By Al Muskewitz
Tuesday boys roundup: Anniston had a tough go against Plainview in its first ever in-school game; Piedmont’s Odam goes for 48 against Cleburne County, and more
TUESDAY’S BOYS GAMES
Cherokee County 81, Glencoe 68
Clay Central 50, Munford 36
Handley 60, Spring Garden 49
Jacksonville Christian 72, Gaston 57
Jacksonville 86, Talladega 38
Ohatchee at Hokes Bluff
Oxford 68, Gadsden City 59
Piedmont 72, Cleburne County 59
Plainview 74, Anniston 51
Ramsay 71, Alexandria 45
White Plains 61, Lincoln 39
Torry Brown was wrapping up a conversation with a visitor right before gathering his team for the opening tip Tuesday afternoon and his parting words were something along the lines of “I hope we can keep it within 30.”
Most of the time that type of comment would be dismissed as a throw-away line of self-deprecation, something a coach might say to keep things light or low-ball the expectations. But this time, the Anniston coach said when reminded of his words, he wasn’t joking.
“I was serious; I was serious,” he said. “We have an issue that’s really not an in-season fix: We don’t shoot the ball well. I think tonight we hit one 3 and probably took 16 or 17, so when you don’t shoot the ball well you’re going to struggle and if you can’t make it a half-court game and then beat the other team up chances are the outcome is not going to be good.
“We’re in one of those spurts where we’re just not very good. It is what it is right now.”
And that’s not a very good feeling to have with the area tournament right around the corner, and the Bulldogs’ 2-v-3 game with White Plains is as big a game for their state title defense as there will be in the state.
“We just hadn’t had a chance, and even now, we still don’t have any chemistry because guys have just been in and out, in and out,” Brown said. “Once we think we got it figured out then somebody else comes or somebody else goes out and we’re having to change it. At this late in the season you are who are you are and we’re a .500 team. That’s what we are.”
It probably wouldn’t have mattered how well the Bulldogs might have shot it as sharp as the Bears were.
When you play Plainview you know you’re going to get two things: A team that passes the ball so well it makes your head spin and one that shoots the eyes out of the 3.
The Bears hit 14 3-pointers in the game, eight in the second quarter as they built a 17-point halftime lead. Six players hit at least one, with half of them hitting three apiece.
Anniston, as Brown correctly recalled, made only one, a bomb by C.J. Munford late in the first quarter.
“I don’t know the percentages, but when we got to going there we moved the ball – great passes, great feet, great shots,” Plainview coach Robi Coker said. “The guys who needed to take them were taking them. It was fun to watch.”
Plainview’s Luke Smith led all scorers with 23 points. Antonio Kite led Anniston with 15 points, including a spectacular basket in the second quarter in which he dribbled underneath the basket and while moving forward shot it backwards towards the goal. The ball bounced high off the rims several times before dropping through the hoop.
The win was Plainview’s first in three tries against teams from Calhoun County this season. The Bears previously lost to both Calhoun County Tournament finalists – Oxford and Jacksonville – but are 15-5 against county teams since 2014-15.
“I’m an old Jax State guy, I love Calhoun County, a lot of guys down here I respect,” Coker said. “Any chance we get an opportunity to play a good team we’re going to take it. I’m glad these guys continue to play us year in and year out.”
Plainview 74, Anniston 51
PLAINVIEW – Owen Wilborn 0 0-0 0, Levi Brown 0 0-0 0, Cole Millican 5 0-0 12, Dylan Haymon 6 0-0 15, Landon White 3 0-0 7, Bryce Luther 3 0-0 8, Luke Smith 10 0-2 23, Sawyer Fraley 0 0-0 0, Jonah Williams 3 0-0 9, Ty Griggs 0 0-0 0. Totals 30 0-2 74.
ANNISTON – Antonio Kite 7 1-5 15, Tadyn Jones 2 6-6 10, Martez Reed 0 0-0 0, Jacques Thomas 1 0-0 2, Troy Hall 4 0-0 8, C.J. Munford 1 2-2 5, Malik Beisley 0 0-0 0, Kam Sandlin 0 0-0 0, Talib Christian 4 1-1 9, Jave Croft 1 0-0 2. Totals 20 10-14 51.
Plainview 20 28 19 7 – 74
Anniston 14 17 8 12 – 51
3-point goals: Plainview 14 (Millican 2, Haymon 3, White, Luther 2, Smith 3, Williams 3); Anniston 1 (Munford). Total fouls: Plainview 15, Anniston 6. Officials: Smith, Robinson, Morriss.
PIEDMONT 72, CLEBURNE COUNTY 59: Piedmont junior Alex Odam went for a career-high 48 points and the Bulldogs needed every one of them as they just couldn’t shake the Tigers.
Odam hit eight 3-pointers, four in each half. He scored 13 in the first quarter and seven in the second as the Bulldogs led by only two at halftime. He had 17 in the third and 11 in the fourth.
He is now averaging 25.3 points a game, 9.4 in the fourth quarter when he usually puts the Bulldogs on his shoulders.
The 48 points ranks second all-time in a Piedmont boys game, behind only Danny Bryant’s 51 in a 1966 game against Hokes Bluff.
Dayleon Brown led Cleburne County with 19 points. He hit five 3-pointers.
Piedmont 72, Cleburne County 59
PIEDMONT – Alex Odam 19 2-2 48, Omarion Foster 1 2-4 4, Gavin Lawler 2 2-2 8, Cassius Fairs 0 0-0 0, Cole Wilson 0 0-0 0, Ish Bethel 2 4-7 8, Chance Murphy 0 0-2 0, Coleman Reid 2 0-0 4. Totals 26 10-17 72.
CLEBURNE COUNTY – Dayleon Brown 7 0-0 19, Andrew Adams 1 0-0 2, Brody Higgins 0 0-0 0, Joel Campbell 0 0-0 0, Grant Harcrow 1 0-0 2, Jackson Miller 1 0-0 3, Jaylan Groce 2 0-0 4, Ron Ervin 0 0-0 0, Rico Huguley 1 0-0 2, Dawson Haynes 0 0-0 0, Dee Prothro 6 1-1 13, Kyler McGrinn 1 0-0 2, Isaac Marshall 2 0-0 5, Greyson Freeman 3 1-1 7. Totals 25 2-2 59.
Piedmont 18 16 20 18 – 72
Cleburne County 13 19 16 11 – 59
3-point goals: Piedmont 10 (Odam 8, Lawler 2); Cleburne County 7 (Brown 5, Miller, Marshall). Total fouls: Piedmont 5, Cleburne County 13. Officials: Hollingsworth, Miller, Hyde.
JACKSONVILLE 86, TALLADEGA 38: John Broom hit 11 of 12 shots from the field and scored 25 points, Camren Johnson scored 24 and the Golden Eagles swamped Talladega. They were the only Jacksonville players to score in double figures. Caden Johnson led the team with seven rebounds. He also had six points, four assists and four steals.
Jacksonville 86, Talladega 38
TALLADEGA – Roderick Jones 5-17 1-2 12, Jaylyn Lawson 4-12 1-2 9, Traveon Traylor 3-7 2-4 8, Jaquintez Garrett 2-10 1-2 6, Amari Webb 1-3 0-0 2, Lecroy Waallace 0-5 1-2 1, Takarrius Turner 0-1 0-0 0, Kylan Curry 0-3 0-0 0, Ollie McMillian 0-1 0-0 0, K. Wilson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 15-59 6-12 38.
JACKSONVILLE – John Broom 11-12 0-0 25, Camren Johnson 8-11 4-4 24, Julian Hill 4-7 0-0 8, Quin Long 3-6 0-0 7, Caden Johnson 3-6 0-0 6, Devin Barksdale 2-6 0-0 5, Hayden Robinson 1-6 2-2 4, JaLeik Long 1-6 0-0 3, Ethan Duke 1-3 1-1 3, JaeTaj Morris 0-0 1-2 1, Jacoby Zackery 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 34-66 8-9 86.
Talladega 14 6 9 9 – 38
Jacksonville 29 27 19 11 – 86
3-point goals: Talladega 2-17 (Jones 1-7, Lawson 0-1, Traylor 0-1, Garrett 1-4, Webb 0-1, Wallace 0-2, Turner 0-1); Jacksonville 10-30 (Broom 3-7, Cm. Johnson 4-7, Hill 0-1, Q. Long 1-2, Cd. Johnson 0-1, Barksdale 1-4, Robinson 0-4, J. Long 1-5, Duke 0-1, Zackery 0-1). Rebounds: Talladega 34 (Lawson 13); Jacksonville 48 (Cd. Johnson 7, J. Long 6, Duke 6). Total fouls: Talladega 10, Jacksonville 8.
WHITE PLAINS 61, LINCOLN 39: Daniel Williams erupted for 21 points, Walker Osteen 14 and Josh Wheeler 12 to lead White Plains. Williams had 10 in the third quarter as the Wildcats matched their first-half point production and stretched a one-point halftime lead to 13. Wheeler hit three second-half 3-pointers.
White Plains 61, Lincoln 39
LINCOLN – K.D. Stockdale 1 0-0 2, Korry Davis 3 1-2 7, Joshua Spratling 2 0-0 4, Jai Tanner 0 0-0 0, Andrew Baker 0 0-0 0, Tripp Ward 0 0-0 0, Brandon Estelle 1 1-2 3, Camare Hampton 2 3-4 8, Isaiah Ashley 1 0-0 2, Jayden Woods 3 3-6 11, Kaleb O’Neal 1 0-0 2. Totals 14 8-14 39.
WHITE PLAINS – Tucker Pearson 0 0-0 0, Paul Laube 0 0-2 0, Dylan Barksdale 0 0-0 0, Cole Senciboy 1 0-0 3, Josh Wheeler 3 3-4 12, Z.J. Rosario 0 1-2 1, Braden Knight 1 0-0 2, Daniel Williams 9 2-4 21, Walker Osteen 5 3-5 14, Kenderick Ball 1 1-2 3, Luke Bussey 2 0-0 5. Totals 22 10-19 61.
Lincoln 14 6 9 10 – 39
White Plains 10 11 21 19 – 61
3-point goals: Lincoln (Hampton, Woods 2); White Plains 7 (Senciboy, Wheeler 3, Williams, Osteen, Bussey). Technical fouls: Ward. Total fouls: Lincoln 17, White Plains 13. Officials: Calkins, Huffman, Hall.
JACKSONVILLE CHRISTIAN 72, GASTON 57: Ethan Fair led five scorers in double figures with 20 points as the Thunder evened their record to 12-12 before the area tournament. Brodie Clay had 14, Cam Moses 13, Braxton Brown 12 and Tyler Doggrell 10. Fair also had nine steals, Brown had a team-high five rebounds and Moses a team-high five assists. [**read more]
