Weaver girls stay unbeaten
- Updated: November 21, 2015
Cortez comes up big in Lady Bearcats’ third straight win; PV rallies to beat Ohatchee, Oxford gets first win
By East Alabama Sports Today
Ninth-grader Caleigh Cortez put an exclamation point on a career game when she stole a pass with 10 seconds left and laid it in to secure Weaver’s 54-51 victory over Coosa Christian Saturday in the Creekbank Invitational.
The victory lifted the Lady Bearcats to 3-0 for the first time in recent memory.
“The difference is the will to win,” Weaver coach Gary Atchley said. “We were in control of the game pressing and playing defense until we got in foul trouble early in the third quarter.
“These girls love playing basketball and are having a great time right now.”
In the other tournament games at Alexandria, Pleasant Valley staged a big comeback and also remained undefeated with a 58-52 over Ohatchee, Wellborn defeated Donoho 34-24 and Cleburne County defeated Alexandria.
Cortez finished with 25 points, 15 in the second half and “took over” after three starters had fouled out. The Lady Bearcats were winning by 14 with 5:25 to play when their third starter fouled out and Coosa Christian came back.
Cortez scored five of Weaver’s last seven points of the game.
“She played as an eighth-grader, but she’s blossomed into a ballplayer,” Atchley said.
Emily Reed added 10 points for Weaver. Ciara Hardy and Mariah Thompson had eight each.
Coosa Christian’s Samara Brewster led all scorers with 33 points.
PV caps busy first week with rally, fourth win
Playing its fourth game in five days and less than 18 hours after an emotional, ground-breaking win over Glencoe, Pleasant Valley came from 14 down with six minutes to play to beat Ohatchee for the second time this week.
Despite his team’s fragile state, PV coach Brad Hood plugged in a tight man press and the Lady Raiders delivered. They cut the deficit to two in less than two minutes.
“We had to turn up the defense,” Hood said. “I knew we didn’t have the legs to do it, but we waited until the last six minutes to go with it.
“I knew I couldn’t push too hard defensively and had to stay positive the whole game with them. They were at the point I could see their body language (and) they were defeated, but I called that time out and said to them we can go hard for six and a half minutes and leave it out there. We got a good push. We built momentum and they got nervous.”
A big element in the move was inserting Lindsey Pritchett into the lineup to add some ball pressure and a spark. Pritchett was only recently promoted from the junior high team.
Mikala Simpson led Pleasant Valley’s offense with 20 points. Atleigh Brannon had 18. The Lady Raiders were 26 of 38 from the free throw line in the game (15 of 22 in the fourth quarter). They are 71 of 103 from the line in their first four games.
The tournament returns to Ohatchee Monday.
Oxford 62, Shelby County 49
OXFORD – Ebony Kelley led a balanced scoring attack with 12 points and Alexus Davis grabbed 13 rebounds as the Lady Yellow Jackets rallied to score their first victory of the season.
The Jackets (1-2) rallied from seven down midway through the second quarter to earn a 25-all tie at the half, then scored the first 12 points of the third quarter to take control.
Kelley had seven of the points in the run and nine in the quarter. She was among three Oxford scorers in double figures; Winter Taylor and Tremeria Britt each scored 10. Taylor also grabbed seven rebounds.
Grace Mitchell scored all seven of her points later in the third quarter when the Lady Wildcats started pressing in an effort to get back in the game. She capped her run with a three-point that put Oxford on top 48-29.
The Lady Jackets held their visitors to only four field goals in the second half.
CREEKBANK INVITATIONAL
Weaver 54, Coosa Christian 51
WEAVER (3-0) – Ciara Hardy 4 0-1 8, Caleigh Cortez 10 5-20 25, Tayanna Perry 0 0-0 0, Rayne Beck 2 1-2 5, Emily Reed 2 0-0 4, Anna Howell 2 0-0 4, Morgan Wigley 0 0-0 0, Mariah Thompson 4 0-2 8. Totals 24 6-25 54.
COOSA CHRISTIAN – Natalee Davidson 3 9-20 15, Lauryn Noojin 0 0-0 0, Lauren Reeves 0 0-2 0, Neely Evetts 1 0-0 3, Mary Garrett 0 0-0 0, Morgan Delp 0 0-0 0, Samara Brewster 16 1-8 33. Totals 20 10-30 51.
Weaver 13 13 14 14 — 54
Coosa Christian 15 9 9 18 — 51
3-point goals: Coosa Christian 1 (Evetts). Fouled out: Noojin, Perry, Beck, Thompson. Total fouls: Weaver 26, Coosa Christian 25. Officials: Carpenter, Hinkle, Dodwell.
Pleasant Valley 58, Ohatchee 52
PLEASANT VALLEY (4-0) — Kara Perry 1 3-4 5, Lindsey Pritchett 0 0-0 0, McKinley Parris 5 5-7 15, Atleigh Brannon 4 10-14 18, Alyssa Cash 0 0-1 0, Kendall Johnson 0 0-2 0, Mikala Simpson 7 6-6 20, Courtney Upton 0 0-0 0. Totals 17 24-34 58.
OHATCHEE – Courtney Poole 3 0-1 7, Hannah Howell 4 4-9 12, Ally McCoy 3 3-4 10, Kourtney Shuler 1 0-0 0, Kacie Cooper 0 0-0 0, Makenzie Hanks (21) 1 1-2 4, Madison Hanks 2 5-10 9, Cheyenne McCarter 1 0-0 2, Maggie Phillips 3 0-0 6. Totals 18 13-26 52.
Pleasant Valley 4 15 14 25 — 58
Ohatchee 7 17 15 13 — 52
3-point goals: Ohatchee 3 (Poole, McCoy, Mk. Hanks).
Fouled out: Md. Hanks, McCarter. Total fouls: Pleasant Valley 20, Ohatchee 28. Officials: Brewster, Radcliff, Pratt.
REGULAR SEASON
Oxford 62, Shelby County 49
SHELBY COUNTY – Catherine Straate 0 0-0 0, Marjorie Head 2 8-12 12, Sam Slaughter 3 7-11 14, Katelyn Cummings 1 0-0 2, Cat Nash 3 2-2 11, Madison Purcell 2 1-2 5, Karah Goodwin 1 1-1 3. Totals 13-41 19-28 49.
OXFORD – Anna Bolton 1-4 2-2 4, Makayla Kidd 2-5 0-0 5, Winter Taylor 4-15 1-2 10, Kayla Lowery 2-6 0-0 4, Acacia Kidd 1-5 0-0 2, Tremeria Britt 3-10 2-4 10, Ebony Kelley 4-11 4-10 12, Alex Gomez 0-1 2-2 2, Alexus Davis 3-5 0-0 6, Grace Mitchell 3-3 1-1 7. Totals 23-65 12-21 62.
Shelby County 13 12 9 15 — 49
Oxford 8 17 25 12 — 62
3-point goals: Shelby County 4 (Slaughter, Nash 3); Oxford 4 (Kidd, Taylor, Britt 2). Fouled out: Kelly, Davis. Total fouls: Shelby County 16, Oxford 23. Officials: Kelley, Oliver, Strott.
Saturday’s games
Sacred Heart 83, Centennial 63 (boys)
Donoho vs. Trinity Presbyterian in Cornerstone Thanksgiving Classic (boys)
Oxford 62, Shelby County 49 (girls)
Oxford 73, Shelby County 51 (boys)
Creekbank Girls Invitational
Cleburne County def. Alexandria
Weaver 54, Coosa Christian 51
Pleasant Valley 58, Ohatchee 52
Wellborn 34, Donoho 24
Monday’s games
Anniston at Parker
Brooklane at Trinity Christian
Talladega vs. McAdory in Shelby County Tournament (boys), 3:30 p.m.
Weaver at Sacred Heart (boys)
Lincoln Thanksgiving Invitational (boys)
Winterboro vs. Pell City, 4 p.m.
Westbrook Christian vs. Moody, 5:30 p.m.
White Plains vs. Sylacauga, 7 p.m.
Lincoln vs. Ashville, 8:30 p.m.
Creekbank Girls Invitational
Pleasant Valley vs. Alexandria, 4 p.m.
Weaver vs. Cleburne County, 5:30 p.m.
Lincoln vs. Wellborn, 7 p.m.
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