By Al Muskewitz
Justice Woods’ career night leads Lady Jackets to area title in electric atmosphere; Ohatchee holds off Piedmont for area title, Piedmont’s Pope passes 1,000; Alexandria, Saks fall in title games
THURSDAY GIRLS GAMES
6A-13 Championship game: Oxford 53, Pell City 48 (Subregion cross: Huffman-Shades Valley loser at Oxford, Pell City at Huffman-Shades Valley winner)
5A-11 Championship game: Moody 50, Alexandria 42 (Subregion cross: Alexandria at Ramsay, Carver at Moody)
3A-11 Championship game: Ohatchee 60, Piedmont 51 (Subregion cross: Saks at Ohatchee, Piedmont at Childersburg)
3A-9 Championship game: Childersburg 65, Saks 42 (Subregion cross: Saks at Ohatchee, Piedmont at Childersburg)
OXFORD – The atmosphere was an electric as Oxford coach Melissa Bennett had ever seen it in the Oxford Sports Arena for one of her games, especially in a stand-alone date, and in the end the Lady Jackets turned the lights out on Pell City.
Under the roar of a deafening crowd that left Bennett hoarse by the end of the night, the Lady Jackets hit two big 3-pointers and went 4-for-4 at the line down the stretch to beat the Lady Panthers 53-48 for the Class 6A Area 13 championship.
The Lady Jackets (22-4) will now host the loser of Friday’s Huffman-Shades Valley game in the Class 6A sub-regionals Monday. That winner will advance to the Northeast Regional at Jacksonville State.
“The big thing is not having to travel Monday; we get one more home game, which is huge,” Bennett said. “Being able to do our normal routine getting ready and getting to shoot and play in front of a home crowd.
“We had a huge playoff environment here. Loud. That’s the most people I’ve seen at one of our games, especially playing by ourselves, hands down. It was loud enough that I was screaming and they were in the lane in front of me and they couldn’t hear me call plays. They were on the floor with each other and couldn’t hear.”
They heard Justice Woods loud and clear, though, and the message she brought struck a chord.
It was during a timeout in the second quarter and the Lady Jackets weren’t playing all that well, but the normally reserved Woods stood up and delivered as good a wake-up call and anything the coaches could have said in the huddle.
“She made a comment that it’s us versus us out there, we’re screwing up; for her to say that, it was huge,” Bennett said. “Justice stepped up huge, not just scoring, but as a leader. For her to be doing in on the floor and vocalizing it in the huddle, that was huge, and the girls responded really well for her saying it.”
Woods didn’t just talk the talk, she walked the walked. She had the first 20-point game of her career to lead the Lady Jackets in scoring. She was joined on the all-tournament team by teammates Xai Whitfield and Leah Taylor.
“She was everywhere,” Bennett said of Woods. “Offensive rebounds, defensive rebounds, helping in the press, handling it, cutting; she was everywhere.”
The Lady Jackets didn’t play particularly well, but pulled it out with a big fourth quarter. Taylor hit a long 3 from in front of the student section and Lauren Ellard followed with one from the top of the key. Mya McGrue and Ellard then both hit a pair of free throws down the stretch to seal the victory.
Oxford 53, Pell City 48
PELL CITY – Madison Farris 2 2-3 6, Zarriya Mitchell 0 0-0 0, DeNadria Moon 0 0-0 0, Heaven O’Neal 1 3-4 5, Reagan Tarver 1 0-0 2, Kristen Kurzejeski 3 0-0 6, Kyla Torok 7 2-2 16, Tori Winslett 5 3-6 13. Totals 19 10-15 48.
OXFORD – Justice Woods 8 2-5 20, Xai Whitfield 5 2-5 14, Lauren Ellard 1 4-4 7, Mya McGrue 0 2-2 2, Leah Taylor 2 1-2 7, JaMean Gaston 0 0-0 0, Keziah Mickler 0 0-1 0, Shaniya Calloway 0 0-0 0, Kaylen Kenney 1 0-1 2, Mikiya Wilson 0 1-2 1, Totals 17 12-22 53.
Pell City 9 18 12 9 – 48
Oxford 12 14 10 17 – 53
3-point goals: Oxford 7 (Woods 2, Whitfield 2, Ellard, Taylor 2). Fouled out: Kurzejeski. Total fouls: Pell City 20, Oxford 14. Officials: Guyton, Childs, Prociuk.
Class 3A Area 11
OHATCHEE 60, PIEDMONT 51: The Lady Indians cut down the nets at home for the second year in a row, but considering what they overcame in the game it may have been an even more satisfying climb up the ladder.
The Lady Indians overcame second-half injuries to guard Millie Rainwater and post Jorda Crook to build a 16-point lead and then hold off the Lady Bulldogs down the stretch.
Rainwater hurt her ankle in the third quarter with the Tribe holding a 16-point lead, and the Lady Indians missed her ability to handle the ball. With her out of the game getting treatment Piedmont rallied and cut its deficit to four. Rainwater went back in the game and the lead quickly went to 13 to start the fourth quarter.
“She went in the locker room and they taped her up and the trainer said she’s ready if you wanted her, and we needed her in a bad way,” Ohatchee coach Bryant Ginn said. “I told her after the game you’ve got more grit and toughness to come back. Adrenaline was flowing early when she came back and the last two minutes she was limping around pretty good.”
About the same time Crook took a shot across the bridge of her nose and a poke in the eye that disoriented her briefly. Still, she wound up with a game-high 29 points and 13 rebounds and was named tournament MVP.
Both are expected to be available going forward. The Lady Indians will host Saks in their subregion game Monday, while the Lady Bulldogs will travel to Area 9 champion Childersburg.
“I thought it was a huge gut check; it kind of showed us what we were made of,” Ginn said. “We could’ve easily folded with Millie out, going from up 16 to 4. We could’ve folded and that be the end of it, but our kids battled back. They showed what they’re made of, especially those seniors being senior leaders like we need them to be.”
Piedmont sophomore Ava Pope became the second player on the team to join the 1,000-Point Club this season when she nailed a long contested 3-pointer – her first of six – to give her team an early 3-2 lead. She finished with a team-high 21 points and now has 1,019 for her career.
Lele Ridley, who joined the Club over the Christmas holidays, had 20 points. She scored 14 of her points in the third quarter.
Ohatchee 60, Piedmont 51
PIEDMONT – Ava Pope 6 3-4 21, Jaycee Glover 1 0-0 2, Lele Ridley 7 5-7 20, Carson Young 0 0-0 0, Gracie Naugher 0 0-0 0, Z’Hayla Walker 1 0-0 2, Emily Farmer 2 0-0 6. Totals 17 8-11 51.
OHATCHEE – Whitney McFry 1 0-0 3, Tabi Davidson 1 2-4 4, Morgan Foushee 3 1-3 10, Gracie George 4 0-0 8, Millie Rainwater 2 0-0 6, Kiana Garber 0 0-0 0, Jorda Crook 10 9-15 29, Lindsey Zurchin 0 0-0 0. Totals 21 12-22 60.
Piedmont 6 9 19 17 – 51
Ohatchee 15 14 18 13 – 60
3-point goals: Piedmont 9 (Pope 6, Ridley, Farmer 2); Ohatchee 6 (McFry, Foushee 3, Rainwater 2). Fouled out: Glover. Total fouls: Piedmont 17, Ohatchee 10. Officials: Stringer, Morriss, McKinney.
Class 5A Area 11
MOODY 50, ALEXANDRIA 42: Kendall Stephens scored seven of her 12 points in the fourth quarter and Moody clamped down defensively to come from behind and beat the Lady Cubs in the area championship game.
The Lady Blue Devils also went 9-of-13 from the free throw line in the quarter while outscoring Alexandria 19-9.
Ashley Phillips led Alexandria with 19 points. She was 15-of-18 from the free throw line.
The Lady Cubs will travel to Ramsay Monday for their subregion game.
Moody 50, Alexandria 42
MOODY – Emma Kile 1 2-2 4, Tarryn Woodall 3 0-0 6, Sydney White 0 0-0 0, Jaylon Fields 2 1-2 5, Victoria Pyles 3 5-7 12, Maddie Barfield 0 1-2 1, Destany Chattman 2 3-8 7, Ryleigh Hodges 1 0-0 3, Kendall Stephens 5 2-3 12. Totals 17 14-24 50.
ALEXANDRIA – Ashley Phillips 2 15-18 19, Jordyn Walker 3 0-1 7, Kirsten Heathcock 0 0-0 0, Jill Cockrell 1 2-2 4, Charlee Parris 2 0-2 4, Kailey Dickerson 2 1-3 5, Sumira Duncan 0 0-0 0, Chloe Gattis 1 0-0 3. Totals 11 18-26 42.
Moody 9 11 11 19 – 50
Alexandria 9 14 10 9 – 42
3-point goals: Moody 2 (Pyles, Ry. Hodges); Alexandria 2 (Walker, Gattis). Fouled out: Phillips. Total fouls: Moody 23, Alexandria 21, Officials: Batey, Bearden, Stubbs. [*** read more]
