Sacred Heart grabs first ‘W’
- Updated: January 4, 2015
Saturday girls roundup: Long runs doom Wellborn, Oxford
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
Marquita McMurray always told her Sacred Heart players if they would just be patient good things would happen.
That patience was rewarded Saturday as the Cardinals claimed their first victory of the season, 49-39 over neighboring Donoho.
Zainab Sanusi led Sacred Heart (1-6) with 18 points, seven rebounds and seven steals. Jarece Tillery added 12 points and Christiana Stephens had 10.
Donoho got the bulk of its scoring from Kelsey Jackson (18) and Anna Marie Woodfin (17). Jackson scored all her points on six 3-pointers.
The Cardinals led wire-to-wire, but McMurray said she didn’t feel secure in the victory until the last two minutes of the game. It was at that point, she said, she told her players to slow the pace.
“All year I’ve been telling the girls if we’d just be patient it’ll come; nothing happens overnight,” McMurray said. “Tonight was our night.
“I have a very young team. We’re in the process of building a program. Nothing really happens over night, but in due time it’ll come.”
And it can’t start without the first win.
Talladega Co. Central 53, Wellborn 34
WELLBORN — The Fighting Tigers rode the hot shooting of guard Tiarrial Duncan to open an 18-point halftime lead and then fought off the Lady Panthers in the second half.
It was the second meeting of the year between the two teams with the Fighting Tigers (11-3) taking both. The Lady Panthers (2-8) were determined to slow down the speedy visitors in the rematch.
”We were going to give them the three shot and back off and block out on the boards and try to slow the tempo of the game down and try to stay out of foul trouble,” Wellborn coach Stephen Gay said.
The strategy worked well in the opening quarter as Dymond Myles buried a couple of 3s and hit a layup to keep the game tight at 13-10. However, the Fighting Tigers held Myles to just three points the rest of the way.
Meanwhile, Duncan drilled three straight 3s and Destinee Garrett hit one to help the Fighting Tigers to 15 straight points. Duncan led all scorers with 22 points and Garrett had 15 points, including two 3-pointers. Savona Garrett had 10 points and eight assists.
Myers finished with 11 points. The Lady Panthers also got seven from Caitlin Gamble — all in the second half – and six from Anna Lowe. Gamble had eight rebounds and Myles six.
”I thought we played them pretty good today,” Gay said. “It was a good effort and we fought them even in the second half. I was pleased with the effort.” – Brant Locklier
Talladega 58, Oxford 24
TALLADEGA – The Lady Yellow Jackets always seem to have problems when they visit Talladega and Saturday was no exception as they struggled shooting from the floor and saw their three-game winning streak snapped.
Winter Taylor’s early jumper put the Yellow Jackets out to a 2-0 lead and then they pulled ahead 10-9 on Ebony Kelley’s basket early in the second quarter and the battle appeared to be on. But the Tigers reeled off 19 straight points as the Yellow Jackets went scoreless for more than nine minutes falling behind 34-13.
Oxford only had five field goals in the second half. Taylor led the Jackets (5-7) with six points.
Gabreial Johnson led Talladega (6-9) with 13 points, many coming off turnovers. Camille Buckhannon, a 6-foot-2 freshman, added nine points and nine rebounds. – Brant Locklier
GIRLS BOX SCORES
Sacred Heart 49, Donoho 39
DONOHO – Kirin Heathcock 0 0-0 0, Camille Fink 0 0-0 0, Alysse Lalonde 0 0-0 0, Anna Marie Woodfin 6 4-9 17, Kelsey Jackson 6 0-0 18, Constance Hodges 1 2-4 4, Carley Hughes 0 0-1 0. Totals 13 6-14 39.
SACRED HEART (1-6) – Zainab Sanusi 7 4-5 18, Anna Kerper 1 1-2 3, Jayla Woods 0 0-0 0, Jarece Tillery 4 4-6 12, Megan Lott 1 2-3 5, Monique Olbena 0 0-2 0, Morgan Calloway 0 2-4 2, Cameron Spencer 0 0-3 0, Christiana Stephens 4 2-2 10. Totals 17 15-28 49.
Donoho 10 7 8 14 — 39
Sacred Heart 15 11 9 14 — 49
3-point goals Donoho 7 (Woodfin, Jackson 6). Total fouls: Donoho 25, Sacred Heart 17. Fouled out: Heathcock, Hughes.
Talladega Co. Central 53, Wellborn 34
TCC (11-3) — Deja Gover 0 0-0 0, Tiarrial Duncan 8 2-4 22, Tyra Gooden 0 1-3 1, Savona Garrett 4 2-4 10, Nyah Garrett 0 0-1 0, TaRaven Swain 1 1-2 3, Marlonda Pemberton 1 0-0 2, Destinee Garrett 6 1-3 15, Uleshu Tuck 0 0-0 0, Kayla Bell 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 7-17 53.
WELLBORN (2-8) – Dymond Myles 4 1-2 11, Markeisha Jones 1 0-2 2, Carlee Mullinax 1 0-0 2, Valencia White 0 0-0 0, Anna Lowe 3 0-2 6, Caitlin Gamble 3 0-0 7, Katie Hafley 0 0-0 0, Dynasty Myles 1 0-0 2, Jessica Cooper 0 0-2 0, Chelsea Hubbard 2 0-0 4. Totals 15 1-8 34.
TCC 13 22 12 6 — 53
Wellborn 10 7 9 8 — 34
3-point goals: TCC 6 (Duncan 4, D. Garrett 2); Wellborn 3 (Dy. Myles 2, Gamble). Total fouls: TCC 7, Wellborn 12.
Talladega 58, Oxford 24
TALLADEGA (6-9) — Tnigera Wright 2 0-0 5, Nyeshia Smiley 1 0-0 3, Gabreial Johnson 5 1-2 13, Mahogany Hartley 0 0-0 0, Jada Reynolds 4 1-2 9, Alexis McKinney 3 1-2 8, Alexis Morgan 2 0-0 4, Kyla Keith 2 1-2 5, Camille Buckhannon 3 3-6 9, Dayiell Johnson 0 2-2 2. Totals 22 9-16 58.
OXFORD (5-7) – Anna Bolton 1 0-1 2, Makayla Kidd 1 1-2 4, Winter Taylor 3 0-0 6, Makala Lowery 1 0-0 2, Tremeria Britt 1 0-0 2, Ebony Kelley 2 0-0 4, Alex Gomez 1 0-0 2, Jordan Smith 1 0-2 2, Alexus Davis 0 0-0 0, Grace Mitchell 0 0-0 0. Totals 11 1-5 24.
Talladega 9 22 12 18 — 58
Oxford 8 5 8 3 — 24
3-point goals: Talladega 5 (Wright, Smiley, Johnson 2, McKinney); Oxford 1 (Kidd).
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