Jacksonville, AL – Woods turns spark to flame as Oxford pulls away from Alexandria in county semifinals, gains chance to repeat for second time ever
CALHOUN COUNTY TOURNAMENT
Thursday’s Girls Semifinals
Anniston 50, Ohatchee 45
Oxford 69, Alexandria 31
Friday’s Championship
Oxford vs. Anniston, 6 p.m.
By Joe Medley
Melissa Bennett saw a spark in Justice Woods on Thursday, enough to keep the senior in a blowout Calhoun County semifinal and let it turn into a full-fledged flame. “Justice got fired up,” Bennett said. “That’s something we’ve been needing from her.” Woods scored 16 of her 18 points in the second half as top seed Oxford completed a 69-31 victory over No. 5 Alexandria in Pete Mathews Coliseum.
Oxford will play No. 2 Anniston in Friday’s 6 p.m. final, hoping to repeat as county champions for the second time ever for the girls and first time since 2005-06. Oxford beat Anniston 64-51 in last year’s final, ending the perennial county power’s string of five consecutive county titles and keeping the Bulldogs all-time total at 21. Oxford’s girls seek their eighth county title. “That would mean that all of our hard work has paid off, over last season and this season, and I want to say preseason, too,” Woods said.
Woods is one of three returning starters from the 2021-22 team that broke Oxford’s 16-year county drought and went on to win the Northeast Regional and finish as Class 6A runner-up in the program’s first-ever Final Four appearance. She, Xai Whitfield and La’Mya McGrue lead the returning cast. While Woods returned, Bennett has wanted to see her energy return in full force, and consistently. Bennett saw it when Woods converted an and-one opportunity to make it 62-30 late, and Woods followed that with a 3-pointer to make it 67-30. “That and-one was huge,” Bennett said. “She’s been playing a little bit flat, not as much emotion as she normally plays with. When she’s got that motor that she kind of naturally has, it just fires everybody up around her. “When she got that and-one and flexed, I love it. I LOVE it. That’s our Justice.”
Led by Allyssa Hunt’s 13 points, Alexandria gave challenge early. The Valley Cubs stood within 20-17 into the second quarter, but Oxford took off with a 22-4 run that carried into the third quarter. “We kind of stuck with the game plan and started believing in it a little bit more, maybe, and really turned the pressure up,” Bennett said. “Once you believe in something, once you believe in what you’ve got going on and can work it together, it fires everybody up.” Alexandria coach Craig Kiker took positives from Alexandria’s run to the semifinals, which included victories over Saks and Jacksonville. He also liked the way the Valley Cubs started their game with Oxford. “They’re the number one team for a reason,” he said. “They were unanimous number-one seed, and they’ve shown why in their two games. “I thought we competed well in the first half, but turned the ball over too much. Other than turning the ball over, I thought we competed in the game really well.” [read more …]
