E.A. Sports Today

Loose play sinks Wildcats

Saturday hoops roundup: UPDATED with Alexandria, Talladega

By East Alabama Sports Today

WHITE PLAINS – The next time White Plains’ boys basketball team hits the practice floor two specific parts of their game will be high on the agenda.

Protecting the basketball and making free throws.

Both elements conspired against the Wildcats in their 62-55 loss to Cherokee County Saturday.

The Wildcats hit only 11 of 24 free throws and made two dozen – mostly unforced – turnovers. They had more than 20 turnovers in each of their two losses this season.

“Their zone gave us all kinds of trouble,” White Plains coach Chris Randall said. “We were very impatient. We had just too many careless turnovers.

“They started out playing us man-to-man and Nathan (Gilbert) killed them, so they went to the zone and it gave us trouble. You can live with it if you travel or double dribble or hit me-maw in the stands (with a bad pass) – they were live balls. They never pressed us. It was just us being careless against their zone.”

Gilbert led White Plains with 21 points, but most came in the first half before the Warriors started double-teaming the senior post every time he touched the ball and the Wildcats had no one else score in double figures in the game. Eli Hightower scored eight points, but they all came in the first half.

Cherokee County’s Joel Wester also scored 21, but the Warriors also got 11 from Nahum Horton and 10 from Quartez Henderson. The Warriors also were 20 of 25 from the line on the road.

Alexandria 61, Glencoe 32

GADSDEN – Alexandria found another way to win on a day when the offense struggled.

The Valley Cubs (3-1) shot less than 30 percent from the field and only 50 percent from the free throw line, but survived in a game played at Gadsden State on the strength of their defense. They held a Glencoe team transitioning from football to 10 points in the first half.

‘We shot really bad and still were able to make enough stops that even when you’re not shooting well to be able to have a nice lead,” Alexandria coach Jason Johnson said. “We forced some turnovers and that allowed us to get some easy baskets.

“We’re realizing not every night are you going to shoot well, but every night you can play good defense. It was a good learning experience for us tonight … that will help us down the road.”

All 14 Cubs played and 12 scored. Dakota Kelley led the charge with 13 points. Caleb Young had nine and Tyrelle Gay added seven. Alton Davis grabbed five rebounds.

Talladega 79, Talladega County Central 41

TALLADEGA — The Tigers came out of the gate with tight defense that forced 17 first-half turnovers that produced high-flying dunks and a barrage of 3-pointers to fuel an easy victory.

Once again, a spectacular dunk got them going. Ohyja Garrett came off the bench and on his first trip down the floor took a high lob off the glass and slammed it home. He had another later in the game.

Josh Madden hit three 3-pointers in the first quarter — four in the first half — and finished with 28 points and nine steals. D’Angelo Scales had 13 points and seven steals. Garrett finished with 10 points off the bench.

GIRLS GAMES

Cherokee County 63, White Plains 46

WHITE PLAINS – A quick turnaround and slow starts in each half conspired to do in the Wildcats.

They won a tighter-than-expected game the night before, then returned to the floor less than 18 hours later and had trouble getting out of the gate. They were outscored a combined 32-16 in the first and third quarters.

The game turned into a shootout between Cherokee County’s Raven Williams and White Plains’ Amber Greenwood.

Williams led all scorers with 28 points. Greenwood scored 27, hitting her first nine free throws and going 11 for 12 in the game.

Carrollton 64, Oxford 18

CARROLLTON, Ga. – Not a lot went right for Oxford as the Yellow Jackets were held to 25 percent shooting from the field and were charged with 35 turnovers.

The Jackets (2-5) fell behind 15-2 in the first quarter and 30-4 at halftime.

Winter Taylor had five points, five rebounds and a blocked shot to lead Oxford’s seven scorers. Ebony Kelley had eight rebounds, while Jordan Smith and Alexis Davis had six each.

Friday’s games

Jacksonville 58, Etowah 46

ATTALLA – Jacksonville used a big fourth quarter to pull away from a close game. The Golden Eagles held a two-point lead entering the final quarter, then outscored their hosts by 17-7.

Angel Kidd’s early foul trouble contributed to the early tightness of the game. She bounced back to finish with 12 points, three assists and two steals.

Dasia Kirksey led Jacksonville with 20 points and 11 rebounds. Sierra Stone had nine rebounds. Virginia Poe scored eight points, but had a lot of hustle points for the Golden Eagles – eight steals, six rebounds and four assists.

Etowah did not attempt a 3-point shot.

BOYS BOX SCORES

Cherokee County 62, White Plains 55

CHEROKEE COUNTY — Justin McKnight 0 0-0 0, Thomas Graves 3 3-4 9, Trent Edwards 0 0-0 0, Joseph Grimes 0 1-2 1, Morgan Ray 1 0-0 3, Logan Green 0 0-0 0, Colin Edwards 0 0-0 0, Joel Wester 6 7-8 21, Tyren Dupree 2 2-2 7, Nahum Horton 3 5-6 11, Quartez Henderson 4 2-3 10. Totals 19 20-25 62.

WHITE PLAINS (6-2) – Jerod Guthrie 2 1-2 7, Dillon Greenwood 0 0-0 0, Jake Montgomery 0 2-3 2, Kevin Carr 1 0-0 3, Eli Hightower 3 1-3 8, Michael McGuirk 2 1-2 7, Jackson Guthrie 0 0-0 0, Lawrence Jackson 1 2-4 4, Nathan Gilbert 9 3-7 21, Murphy Doss 1 1-3 3. Totals 19 11-24 55.

Cherokee County 15 17 17 13 — 62
White Plains 15 12 14 14 — 55

3-point goals: Cherokee County 4 (Ray, Wester 2, Dupree); White Plains 6 (Je. Guthrie 2, Carr, Hightower, McGuirk 2). Total fouls: Cherokee County 16, White Plains 14.

Alexandria 61, Glencoe 32

ALEXANDRIA (3-1) – Chance Williams 1 0-0 2, Austin Wells 1 0-1 2, Nick Porter 0 3-6 3, Riley Shaw 1 2-2 5, Kevin Swink 2 1-2 5, Alton Davis 0 1-2 1, Tyrelle Gay 3 0-0 7, Caleb Young 3 2-7 9, Ronnie Royal 0 0-0 0, DeMarcus Swink 3 0-0 6, Luke Tucker 2 0-0 5, Dakota Kelley 4 2-4 13, Darrin Caver 0 3-4 3. Totals 20 14-28 61.

GLENCOE – Dylan Stone 1 0-2 2, Garrison Clowdus 1 0-0 2, Jacob Bradley 2 1-2 5, Andrew Willis 2 2-2 6, Pace Ozmint 2 4-6 8, Andrew Lang 1 0-3 2, Craig Barkley 0 0-1 0, Dalton Roberts 0 3-4 3, Grant Griffin 0 4-4 4, Cody Weems 0 0-0 0, Ty Minshew 0 0-1 0. Totals 9 14-25 32.

Alexandria 13 9 17 22 — 61
Glencoe 6 4 10 12 — 32

3-point goals: Alexandria 7 (Shaw, Gay, Young, Tucker, Kelley 3); Glencoe 0. Total fouls: Alexandria 24, Glencoe 27. Fouled out: Williams, Stone, Griffin, Minshew.

Talladega 79, Talladega County Central 41

TCC – Charles Burrell 2 1-2 6, Monterio Jones 0 0-0 0, Cory White 1 0-0 2, Crystyle Stockdale 0 0-0 0, Hareem Averitte 2 0-0 4, Trovell Stockdale 1 0-0 2, Quincy Garrett 1 0-0 3, Dontavius Johnson 6 5-12 17, Devin Wilson1 0-0 2, Brandon Fluker 2 1-1 5, Totals 16 7-15 41.

TALLADEGA – Mario Echols 4 0-2 8, D’Angelo Scales 6 0-0 13, Jay Smoot 2 2-2 6, Desmond Green 2 0-0 5, Josh Madden 11 1-2 28, Ohyja Garrett 5 0-0 10, Kendarious Smith 1 0-0 2, Josh Wilson 2 0-1 4, Robert Houston 1 0-0 2, Khail Keith 0 1-2 1. Totals 34 4-9 79.

TCC 12 12 12 5 — 41
Talladega 25 21 18 15 — 79

3-point goals: TCC 2 (Burrell, Garrett). Talladega 7 (Scales, Green, Madden 5). Total fouls: TCC 13, Talladega 14.

GIRLS BOX SCORES

Cherokee County 63, White Plains 46

CHEROKEE COUNTY – Miranda Miller 0 0-0 0, Emily Ransum 0 0-0 0, Kendal Perry 5 0-4 10, Coley Battles 5 1-2 11, Raven Williams 11 6-11 28, Akiya Starr 0 0-0 0, Jemsen Alexander 4 0-0 8, Keishone Midcalf 2 0-0 4, Emily Williams 1 0-1 2. Totals 28 7-18 63.

WHITE PLAINS — Rian Chandler 0 0-0 0, Hannah Barno 1 1-2 3, Korie Burgess 1 0-0 2, Chasity Nelson 0 0-0 0, Amber Greenwood 7 11-12 27, Grey Young 0 0-0 0, Shelby Wood 5 2-4 12, Landry Bussey 0 0-0 0, Mary Clare Young 1 0-0 2, Halaya Harmon 0 0-0 0, Jocelyn Harris 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 14-18 46.

Cherokee County 14 19 18 12 — 63
White Plains 7 15 9 15 — 46

3-point goals: Cherokee County 0; White Plains 2 (Greenwood 2). Total fouls: Cherokee County 15, White Plains 14.

Jacksonville 58, Etowah 46

JACKSONVILLE — Dasia Kirksey 9-17 2-5 20, Angel Kidd 4-9 3-5 12, Virginia Poe 3-15 1-1 8, Darrien Martin 3-3 0-0 7, Destiny Easley 1-7 1-2 3, Ataliya Morgan 1-1 0-0 3, Quenteeria Mooney 1-1 0-0 3, Sierra Stone 1-4 0-0 2, Brandi Canady 0-1 0-0 0, Nicole Goodson 0-1 0-0 0, Kyra Williams 0-1 0-0. Totals 23-60 7-13 58.

ETOWAH — Gabby Williams 9-20 5-10 12, Brooke Perry 3-8 3-4 9, Maelin Trammell 3-11 1-3 7, Aimee Fancher 2-8 2-2 6, Maliyah Davis 0-1 1-2 1, Kaelin Trammell 0-2 0-0 0, Jakiya Williams 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 17-50 12-21 46.

Jacksonville 12 14 15 17 — 58
Etowah 10 12 17 7 — 46

3-point goals: Jacksonville 5-11 (Kirksey 0-1, Kidd 1-2, Poe 1-4, Martin 1-1, Easley 0-1, Morgan 1-1, Mooney 1-1); Etowah 0-0. Rebounds: Jacksonville 43 (Kirksey 11, Stone 9); Etowah 38 (Trammell 8). Total fouls: Jacksonville 20, Etowah 12. Fouled out: Perry.

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