December 12, 2021
By Shannon Fagan
Special to East Alabama Sports Today
For second game in as many days, Odam takes over when Piedmont needs him most; Cherokee County, Cleburne County girls win
SATURDAY’S BOYS SCORES
Regular season
Glencoe 69, Collinsville 36
Piedmont 65, Cherokee County 52
Domino’s Classic, Rainsville
Oxford 53, Hartselle 42
Huffman 69, Anniston 46
SATURDAY’S GIRLS SCORES
Cherokee County 75, Piedmont 57
Cleburne County 55, Faith Christian 24
CENTRE – For the better part of three quarters Saturday, the Cherokee County Warriors had things under control against rival Piedmont in their first home basketball game of the season.
But Warriors head coach Caleb Hays knew the Alex Odam run was coming – and it did – again.
Odam scored 14 of his game-high 29 points in the fourth quarter, turning a nine-point deficit into the Bulldogs’ third straight victory, 65-52. The junior was 9-of-10 from the free-throw line in the quarter (15-of-17 in the game). In addition, he sank a 3-pointer near the end of the third quarter and another to start the fourth as part of an 18-0 Bulldog run.
“We went into a timeout and (Coach JoJo Odam) kind of got on us a little bit,” Alex said. “He lit a fire under us, and we came out and played harder I think.
“We knew we had to go. It was getting that time. I feel like I had to turn it up a little bit.”
The same thing happened the night before when Odam took over down the stretch to help the Bulldogs pull away at Pleasant Valley.
Odam’s father and head coach said sometimes his son is “too unselfish.”
“Sometimes he might should shoot it more, but he does a good job getting those guys the ball,” the elder Odam said. “He loves playing with these guys. They all get along. There’s no jealousy. He does a good job finding them. They’re okay with him shooting it when he does, and he rewards them and gets them in the game.”
The Warriors (4-4) got into foul trouble when Piedmont (3-0) switched to a zone defense.
“We haven’t even practiced it (the zone), but we said ‘Let’s try it’ and it worked,” Coach Odam said. “I don’t know if that helped, but it kind of changed the game, I think. It kind of slowed them down, kind of got them out of their offense I think.
“They’re shooters, so we knew we had to guard them, match up with them once they got it. I think that was kind of the turning point.”
Cherokee County led 18-16 at the end of the first quarter. The game was tied at 32 at the break. The Warriors built a 44-35 advantage with 1:14 left in the third quarter on a rebound and put back by Jaden Wilson.
But then Alex Odam began to take over.
Hays said the fourth quarter “seemed like it became the No. 1 show (Odam’s jersey number) for Piedmont.”
“I thought the third quarter we came out really strong, and up until that last minute, I thought ‘Man, we’ve held them to three points this quarter,’” Hays said. “I knew at some point he was coming.
“We were trying to keep the energy, trying to make sure the help defense was going to be there for him, but he hit some big shots and made some plays.”
Omarion Foster added 11 points for the Bulldogs and Cole Wilson had a pair of 3s and finished with nine. Jack Amos topped the Warriors with 19 points, including three 3-pointers.
Shannon Fagan is Sports Director for WEIS Radio in Centre. [**read more]
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