Anniston, AL – Alexandria boys find their rugged side just in time to fight off young Anniston. Anniston’s girls get clutch trey from Lewis and hold on.
By Joe Medley
Will Ginn has a way he wants his Alexandria teams to play, and he saw it in the final four minutes Tuesday at Anniston.
“We made some threes early and got up on them, and I just feel like we wanted a pretty game,” Ginn said. “We wanted a pretty win, and we’re not a pretty team.
“We’ve got to be a nasty team.”
Alexandria’s nasty side answered Anniston’s 13 unanswered points with the Valley Cubs’ decisive run in a 56-52 victory.
Quendavion McDowell led the way with 18 points, Cole Wheeler added 15 with three 3-pointers and Jaylen Henderson turned in 10 points as the Valley Cubs improved to 7-1.
Anniston (3-3) got 16 points apiece from Kyree Lewis and Dylan Goodson and 10 from Caleb Ackles while falling in another close game. The Bulldogs also lost a one-point game to Childersburg and a four-point game in overtime to Handley.
“We lost six seniors (from last season), and we brought back zero points and zero rebounds a game from last year,” Anniston coach Torry Brown said. “This is an entire new group … but we’re about 10 points away from being, pretty much, undefeated, if you want to look at the glass half full.”
Anniston’s glass looked full during two stretches Tuesday, ralling from an 18-8 deficit to pull within 27-26 at halftime then going on a 13-0 tear to take a 45-40 lead through three quarters.
The run coincided with Jakorie Carr’s return to action after first-half foul troubles.
“Once we got him back in the game, I felt like we could give them a different look,” Brown said. “We gave them a different look, and it was successful, but we just didn’t make the plays down the stretch.”
Alexandria did, outscoring Anniston 16-7 in the fourth quarter. The Valley Cubs retook the lead, 49-48, when Henderson put back his own miss.
The Valley Cubs’ next possession saw Cleat Forrest break open for a corner 3-pointer on McDowell’s assist to make it 52-48.
Ginn said Alexandria switched to a zone trap to goose its big finish, but it was more about a mindset in the final four minutes..
“This team right here is very aggressive,” McDowell said. “When we get into games like this, we’re going to have to have that nasty if we want to win.”
Girls
ANNISTON 30, ALEXANDRIA 28: It’s a stretch to say that Anniston’s Liberty Lewis shot blindly when she hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 35 seconds left.
The sophomore did, however, lose her left contact lens just before catching the ball and shooting from the left corner.
“My contact really fell out, but I was just thinking, ‘I’ve got to take this shot,’” she said. “It was a 50-50 percent chance it would go in, so I was just thinking, ‘I’ve got to get it off.’”
Lewis’ trey answered Allyssa Hunt’s go-ahead bucket and put Anniston back up 29-28, and the Bulldogs held on down the stretch.
Alexandria had an opportunity with Hunt catching the ball on the block, but her contested shot missed.
“I thought we made the right play there at the end of the game,” Alexandria coach Craig Kiker said. “The ball just didn’t go in.
“I thought we made them shoot the shot we wanted them to shoot on the other end, the three in the corner, and it went in. Ours didn’t. Other than that, I thought we scrapped and clawed and played pretty good.”
Hunt scored a game-high 10 points, and Samira Duncan added nine for Alexandria (4-5).
Lewis and Jada Fomby led Anniston (8-3) with eight points apiece. Lewis had both of Anniston’s 3-pointers, both in the second half.
Anniston has one senior and six sophomores, three in the starting lineup.
“We’re going to go through growing pains the whole year,” Anniston coach Eddie Bullock said. “The ball just bounced our way this time.”
