Jacob Cornejo 1 2-2 4, Jaden Wilson 5 1-2 11, Landon Caldwell 6 1-2 13, Eli Martin 3 0-0 7, Jackson Neyman 0 1-2 1, Niam Dobbins 2 0-2 4, Totals 31 8-14 77.
Alexandria 10 13 16 20 – 59
Cherokee Co. 19 17 22 19 – 77
3-point goals: Alexandria 2 (Davis 2); Cherokee Co. 7 (Amos 4, Hopper 2, Martin). Technical fouls: Horton. Fouled out: Downie, Cargal. Total fouls: Alexandria 17, Cherokee Co. 21. Officials: Childs, Childs, Dupree.
ANNISTON 51, LINCOLN 41: The Bulldogs used a big second quarter to take control of the game and held off the Bears in the fourth quarter. Javen Croft led Anniston with 13 points with eight coming in the fourth. Tripp Ward and Camare Hampton each scored 14 for Lincoln. Ward hit four 3-pointers.
LINCOLN – Kadarrius Stockdale 0 0-0 0, Camare Hampton 5 4-7 14, Khalil Smith 0 2-2 2, Brandon Estelle 1 0-0 2, Kaleb O’Neal 1 2-2 4, Tripp Ward 5 0-0 14, Jamari Dye 2 1-1 5, Brayden Kelley 0 0-0 0, Clenon Groce 0 0-0 0. Total 14 9-11 41.
ANNISTON (7-2) – Jacory Lane 5 0-3 10, Devin Coleman 0 0-0 0, Kyron Brown 2 0-0 4, Jayden Lewis 3 3-5 9, Isiah Allen 0 2-2 2, Jace Roberson 2 0-0 5, Javen Croft 5 3-6 13, Malik Bailey 0 0-0 0, Delroy Francis 3 0-2 6, Hezekiah Harris 1 0-0 2. Totals 21 8-18 51.
Lincoln 12 6 7 16 – 41
Anniston 12 17 11 11 – 51
3-point goals: Lincoln 4 (Ward 4); Anniston 1 (Roberson). Fouled out: Hampton. Total fouls: Lincoln 18, Anniston 15.
