Ohatchee bounces back
- Updated: November 18, 2015
Indians rebound from loss in season opener; Oxford, Lincoln, Talladega, JCA open their seasons with victories
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
OHATCHEE – The Ohatchee boys basketball team couldn’t get back on the floor fast enough as bad as it played in its season opener.
You expect a little inconsistency and uncertainty in a season opener, but the way the Indians played at Pleasant Valley on Monday went beyond disappointing.
This is a team that came into the season with some pretty high expectations and the first time out it got a heaping helping of what coach Bryant Ginn called “humble pie.”
The Indians were much sharper in Chapter Two Tuesday, valuing possessions and holding off a Faith Christian team playing its first game under coach Brad Yarbrough, 52-41.
“We just played harder and got after it,” junior guard Austin Tucker said. “(Monday) night we didn’t give much effort, honestly. It was embarrassing … losing the way we lost.”
The Indians scored only 31 points at PV and had almost as many turnovers (26) as they did points. They had 34 points through three quarters against the Lions and extended their lead in the fourth quarter, scoring 11 of the game’s final 13 points after Faith closed within one on Michael Kulick’s 3-pointer with 2:55 to play.
“We didn’t show up yesterday,” guard Ben Glass said. “We thought we were going to be able to walk out there and walk over them, but we realize we’ve got to show up every day.
“That was worse than any game we played last year just because we didn’t show up. I knew as soon as the game was over I was going to turn it around no matter what, from my part, and I was hoping everybody else would show up and they did.”
Tucker and Brian Jennings made their presence felt in the fourth quarter, combining for 11 of the Indians’ points in the quarter. Glass was their leading scorer with 10 points.
Yarbrough said his Lions have to be able to capitalize on momentum-grabbing moments like Kulick’s 3-pointer and finish. It didn’t help their continuity that four of their nine players, including leading scorer Jordan Griswould, fouled out.
“The first game was a little messy, but you always learn a lot more from losing than you do winning,” Yarbrough said. “When we got into the offense a lot of things looked good; we just didn’t rebound the ball well and they got a lot of easy baskets, second-chance baskets.
“There are a lot of things we can improve on. I think they’ll bounce back.”
Oxford 53, Southside 36
OXFORD – The Yellow Jackets turned up the heat in the fourth quarter on both ends of the floor and it paved the way to a season-opening victory.
The Jackets turned on the press and it sparked their offense as they outscored the Panthers 21-4 in the fourth quarter to turn a tight game into a rout.
The game was tied at 36 with about five and a half minutes to play and Oxford scored the last 17 points of the game
Torry Robertson scored nine of his game-high 14 points in the breakaway stretch and Jakolbie McClendon scored all 10 of his points in the second half.
“In the first half we settled for jump shots,” Oxford coach Joel Van Meter said. “In the second we pushed the ball up the court.
“The pace of play was what we like. We wanted to be an uptempo team.”
Lincoln 72, B.B. Comer 55
SYLACAUGA – The Golden Bears got their season off in better than expected fashion as Tyler Hemphill scored 24 points, Dee Whiteside had 15 and Quin Carmichael went for a double-double.
Carmichael had 12 points and 10 rebounds.
“The game overall was better than expected for our first game,” Lincoln coach Rush Rutledge said. “Our defense needs some work, but we shot the 3-ball well to keep the lead the entire game.”
The Bears took a five-point second-quarter lead to 10 at halftime and led by as many as 27 in the fourth quarter.
Talladega 77, Benjamin Russell 58
TALLADEGA – Jay Smoot led three Talladega scorers in double figures with 17 points and Robert Houston recorded a double-double as the Tigers opened the season in impressive fashion.
Benjamin Russell’s Quen Reese led all scorers with 34 points. He hit five of his six 3-pointers in the first half.
Smoot scored 12 of his points in the first half as the Tigers opened a 41-24 lead.
Houston had 16 points and 10 rebounds, while Ashton Duncan added 16 points. Fred Dickerson finished with nine points and six assists, while Waderrius Tuck grabbed nine boards.
Jacksonville Christian 54, ASD 50
TALLADEGA — Reed Murphy scored 15 points and grabbed 19 rebounds to lead the Thunder. Walker Messer led all scorers with 18 points. Eddie Thomas and Anthony Scott scored 16 and 14, respectively, for ASD.
Ohatchee 52, Faith Christian 41
FAITH CHRISTIAN (0-1) – Caleb McCord 2 0-0 4, Jordan Griswould 6 4-7 16, Jamison Adams 3 2-3 8, David Wall 2 0-2 5, Jack Sills 1 0-0 2, Michael Kulick 1 0-0 3, Jamison Thacker 0 0-0 0, Alex Taylor 1 0-0 3, Julien Key 0 0-3 0. Totals 16 6-15 41.
OHATCHEE (1-1) – Ben Glass 3 2-5 10, Micah Lee 3 0-2 6, John Noel 1 1-2 4, Bryant Dunaway 2 0-0 4, Brennan Wink 0 1-2 1, Austin Tucker 1 5-6 7, Brian Jennings 2 3-4 7, Tristan Woodall 2 4-5 9, Sean Barnett 2 0-1 4. Totals 16 16-27 52.
Faith Christian 9 9 10 13 — 41
Ohatchee 11 16 7 18 — 52
3-point goals: Faith 3 (Kulick, Wall, Taylor); Ohatchee 4 (Glass 2, Noel, Woodall. Technical fouls: Griswould. Total fouls: Faith 26, Ohatchee 20. Officials: Hollingsworth, Burroughs, Wright.
Oxford 53, Southside 36
SOUTHSIDE (0-1) – Ethan Arflack 1 2-4 5, Kevin Carlisle 0 0-0 0, Trevor Roach 3 1-2 7, Tristan Riggan 3 0-0 7, Taylor Gibley 0 0-0 0, Jared Dleath 2 0-0 4, Dalton Hamilton 1 0-2 3, Dalton Harris 2 2-3 6, Gavin Orr 1 2-4 4. Totals 13 7-15 36.
OXFORD (1-0) – Terry Robertson 3 7-9 14, Jalen Moore 0 0-0 0, Querriun Mason 6 1-5, Jakolbie McClendon 2 0-0 4, Jacob Baker 0 0-0 0, Eugene Leonard 1 1-2 3, Andrew Pratt 0 0-0 0, Chris Jarmon 1 0-0 2, Braden Jones 3 3-5 9, Zachary Lackey 1 0-0 2. Totals 17 13-21.
Southside 9 10 13 4 — 36
Oxford 5 15 12 21 — 53
3-point goals: Southside 3 (Arflack, Riggan, Hamilton); Oxford 2 (Robertson, McClendon). Total fouls: Southside 17, Oxford 16. Officials: Alan Gilbert, Robert Howell, Lee Batey.
Lincoln 72, B.B. Comer 55
LINCOLN (1-0) — Isaac Davis 1 0-0 3, Zavian Caldwell 3 0-2 6, Tyler Hemphill 7 7-8 24, M Wood 1 1-2 4, Tarez Ellis 0 0-2 0, Quen Carmichael 3 6-7 12, Dee Whiteside 6 2-5 15, LJ Carmichael 1 1-2 3, Christyan Prince 0 0-0 0, Donte Rivers 0 0-0 0, Brikael Truss 1 0-0 2, Savion Woods 0 3-3 3. Totals 23 20-31 72.
B.B. COMER (0-1) – A. Swain 3 6-10 13, H. Ford 4 4-6 14, K. Neal 0 0-0 0, Matthews 0 2-4 2, J. Hall 0 0-0 0, T McCain 3 2-8 9, A. Borden 1 0-0 2, D. Holley 2 0-0 4, A. Burton 3 1-3 8. Totals 16 15-31 55.
Lincoln 16 21 16 19 — 72
B.B. Comer 7 18 11 19 — 55
3-point goals: Lincoln 6 (Davis, Hemphill 3, Whiteside, Wood); B.B. Comer 5 (Swain, Ford 2, McCain, Burton). Fouled out: Hall. Total fouls: Lincoln 25, B.B. Comer 22).
Talladega 77, Benjamin Russell 58
BENJAMIN RUSSELL (0-1) – Tay Johnson 1 3-7 5, Quen Reese 13 2-4 34, Alex Doss 1 0-0 2, Noah Boone 1 1-2 3, Miles Whetstone 0 0-0 0, Shannon Woody 2 3-5 8, Tanner Barnett 3 0-0 6, Jordan Tuck 0 0-0 0. Totals 21 9-18 58.
TALLADEGA (1-0) — Duantae Dickerson 4 0-1 9, Tyrese Scales 2 2-6 6, Jay Smoot 5 4-9 17, Jakerious McKenzie 2 1-2 5, Ashton Duncan 7 0-1 16, Jamontae Twymon 0 2-6 2, Damarco Truss 0 2-2 2, Waderrius Tuck 2 0-0 4, Robert Houston 6 4-5 16, Jaelynn Russ 0 0-0 0. Totals 28 15-32 77.
Benjamin Russell 18 16 10 14 — 58
Talladega 19 22 16 20 — 77
3-point goals: Benjamin Russell 7 (Reese 6, Woody); Talladega 6 (Dickerson, Smoot 3, Duncan 2). Fouled out: Johnson, Doss. Total fouls: Benjamin Russell 21, Talladega 16. Officials: Hunter, Gray, Holmes.
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