January 12, 2022
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
Boys roundup: With two best players out, Piedmont looks for others to emerge, Bethel has answered the call; Jacksonville erupts for 105 points, and more
TUESDAY’S BOYS GAMES
Anniston 51, White Plains 38
Faith Christian 63, Talladega Co. Central 50
Jacksonville 105, Ashville 43
Piedmont 57, Ohatchee 31
Ragland 63, Pleasant Valley 34
Saks 63, Cleburne County 42
Springville 41, Oxford 39
OHATCHEE – With their two best players sitting on the end of the bench in street clothes, the Piedmont Bulldogs need someone or two or three to step up to pick up the slack until they return.
Several have made contributions and they all are getting valuable experience for the stretch run, but Tuesday night freshman Ish Bethel rose above the crowd and his double-double propelled the Bulldogs to a 57-31 victory over Ohatchee that sealed their No. 1 seed in Class 3A Area 11.
Bethel scored a career-high 19 points and recorded 11 steals. He’s been a regular in coach JoJo Odam’s rotation, but his visibility has increased as Alex Odam and Omarion Foster remain sidelined with injuries.
“It’s definitely a good experience,” Bethel said. “I’m very grateful for the opportunity coach is giving me. I knew I had the potential (to play a lot), but everybody can play, so I have to work harder.”
Bethel was really active on the defensive end. He picked up five steals in the first quarter alone. There was a stretch across the third and fourth quarters where he made steals on three straight possessions, one of which he took on his own and finished with a thunderous dunk. He tied up several other balls and blocked a couple shots.
“Tonight was just one of those nights,” he said. “I was hyped. All the teammates were cheering me on. Everybody had the good mentality to play defense.”
Odam and Foster are the Bulldogs top two scorers. When Odom missed the Champions title game against Alexandria because of a foot injury, Foster took control of the ball and handled himself well. But now he’s hurt as well.
It’s uncertain when they might return from their injuries. Coach Odam calls it a “slow go” with Foster. Player Odam gets reevaluated Wednesday.
The next big thing on the schedule is the Calhoun County Tournament that starts Friday. The Bulldogs debut the next day. Asked if he anticipates either player being available for any of it, Odam allows a “maybe.”
“I don’t know about both of them,” he said. “Maybe we can get something out of one of them.”
In the meantime the Bulldogs will look around the locker room for others to pick up the slack. Bethel and classmate Cole Wilson have provided some regular reinforcement, but Tuesday night the Bulldogs also got some good play from Coleman Reid, Gavin Lawler and Ridge Fagan.
Lawler scored 10 points, Fagan scored eight and Ried blocked several shots.
“Not having those guys, somebody is going to have to step up and we’re just looking for that guy,” JoJo Odam said. “Offensively tonight I would say it was Ish, but it was everybody on the defensive end.
“We had a good day of practice yesterday. We got after it defensively. We talked about that’s where it starts. We’ve got to play better defense. We need to. We had a really good one (practice) yesterday; maybe that helps.”
JACKSONVILLE 105, ASHVILLE 43: The Golden Eagles shot 59 percent from the field, put four scorers in double figures and scored a season-high for points. Caden Johnson and John Broom each scored 20 points, freshman Kevin Barksdale had 14 and Quin Long had 12 (with seven rebounds). The four top scorers were a combined 26-for-38 from the field.
The Golden Eagles also forced Ashville into 30 turnovers (21 steals), off which they scored 40 points.
Jacksonville has added a game to its schedule right before the area tournament. The Golden Eagles will play Plainview 7 p.m. Jan. 27 at Jacksonville State. The Bears needed a game after Enterprise had to reschedule an area game.
“It’s a great opportunity against a great opponent in a great environment,” Plainview coach Robi Coker said. “Pete Mathews (Coliseum) is dear to my heart (as a former JSU basketball assistant) and the opportunity to play a team of (Jacksonville’s) caliber, it’s a no-brainer.
“It’ll be a fun game. It should be a playoff caliber game. We believe iron sharpens iron and obviously they’re one of the teams in 4A that has a chance to win a championship and we’re trying to gear up for a possible run at one.”
FAITH CHRISTIAN 63, TCC 50: Thomas Curlee and Ethan Richerzhagen scored 24 and 17, respectively, to lead the Lions’ comeback. TCC led 15-10 after the first quarter.
ANNISTON 51, WHITE PLAINS 38: The Bulldogs hit all five of their 3-pointers in the third quarter – three by Tadyn Jones – to pull away from a defensive battle. They were only leading 16-11 at halftime before their outside shot came to life.
Jones and Talib Christian led Anniston with 11 points each. Troy Hall added 10. The Wildcats held Antonio Kite scoreless.
SAKS 63, CLEBURNE COUNTY 42: Gavin Doss scored 13 of his game-high 20 points in the first half as the Wildcats opened a 36-20 lead. Sean Parnell scored eight of his 13 in the second quarter.
RAGLAND 63, PLEASANT VALLEY 34: Jordan Turner jumped out of the gate with 16 points in the first quarter and helped the Purple Devils open a 26-12 lead they carried throughout the rest of the game. Turner finished with 19 to lead all scorers. D.J. Turner had 18 [**read more]
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