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December 22, 2021  
East Alabama Sports Today  

Faith Christian scores second straight OT victory in Cherokee County Invitational; Piedmont drops second straight, and more

Bear and Sons

MONDAY’S GAMES
Regular season
Boys games
Cleburne County 73, Ohatchee 42
Lincoln 80, Childersburg 71
Girls games
Cleburne County 61, Ohatchee 47
Pleasant Valley at Pigeon Forge (Tenn.), 7:30 p.m.

Cherokee County Invitational
Girls games
Collinsville 68, Cedar Bluff 14
Sand Rock 83, Alexandria 43
Handley 62, Cherokee County 48
Spring Garden 65, Etowah 20
Boys games
Collinsville 59, Cedar Bluff 47
Faith Christian 60, Sand Rock 58 (OT)
Cherokee County 80, Handley 54
Scottsboro 69, Spring Garden 56

Gaston Christmas Classic
Boys bracket
Game 1: Springville 50, Piedmont 38
Game 2: Moody 54, Boaz 36
Game 3: Pell City 62, Ashville 24
Game 4: Southeastern 59, Gaston 46
Girls bracket
Game 1: Talladega Co. Central 73, Southeastern 57
Game 2: Westbrook Christian 53, Piedmont 27
Game 3: Ranburne 67, Ashville 29
Game 4: Gaston 45, West End 30

Pat Ball Memorial Classic, Hokes Bluff
Game 1: Oneonta 64, Westbrook Christian 58
Game 2: Saks 63, New Hope 37

Ragland Christmas Classic
Boys bracket
B.B. Comer 47, Appalachian 35
Ragland 65, West End 47
Girls bracket
Wadley 75, Victory Christian 55
Ragland 50, St. Clair County 35

Wills Valley Shootout, Fort Payne
Girls games
Pell City 47, Anniston 41
Albertville vs. Coffee County (Tenn.), 2 p.m.
Fort Payne vs. Boaz, 5 p.m.
Boys games
Athens vs. Central Magnet (Tenn.), 3:30 p.m.
Fort Payne 62, Lawrence County (Tenn.) 47

CENTRE – At the rate his team has been going recently, first-year Faith Christian boys basketball coach Cory Hughes will become an old coach before he gets old.

Hughes’ Lions scored their second overtime victory in as many games Monday in the Cherokee County Invitational, this time 60-58 over Sand Rock for their ninth win in a row.

“It was one of those things we were literally trying to give them the game,” Hughes said. “They gave us every opportunity to win and we couldn’t do it.”

Faith missed a chance to win it with one second left in regulation when Jacques Prater missed two free throws; the Lions were 15 of 39 from the line in the game. The Wildcats tied it with five seconds to go on a put back off a missed second free throw.

Ethan Richerzhagen’s 3-pointer gave the Lions the lead in overtime and they held on as Sand Rock’s Bradley Jackson missed a potential game-winning 3 at the buzzer.

“I’m just worried Coach (Ricky) Austin (of Spring Garden) is not going to invite us back,” Hughes said. “I told him before we show up you’re ahead of schedule and after we play we put them behind.”

Thomas Curlee led Faith with 26 points on 11-of-22 shooting and five steals, but fouled out in the final three minutes of regulation. Richerzhagen scored five points in overtime and finished with 23. He was 7-of-13 from the floor and 7-of-16 from the line.  

“I told the guys I should take you to the Grand Canyon and let you dangle your feet over the edge; you like a thrill.” Hughes said. “They like playing it close.”

Ragland Christmas Classic

RAGLAND — Ragland’s boys put together a big second half and its girls recovered from a slow start to earn spots in their respective championship games of the Ragland Christmas Classic.

Ragland’s boys scored 42 points in the second half to pull away from West End 65-47. They will play B.B. Comer, a 47-35 winner over Appalachian, in their championship game Tuesday night.

The girls used a big third quarter to open a big lead and turned back St. Clair County 50-35. They will play Wadley, a 75-55 winner over Victory Christian, in their title game.

Javaris Turner hit four 3-pointers and led the Purple Devils with 16 points. D.J. Turner scored 10 of his 14 in the second half, Braxton Layton had nine of his 13 in the half and Jordan Turner had seven of his 10 in the half.

The Lady Purple Devils trailed 10-9 after the first quarter, then outscored the Saints 28-8 over the next two quarters to pull away. Cadence Buchanan scored 12 of her game-high 19 points in the middle two quarters, Sammie Day-Jones had eight of her 11 in the stretch and Rylee Mickler had six of her 10 in the run.

Regular season
Girls

CLEBURNE COUNTY 61, OHATCHEE 47: Brooklyn McDaniel and Hailey Price each scored seven points in the second quarter to help the Lady Tigers establish the lead and Faith Brown had a big second half to help them finish it off.

McDaniel finished with 20 points, Brown 19 and Price 16 for the Lady Tigers. Brown had 13 in the second half. Jorda Crook led Ohatchee with 24 points and Gracie George had 17.

Boys

CLEBURNE COUNTY 73, OHATCHEE 42: Seven players hit 10 3-pointers for the Tigers and 11 players scored for the Tigers. Dayleon Brown hit three of the 3s and led all scorers with 20 points. Dee Prothro had 12 points. Kelbe Crook led Ohatchee with 11. [**read more]

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