By Al Muskewitz
Oxford’s girls, playing with a little chip on their shoulder, win their area tournament opener; Sotelo nails 7 3s in White Plains win
Monday’s Area Tournaments
6A-13: Pell City 62, Springville 51
6A-13: Oxford 52, Southside 32
5A-8: Talladega 44, Shelby County 17
5A-8: Sylacauga 56, Clay Central 52
3A-12: Collinsville 49, Glencoe 18
4A-9: White Plains 55, Munford 21
3A-12: Geraldine 48, Hokes Bluff 40
2A-7: Randolph County 49, Horseshoe Bend 38
2A-12: Spring Garden 82, Gaston 12
OXFORD – If the Oxford girls basketball team ever needed a reminder of not taking anything for granted in the playoffs, they only had to remember back 10 days ago, the last time they played Southside.
The Lady Jackets needed a last second layup by Xai Whitfield to get past the Lady Panthers that night and were determined not to have that happen again, especially in a game with their season on the line.
This time, they jumped on Southside early and cruised to a 52-32 victory in the Class 6A Area 13 Tournament Monday night. It set them up to play Pell City for the area title Thursday night.
“We had kind of handled them fairly easily here, but they gave us everything we wanted and a whole lot more at Southside,” Oxford coach Melissa Bennett said. “That was kind of our motivation, like, look guys you can’t take anybody lightly. Our record is strong, but that doesn’t mean anything when you get to the playoffs.”
The close call in their last meeting wasn’t the only thing pushing the Lady Jackets. For about a week now they’ve been a more than a little stirred up at not being in the statewide rankings. They are ranked fifth in Class 6A by MaxPreps, a testament to their strength of schedule, but the more recognized state sports writers rankings barely list them being nominated.
“We’ve got a chip on our shoulder,” Bennett continued. “Our record clearly doesn’t speak enough for people to rank us, so our goal is to show people that we’re the real deal no matter what. We want to prove some people wrong.”
The Lady Jackets (22-4) went out quickly. Leading scorer Leah Taylor scored seven of her team-high 16 points in the first quarter as Oxford pressed their way to a 16-6 lead. They stretched the lead to 14 at halftime.
Mya McGrue (12) and Whitfield (10) also scored in double figures for Oxford. Southside’s Grace Ann Rose led all scorers with 20 points.
In the first game of the night, Pell City dispatched Springville 62-51 behind 23 points from Tori Winslett and 15 from Kyla Torok. Abbie Talton led Springville with 14 points, 11-of-12 from the free throw line.
CLASS 6A AREA 13
Oxford 52, Southside 32
SOUTHSIDE – Jovi Marble 0 0-0 0, Lexi Darnell 0 0-0 0, Leah Lewis 0 0-0 0, Sarakate Yancey 1 1-2 3, Mallory Brooks 0 0-0 0, Bailey Houston 0 1-2 1, Maddie Griffith 0 0-0 0, Ella Knowlton 2 2-2 6, Grace Ann Rose 8 4-4 20, Madison Shaw 0 2-4 2, Kinzie Boyd 0 0-0 0. Totals 11 10-14 32.
OXFORD – Justice Woods 2 2-4 6, Xai Whitfield 4 2-2 10, Lauren Ellard 1 0-2 3, LaMya McGrue 5 2-4 12, Kaleah Taylor 6 1-2 16, Jamea Gaston 0 0-0 0, Keziah Mickler 1 0-0 2, Mileah Prince 0 0-0 0, Shaniya Calloway 1 0-0 3, Brionna Wilson 0 0-0 0, Kaylen Kenney 0 0-0 0, Mikiya Wilson 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 7-14 52.
Southside 6 7 8 11 – 32
Oxford 16 11 9 16 – 52
3-point goals: Oxford 5 (Ellard, Taylor 3, Calloway). Total fouls: Southside 14, Oxford 15. Officials: Smith, Douthitt, Procuik.
WHITE PLAINS 55, MUNFORD 21: Adriana Sotelo drained seven 3-pointers and the Lady Wildcats held Munford to one point in the first quarter on the way to winning the girls 4/5 play-in game of the Class 4A Area 9 tournament.
The Wildcats will now play top seed host Handley in the main draw Wednesday night.They beat Handley 10 days ago, but the Lady Tigers were still serving their mass suspensions and had only one regular starter available, so White Plains coach Matt Ford anticipates a different kind of game this time around.
Sotelo shot over Munford’s zone and got some open looks when the Lady Lions collapsed on Angel Bozarth in the middle the inside and finished with 22 points. Bozarth had 17.
“She’s a good one; when she shoots it, I’m expecting it to go in,” Ford said. “She can really shoot it. She’s been shooting it good lately.”
The Lady Wildcats led 10-1 after the first quarter and 32-5 at halftime. Sotelo hit five of her 3-pointers in the first half.
“I thought we came out and played hard and we shared the ball well tonight,” Ford said. “I was proud of the girls. They came out and did what they were supposed to.”
CLASS 4A AREA 9
White Plains 55, Munford 21
MUNFORD – Layla Tyus 0 0-0 0, Teriaunna Davis 1 0-0 2, Mekiah Mosley 3 0-0 9, Janiayha Wilson 1 0-0 2, Alys Mosley 0 2-2 2, Anijah Gladden 2 1-2 6, Kambrya Meadows 0 0-0 0. Totals 7 3-4 21.
WHITE PLAINS – Callyn Martin 0 0-0 0, Isabella Higgins 1 0-0 2, Cooper Martin 1 0-0 3, Camden Wilson 2 2-8 6, Addison Bradley 1 0-0 3, Adriana Sotelo 7 1-3 22, Braeton Morgan 0 0-0 0, Angel Bozarth 6 4-5 17, Cassidy Arnold 1 0-0 3. Totals 19 7-16 55.
Munford 1 4 11 5 – 21
White Plains 10 22 14 9 – 55
3-point goals: Munford 4 (Mosley 3, Gladden); White Plains 10 (Co. Martin, Sotelo 7, Bozarth, Arnold). Total fouls: Munford 11, White Plains 5. [*** read more]
