December 14, 2021
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
Phillips’ thunderous dunk off Cam Johnson’s long alley-oop pass highlights Jacksonville’s win over Saks; Handley’s last-minute rally sinks White Plains and more
MONDAY’S BOYS GAMES
Alexandria 65, St. Clair County 48
Handley 64, White Plains 63
Jacksonville 74, Saks 42
MONDAY’S GIRLS GAMES
Alexandria 58, St. Clair County 39
Handley 55, White Plains 54
Jacksonville 44, Saks 16
Ragland 63, Southeastern 48
JACKSONVILLE — Cam Johnson takes his share of 3-pointers in a basketball game, but not everything he launches from behind the arc is necessarily a 3.
The Jacksonville junior got the ball down in the right corner midway through the second quarter Monday night against Saks and let it go towards the goal. It was more of a high-arching pass than a shot as the final result revealed.
Coming from the other corner, 6-9 Cade Phillips launched himself from just inside the 3-point line. He caught the ball at its apex and effortlessly ripped it through the goal for another easy Golden Eagles basket.
It brought the crowd to its feet and was by far the highlight of the Golden Eagles’ 74-42 victory.
“Juice (Julian Hill) passed me the ball and I was confused because I was getting double-teamed,” Johnson said. “I saw Cade cut – I didn’t know he was going to cut, I just passed it to him – and I was like, OK, I’ve got to lob it because he’s fixing to go for the lob and I just lobbed it there. I didn’t even know he was going to make, but it happened, and I was like surprised. It wasn’t planned. It just, like, happened.”
Normally if the Golden Eagles are going to oop, it’s going to be from a lot closer in to the basket than where Johnson started it. This play, as Jacksonville principal Russ Waits said, came from “another zip code.”
“We play together all the time,” Phillips said. “So, you get to a point where you communicate with just how you’re running down the court. We locked eyes – I might have thrown a hand up, I don’t really remember – and he threw it up there and I went up and got it.
“It was a cool play, something we don’t really practice on, but something we talk about that just kind of happens in scrimmages and practice. It’s not the most complete bootleg thing ever, it’s just more of a communication and knowing each other.”
Phillips returned the favor later in the game with a cross-court pass that Johnson finished off with a dunk.
Jacksonville coach Shane Morrow called it “two athletic guys making an athletic play” and insisted it was not drawn up at all. But it was emblematic of the way the Golden Eagles played in the game.
Ten of the 12 Golden Eagles who played in the game scored, four in double figures. Caden Johnson, Cam’s twin, was their leading scorer with 15 points on 7-of-9 shooting. Phillips finished with 11 points, eight rebounds and three blocked shots. John Broom (12) and freshman Devin Barksdale (10) also scored in double figures.
“That’s as good as we’ve played all year,” Morrow said. “We played with a lot of energy. That leads to stuff like that (the Johnson-Phillips alley-oop).” [**read more]
HANDLEY 64, WHITE PLAINS 63: Cannon Kyles hit a layup with seven seconds left to cap a wild Handley comeback after White Plains led by eight entering the fourth quarter and by six at the free throw line with 23 seconds to play.
After the Wildcats missed those free throws, Kyles hit a three-point play to get the Tigers within three, then Terrance Tucker hit a basket with 12.8 left — his only bucket of the night — to draw them within one.
Tucker was fouled on his shot, but missed the and-one. White Plains grabbed the rebound, but fell down trying to get out. Kyles picked up the loose ball and scored his go-ahead layup.
Kyles led the Tigers with 16 points and eight rebounds. Tamarious Treadwell had 11 points and eight rebounds, and Rondai Banks, who hit the game-winner in overtime Friday against Anniston, had 10 points and seven boards.
Walker Osteen led White Plains with a game-high 18 points, five rebounds and two assists. Daniel Williams had 13 points and eight rebounds, and Josh Wheeler had 10 points, five rebounds and three assists.
The Wildcats played their best game of the year through three quarters, but missed nine free throws in the fourth (10 in the second half). They had a chance to win on the final possession and got a shot off, but it wasn’t a good look.
“We missed 10 free throws in the fourth quarter, on the road; you just can’t do that and expect to win,” White Plains coach Chris Randall said. “Other than that ,we played about as good as we could play … I’ve got to get us across the finish line.
“We were really close and guys were really hurt, but we’ll come back tomorrow and try to get better. We played great gap defense in the game and it gave us a chance. We’ve got to clean up the free throw and turnovers and we’ll be okay.” [**read more]
Girls games
Last-second FT lifts Handley over WP
ROANOKE – Takeriauna Mosley was fouled with 1.1 seconds to play and hit the second of her two free throws to give the Handley girls a 55-54 victory over White Plains.
Mosley finished with 26 points, seven in the fourth quarter. Watts had 14 points, 10 in the second half.
Callyn Martin led White Plains with 21 points, anchored by five 3-pointers. She hit three 3s and scored 10 points in the first quarter as the Lady Wildcats opened an 18-9 lead. Angel Bozarth had 12. [**read more]
JACKSONVILLE 44, SAKS 16: When Ashley Grant and Amarie Curry get going together, the Lady Golden Eagles are pretty tough to beat. They got going Monday night and Saks never had a chance.
Curry had 14 points and nine rebounds, while Grant had 12 points and nine steals to lead Jacksonville. DeAsia Prothro had eight points, eight rebounds and five steals.
“They’re our two (Curry, Grant) who came back off last year’s team that have experience,” Jacksonville coach Tres Buzan said. “We rely heavily on them and I think every day they’re figuring out how to play together.
“Amarie is a senior, Ash is a freshman. They’re at two different stages and they’re just learning to play the game together. When they’re clicking, we’re clicking.”
The big takeaway for the Lady Golden Eagles in this one was they got to play everybody, and for a young team that experience means everything.
“Our team is so young, everybody needs to play,” Buzan said. “The fact we got to clear the bench and play everyone tonight is a big deal for us, because we need the minutes.” [**read more]
ALEXANDRIA 58, ST. CLAIR COUNTY 39: Ashley Phillips sacred 32 points, including 14 of 17 from the free throw line, to lift the Lady Cubs, who was missing Chloe Gattis. Kirsten Heathcock scored 12 points, eight in the first quarter. [**read more]
RAGLAND 63, SOUTHEASTERN 48: The Lady Purple Devils pulled away from a close by outscoring their visitors 33-16 in the second half. They held Southeastern to only three field goals in the second half, none in the fourth quarter.
“We struggled to defend the perimeter in the first half (allowing four 3-pointers),” Ragland coach Sawyer Merritt said. “We made some adjustments at halftime and were able to run them off the line. I am proud of my team for regrouping and executing in the second half.”
Sammie Day-Jones and Campbell Adams scored 16 points apiece for Ragland. Adams scored 13 for her points in the second half. [**read more]
**When you click read more you will be taken to the EA Sports Today website. Please make sure to come back to read more Calhoun County News.
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