By Al Muskewitz
MONDAY’S BOYS GAMES
Alexandria 78, Talladega 54
Cleburne County 60, Ohatchee 53
Coosa Christian 60, Pleasant Valley 59
Jacksonville 69, White Plains 58
Piedmont 63, Cherokee County 54
Springville 80, Spring Garden 45
Temple (Ga.) 42, Faith Christian 32
It’s getting late in the season – one more regular season game, to be exact – and Jacksonville coach Shane Morrow is still seeing some Jekyll and Hyde tendencies in his team that he hoped would have long since left town.
He’s still not sure who’s the Jekyll and who’s the Hyde, bur he knows which one he likes best.
“The team that’s winning by 20,” he said. “Whether it’s Jekyll or Hyde, I don’t know which one it is, I don’t care whoever it is, but that guy.”
That would make life a lot less stressful. The Golden Eagles slipped back into that split personality Monday in a 69-58 victory over White Plains that was a lot tighter than the first meeting between the teams.
There was the team that got out and ran, forced turnovers and got control of the game. And then there was the team that got stuck in the mud and made the game too close for comfort.
“We’re falling more in that Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde like we did at the first of the year where we played good in spurts and then we quit playing,” Morrow said. “Give White Plains a lot of credit. They didn’t quit. I thought a couple times we had them on the ropes and could have put them away and they kept battling back.”
The Golden Eagles’ good side shot 60 percent from the floor Monday night, produced three double-figure scorers and came up with a dozen steals. That other guy was outrebounded, made 17 turnovers and gave up 21 second-chance points. Luckily, on this night, there was more of the good side to offset the bad, but as the competition stiffens on the road to Birmingham the margin for error shrinks.
“We’re just trying to finish,” Morrow said. “We’re trying to get to those 10 days after Talladega (Tuesday) where we’re going to have that break between there and first game (of the area tournament). There are two or three things we’ve talked about already we’re really going to lock in and focus on and I think it’ll help us.”
It was actually the Golden Eagles’ second group that gave them control of this game. Their starters scored the first eight points of the game and it looked like it was going to be a repeat of the first meeting when they jumped out 28-2. The Wildcats got it back to within one, then Jacksonville’s second group scored the last 10 points of the quarter for a 20-9 lead.
The lead stayed in double digits pretty much the rest of the game, but it was never what you would consider comfortable.
“I thought after the first couple minutes of the game we did a good job of not panicking,” White Plains coach Chris Randall said. “But their pressure is just relentless. It’s like you’re handling a rattlesnake and the first time you relax you’ll get bit.
“You focus on every pass, every catch, every dribble; if you don’t they’re going to take the ball from you and go dunk it. You can work on it in practice, but until you see it up close and personal … You can tell your kids there’s a bear in them woods, you’d better be careful, but until you see that joker and he’s chasing you, then you understand what I’m talking about.”
The Wildcats did make things interesting in the fourth quarter, cutting a 17-point deficit to seven with 2:22 to play, but that’s as close as they got. Jacksonville got another deflection and Quin Long hit a tough shot inside the free throw line to end the threat.
Jacksonville 69, White Plains 58
JACKSONVILLE – Caden Johnson 6-10 1-2 15, John Broom 5-6 2-4 13, Quin Long 5-6 1-2 11, Julian Hill 2-5 2-2 7, JaeTaj Moris 3-6 0-0 6, Devin Barksdale 2-3 0-0 5, Jacoby Zackery 1-2 2-2 4, Cam Johnson 1-2 0-0 3, Ethan Duke 1-1 0-0 2, JaLeik Long 1-3 0-0 2, Hayden Robinson 0-1 1-2 1. Totals 27-45 9-14 69.
WHITE PLAINS – Walker Osteen 9-17 0-0 22, Daniel Williams 6-8 0-0 12, Josh Wheeler 4-13 0-0 10, Greg Laube 3-4 0-0 7, Dylan Barksdale 2-2 0-0 4, Cole Senciboy 1-4 0-0 2, Luke Bussey 0-10 1-3 1, Braden Knight 0-0 0-0 0, Kendrick Bell 0-2 0-0 0, Z.J. Rosario 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-60 1-3 58.
Jacksonville 20 17 17 15 – 69
White Plains 9 19 14 16 – 58
3-point goals: Jacksonville 6-16 (Cd. Johnson 2-4, Broom 1-2, Hill 1-3, Morris 0-1, Barksdale 1-1, Zackery 0-1, Cm. Johnson 1-2, J. Long 0-1, Robinson 0-1); White Plains 7-34 (Osteen 4-12, Wheeler 2-7, Laube 1-2, Senciboy 0-3, Bussey 0-10). Rebounds: Jacksonville 31 Cd. Johnson 4, Broom 4, Hill 4, Cm. Johnson 4); White Plains 33 (Williams 7, Bussey 7). Total fouls: Jacksonville 12, White Plains 14. Officials: Tidwell, Kelley, Jarrett.
ALEXANDRIA 78, TALLADEGA 54: D’Anthony Walton scored 13 of his game-high 28 points in the first quarter, Julian Wright scored 12 of his 21 in the first half and Braxton Tucker scored a career-high 14 off the bench to lead the Valley Cubs.
Walton had 17 rebounds for a double-double, along with four assists, two steals and three blocked shots. Wright hit 9-of-11 shots from the floor, pulled down seven rebounds and blocked two shots. Tucker was 6-for-8 from the field and hit a pair of 3-pointers.
Collin Taylor gave the Valley Cubs a fourth scorer in double figures with 10 points. He also six rebounds and had five assists.
Alexandria 78, Talladega 54
TALLADEGA – Roderick Jones 7-20 2-3 19, Jaquintez Garrett 2-7 3-3 8, Durquavion Truss 3-12 0-0 7, Lecroy Wallace 2-8 1-2 6, Kylan Curry 2-7 0-0 4, Ollie McMillian 2-6 0-0 4, Amari Webb 1-6 0-0 2, Jaylyn Lawson 1-2 0-0 2, Kendric Wilson 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 21-69 6-8 54.
ALEXANDRIA – D’Anthony Walton 8-16 6-7 24, Julian Wright 9-11 3-5 21, Braxton Tucker 6-8 0-0 14, Collin Taylor 3-6 4-6 10, Evan Snow 1-4 0-0 3, Kory Cargal 0-2 2-4 2, Damon Parr 1-1 0-0 2, Javarious Williams 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 29-50 15-22 78.
Talladega 10 8 20 16 – 54
Alexandria 27 16 20 15 – 78
3-point goals: Talladega 6-35 (Jones 3-13, Garrett 1-5, Truss 1-7, Wallace 1-6, Curry 0-2, McMillian 0-2); Alexandria 5-17 (Walton 2-7, Tucker 2-4, Taylor 0-1, Snow 1-4, Williams 0-1). Rebounds: Talladega 26 (Wallace 7, Truss 5); Alexandria 47 (Walton 17, Wright 7, Cargal 7). Fouled out: Curry. Total fouls: Talladega 21, Alexandria 9. Officials: Stringer, Horn, Wood.
PIEDMONT 63, CHEROKEE COUNTY 54: Ish Bethel hit three of Piedmont’s 10 3-pointers in the second quarter when the Bulldogs took control and Alex Odam’s steady scoring helped keep them in front the rest of the game.
Odam led all scorers with 28 points. Cade Hopper hit five 3-pointers and led Cherokee County with 15.
Piedmont 63, Cherokee County 54
CHEROKEE COUNTY – Jackson Amos 1 2-4 5, Malachi Horton 4 1-4 10, Cade Hopper 5 0-0 15, Jaylen Wilson 1 2-2 4, C.J. Gresham 2 0-1 4, Landon Caldwell 0 2-3 2, Eli Martin 3 0-0 6, Jaxon Neyman 1 0-0 3, Braden Chandler 2 0-0 5. Totals 19 7-14 54.
PIEDMONT – Alex Odam 10 4-4 28, Omarion Foster 5 2-4 12, Gavin Lawler 2 0-0 6, Cassius Fairs 2 0-0 5, Cole Wilson 0 0-0 0, Ridge Fagan 0 0-0 0, Ish Bethel 3 0-0 9, Jake Rhinehart 0 0-0 0, Chance Murphy 1 0-0 2, Coleman Reid 0 1-2 1, Rhett Alford 0 0-0 0. Totals 23 7-10 63.
Cherokee County 19 9 11 15 – 54
Piedmont 15 20 17 11 – 63
3-point goals: Cherokee County 9 (Amos, Horton, Hopper 5, Neyman, Chandler); Piedmont 10 (Odam 4, Lawler 2, Fairs, Bethel 3). Fouled out: Fairs. Total fouls: Cherokee County 12. Piedmont 16. Officials: Howell, Wise, Warren.
COOSA CHRISTIAN 60, PLEASANT VALLEY 59: In a game that featured 20 3-pointers between the teams, it was a layup layup in the final 15 seconds that proved the difference.
PV led by one with 37 seconds to play. The Raiders missed a shot, the Conquerors rebounded and raced back down the floor for their go-ahead layup. Coosa missed the front end of a one-and-one moments later but the Raiders couldn’t connect on a potential winning shot.
PV’s Garrett Cranmer led all scorers with 21 points. Kyle Smith hit four first-half 3-pointers for 12 points and Kolby Battles scored all 10 of his points in the second half.
Coosa Christian 60, Pleasant Valley 59
COOSA – D.J. Smith 7 1-1 20, Tylan Sims 2 3-3 8, Hayden Peek 7 0-1 18, J.D. Justus 1 0-0 2, Dartavius Mackey 0 0-0 0, Elijah Motes 0 1-2 1, Jacoby Tucker 5 0-0 12. Totals 22 5-7 60.
PLEASANT VALLEY – Braydon Maye 2 0-0 4, Garrett Cranmer 8 3-4 21, Jacob Teal 1 0-0 2, Dalton Haynes 1 0-0 2, Brayden Robinson 1 0-0 2, Kolby Battles 5 0-1 10, Zeke Johnson 2 0-1 6, Kyle Smith 4 0-0 12. Totals 24 3-6 59.
Coosa 24 15 10 11 – 60
Pleasant Valley 14 18 17 10 – 59
3-point goals: Coosa 12 (Smith 5, Sims, Peek 4, Tucker 2); PV 8 (Cranmer 2, Johnson 2, Smith 4). Fouled out: Motes. Total fouls: Coosa 14, PV 9. Officials: Pratt, Mallicoat, Lackey.
CLEBURNE COUNTY 60, OHATCHEE 53: Dayleon Brown scored 28 points, 13 in the second half as the Tigers held off a charge from the Indians. Jesse Baswell scored 12 of his team-high 16 points in the second half and Jake Roberts had all eight of his points there to key Ohatchee’s comeback bid.
Cleburne County 60, Ohatchee 53
CLEBURNE COUNTY – Brody Higgins 0 0-0 0, Grant Harcrow 1 1-2 3, Jaylan Groce 2 0-0 4, Ron Ervin 2 0-1 5, Rico Huguley 0 0-0 0, Dayleon Brown 10 6-10 28, Dee Prothro 2 1-1 5, Kyler McGrinn 2 0-1 4, Grayson Freeman 4 1-1 9, Isaac Marshall 1 0-2 2. Totals 24 9-18 60.
OHATCHEE – Eli Teem 1 1-2 4, Jake Roberts 4 0-1 8, Jesse Baswell 6 3-6 16, Carson Tittle 0 2-5 2, Colby Hester 1 3-4 6, Jake Roberson 1 0-1 2, Brent Jennings 1 0-0 2, Kelbe Crook 5 3-4 13. Totals 19 12-23 53.
Cleburne County 16 16 15 13 – 60
Ohatchee 7 12 17 17 – 53
3-point goals: Cleburne County 3 (Ervin, Brown 2); Ohatchee 3 (Teem, Baswell, Hester). Fouled out: Crook. Total fouls; Cleburne County 23, Ohatchee 15. Officials: Hollingsworth, Hall, Warren.
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