January 7, 2022
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
Odam returns to boys lineup for first time in two weeks, leads Bulldogs back from multiple double-digit deficits; Ridley leads girls to rout
THURSDAY’S BOYS GAMES
Alexandria 77, Moody 47
Faith Christian 65, Spring Garden 53
Midfield 78, Anniston 68
Munford 49, Wellborn 14
Piedmont 66, Weaver 65
Ragland 59, Jacksonville Christian 57 (OT)
THURSDAY’S GIRLS GAMES
Alexandria 63, Moody 37
Lanett 58, Ranburne 45
Munford def. Wellborn
Piedmont 59, Weaver 21
Ragland 52, Jacksonville Christian 49
WEAVER – Alex Odam returned to the Piedmont lineup for the time in two weeks Thursday night and the Bulldogs were so glad he was in there at the end.
The junior guard keyed a 10-0 run late in the fourth quarter and led the Bulldogs back from multiple double-digit deficits in a 66-65 victory over Weaver that put them on a collision course with the No. 1 seed and hosting rights for their area tournament.
“I think a lot of that had to do with everybody was more enthused (down the stretch), so it kind of got me fired up and I think everybody got fired up because I got fired up,” he said. “We started finding a little more defense and getting after it.”
Odam last played for the Bulldogs on Dec. 28 in the semifinals of the Champions Boys Christmas Classic. He hurt his left foot in the third quarter of the game, continued to play on it and hit the eventual game-winning shot in the final 15 seconds.
But he got up the next day with a bruise the size of his fist on his foot and although X-rays were negative he missed the next two games – the Champions title game and a regular-season game with White Plains.
Earlier in the week he thought he might be ready by the end of the week. His father and coach, JoJo Odam, was less optimistic, thinking it’d be closer to the county tournament that starts Jan. 14.
But Alex went through pre-game warmups Thursday night and appeared to be moving fine enough. JoJo thought his son might get “a minute here, a minute there” in the game and Alex thought he might play 10 or 15 minutes. Instead, the player came off the bench after a timeout three minutes into the game (and his team down 10-5 that became 14-5 two minutes later) and stayed on the floor virtually the rest of the night.
“We were just going to play it by ear, let him go through warmups and see how he felt,” JoJo said. “He said he felt good. I was afraid if we took him out it would stiffen up on him. It was one of those kind of things you just let him run with it and he’s going to tell us if it’s hurting or not.”
He never said a word.
“I knew something was different, I could feel it,” Alex said. “It’s not as comfortable, but it’s not like hurting. That’s good.”
The player and coach both credited trainer Austin “Skeeter” Goss for having Alex ready to play.
“Best in the business,” Alex said. “He taped me up. He used to work with the (NBA Atlanta) Hawks. He said he’d treat me like he was treating Trae Young. I was like, I’ll take it.”
Odam scored the last six points in the Bulldogs’ winning rally – the tying layup with 1:12 left, the go-ahead basket on a layup off his midcourt steal with 54 seconds left and a one-and-one with 17.9 seconds left to push the lead to four.
“He’s a great leader and it’s great to have him back,” Bulldogs freshman gunner Cole Wilson said. “He definitely helps us out a lot.”
“He’s a different maker,” JoJo said.
Weaver cut the margin to one on Tristan Brown’s fourth 3-pointer of the game with 11.6 seconds left. The Bearcats got the ball back for a potential game-winner after Odam missed a free throw with 9.4 seconds left, but they looked confused with the rebound and eventually never got a shot because of a backcourt violation. It was one of eight turnovers the Bearcats suffered in the fourth quarter.
The 10-0 run was part of a larger 20-6 spree that brought Piedmont back from 10 down with 6:30 to play. The Bulldogs also faced deficits of nine in the first quarter, 10 in the second quarter and 12 and 15 in the third quarter, the latter with a minute left.
“We talk about just finding ways,” JoJo Odam said. “We started pressing, trying to pick up the pace. That was the thing. We were just playing too slow; that kind of got us going.
“We were out of sorts and found a way. I think we got caught just trying to rely on the 3 too early. I think we did a better job of attacking the goal later and that helped a little bit.”
Odam finished with 19 points and seven assists. He needs 30 points to pass current Piedmont girls basketball coach Terrace Ridley as the school’s all-time leading scorer in basketball. Cole Wilson also scored 19 for the Bulldogs.
Brown led Weaver with 18 points. Armane Burton had 16, but was scoreless in the fourth quarter.
ALEXANDRIA 77, MOODY 47: D’Anthony Walton, the leading scorer in Calhoun County, scored 20 points and Julian Wright powered his way to 18 as the Valley Cubs won their sixth in a row.
Collin Taylor (13) also scored in double figures for the Cubs. Taylor and Walton each hit three 3-pointers.
FAITH CHRISTIAN 65, SPRING GARDEN 53: Ethan Richerzhagen scored 29 points in 29 minutes to lead Faith. The Lions shot 23-of-41 from the floor as a team, with Richerzhagen and Thomas Curlee combining to go 16 of 27.
Richerzhagen was particularly strong in the second quarter, scoring 11 points, when the Lions pulled away. Curlee finished with 16 and Yashua Arevalo added 11.
RAGLAND 59, JCA 57 (OT): Kentrell Turner scored five of Ragland’s 12 points in overtime and finished with 17 in the game. D.J. Turner went 4-for-6 from the line in the fourth quarter and overtime and had 13 points, while Taevon Williams hit three 3-pointers in the first half and had 12 points.
Ethan Fair hit seven of JCA’s 14 3-pointers and led all scorers with 29 points. He also had nine rebounds and six assists and scored all 10 of the Thunder’s points in overtime. Braxton Brown hit three third-quarter 3s and finished with 11 points. Cam Moses grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds and had eight assists.
MIDFIELD 78, ANNISTON 68: Midfield’s Anthony (Pig) Johnson and Anniston’s Antonio Kite staged the high-flying shootout everyone came to the gym expecting with Johnson and the Patriots getting the best of it.
Johnson scored 45 points to offset the 32 by Kite. He had 22 points to Kite’s 21 in the second half when the Patriots pulled away from a three-point halftime lead.
Jamarkus Alexander had 11 points and 12 boards for Midfield. C.J. Munford (11) and Kam Sandlin (10) also scored in double figures for the Bulldogs.
MUNFORD 49: WELLBORN 14: B.J. Anderson scored 16 points and Connor Morgan had 15 to lead the Lions. Anderson took over the point midway through the third quarter and scored 12 points in the second half.
Girls games
PIEDMONT 59, WEAVER 21: The Lady Bulldogs had their way with Weaver, jumping out to leads of 22-1 early in the second quarter and 40-6 early in the second half.
Lele Ridley led Piedmont with 25 points, 19 rebounds and three steals. Ava Pope had 13 points with a pair of 3-pointers and Z’Hayla Walker grabbed seven rebounds and had seven assists.
“We’ve been practicing ball movement,” Piedmont coach Terrace Ridley said. “I told them protecting the ball and moving the ball was going to be the key to winning this game tonight and we did a great job of moving the ball and working the ball down low – and then hitting outside shots when we didn’t get anything inside. We did a lot of things right that we hadn’t been doing.”
Weaver’s best offense came on a pair of midcourt 3-pointers by D.J. Gibbs. She hit one from just outside the mid-stripe to end the first half and one from just inside the line at the end of the third quarter.
“I was really trying to talk to the other team to see if we could just get in a half-court shooting (contest),” Weaver coach Gary Atchley said. “That a way we would’ve had a shot.”
ALEXANDRIA 63, MOODY 37: Ashley Phillips scored 23 points and Jordyn Walker and Jill Crockrell each played big roles in separate quarters to help Alexandria pull away. Walker scored all eight of her points in the second quarter as the Lady Cubs turned a one-point lead into a 10-point halftime cushion. Cockrell hit three 3s and scored 11 of her 15 in third quarter that saw them open a 22-point lead.
RAGLAND 52, JCA 49: Eighth-grader Beverly Alexander’s first varsity points of a fast-break layup gave Ragland a two-point lead with less than two minutes to play, but the come-from-behind victory wasn’t sealed until the last play of the game.
Ragland’s Cadence Buchanan converted a Sammie Day-Jones steal into the go-ahead basket and a free throw by Day-Jones ave Ragland a three-point lead.
JCA had the ball with a chance to tie with three seconds left. The Thunder called back-to-back timeouts before finally getting the ball in play and getting off a final shot.
“It was one of those games that you’re just happy to leave with a win because we did not play well at all,” Ragland coach Sawyer Merritt said.
Buchanan led all scorers with 18 points. Aubrey Ball hit four 3-points and had 14. Campbell Adams had 10.
Rebekah Adams led JCA with 17 points and nine rebounds. Erin Prater had 13 points, Kara Grace pulled down 11 rebounds and Hannah Clayton had 10 boards. [**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.
Advertisement
