Ware goes out winning
- Updated: February 4, 2016
Boys roundup: Anniston holds off White Plains on emotional Senior Night; 12 seniors, head coach honored before game
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
The head coach cried. And when the players saw it, they cried, too.
And then they went out and debunked one of the oldest myths in sports.
Anniston beat White Plains 70-61 Thursday night in a cross-class battle of top 10 teams.
Before the game the school recognized the Bulldogs’ 12 seniors and presented retiring head coach Schuessler Ware with a small plaque commemorating his 19 seasons of service as head coach.
The gesture caused Ware to tear up on the floor and later in the dressing room with his players. The coach’s reaction so moved Willie Thomas the senior guard had to step out of the dressing room to shed tears.
Then he went on the floor to score a team-high 25 points that helped the 5A No. 6 Bulldogs (21-4) beat 4A No. 10 White Plains (21-7) for the third time this season.
Thomas had 11 points in the fourth quarter – seven from the foul line — as the Bulldogs beat back a barrage of 3-pointers that brought the Wildcats back into the game. He also had five rebounds, five assists and three steals.
“I went downstairs and saw Coach Ware crying, so that made me play hard right here,” Thomas said. “I saw him crying, so I started crying. I’ve known him for a long time. I’m going to miss him.”
Ware and the Bulldogs have at least one more game to play on their floor this year as they host the 5A Area 12 boys tournament starting Monday. This one, however, was their final regular-season home game.
The recognition of Ware came after all the senior players had been introduced. School officials called him to center court from his seat at the scorer’s table.
Ware officially retired from Anniston schools on Feb. 1, but he will stay on as coach through the end of the Bulldogs season. East Alabama Sports Today first reported the confirmation of Ware’s retirement following the Bulldogs’ Calhoun County Tournament semifinals victory over, ironically, White Plains.
“They gave me that little thing and I was thinking about the kids and all that they’ve accomplished and their success,” Ware said. “It wasn’t any boo-hooing, not like a death, but it touched me.”
Tray Croft and DeQuan Ross were two of the other Anniston seniors who were moved to tears.
“I’ve never seen Coach Ware cry before; it was emotional in there,” Ross said. “He wanted the whole team to go hug him. The whole team wanted to come out here and play hard, especially after it got emotional, we wanted to show Coach Ware that even with it being emotional we could still come out and play hard for him.”
The Bulldogs pulled away from a tight game with the first eight points of the second quarter. It turned into an 18-5 run that gave them a 14-point lead.
They led 47-24 before White Plains started hitting the 3-pointers that brought it back to with as much as two minutes to play.
Michael McGuirk and Eli Hightower keyed the rally, combining for seven 3-pointers in the second half, five in the fourth quarter. McGuirk finished with 22 points, while Hightower had 14 – all in the second half. Kevin Carr also played a big role in the fourth quarter, scoring all 10 of his points.
Talladega 65, Lincoln 62: Fred Dickerson scored eight of his 15 points in the third quarter to bring Talladega back from a 15-point halftime deficit and Ashton Duncan hit two layups to put them ahead for good with less than a minute to play.
Lincoln built its halftime lead on the strength of some torrid outside shooting. The Golden Bears hit all seven of their 3-pointers in the first half with leading scorer Zay Caldwell and Tyler Hemphill nailing three apiece. Caldwell finished with 23 points.
Jay Smoot led the Tigers in scoring with 22 points; he also had eight rebounds and four steals. Duncan finished with 17 points. Dickerson had five steals and Jae-lyn Russ had four blocked shots.
Central-Clay County 68, Jacksonville 56: Davyn Flenard scored a double-double with 23 points and 12 rebounds and the Volunteers pulled away from a close game with a big second quarter.
The Golden Eagles weren’t shy about shooting it – they took 70 shots from the floor – but hit only 28 percent. They were 8-of-34 from 3-point range.
Taye Ackles led Jacksonville in scoring with 15 points. Cam Horton had 12 points and seven rebounds. Rival Hill had nine points and eight rebounds, while Will Fuller grabbed a team-high 10 boards.
Spring Garden 71, Faith Christian 60: Jordan Griswould and Jack Sills both scored double-doubles, but the Lions struggled defensively. Griswould had 25 points and 10 rebounds, while Sills had 10 points and 10 boards.
Glencoe 49, Pleasant Valley 36: Raiders coach Ryan McCoy said his team played hard and looked a little sharper in some areas, but “we didn’t hit some shots when we needed to.” Riley Vernon led PV with 11 points, including three of the Raiders’ six 3-pointers.
Saks 45, St. Clair County 30: Alfonza Ward led a limited but balanced Saks scoring attack with 14 points. Jaylen Britt had eight points and Darien Briskey added seven.
THURSDAY’S BOYS BOX SCORES
Anniston 70, White Plains 61
WHITE PLAINS – Jerod Guthrie 1 0-0 2, Kevin Carr 3 4-4 10, Eli Hightower 4 2-2 14, Michael McGuirk 7 5-6 22, Quez Wyatt 1 0-0 3, Lawrence Jackson 0 1-2 1, Macey Carr 1 0-0 3, Murphy Doss 2 2-2 6. Totals 19 14-16 61.
ANNISTON – Marrio Dobbins 2 1-5 5, Tray Croft 3 6-6 14, Hakeem Ross 3 0-0 8, Davion Tippins 4 2-3 10, Willie Thomas 8 8-13 25, DeQuan Ross 2 0-0 4, Chris Beard 1 0-0 2, Tae Miller 1 0-0 2. Totals 24 17-27 70.
White Plains 12 8 12 31 — 61
Anniston 13 22 12 23 — 70
3-point goals: White Plains 9 (Hightower 4, McGuirk 3, Wyatt, M. Carr); Anniston 5 (Croft 2, H. Ross 2, Thomas). Fouled out: D. Ross. Total fouls: White Plains 21, Anniston 19. Officials: Strong, Truss, Morrissey.
Talladega 65, Lincoln 62
LINCOLN – Zay Caldwell 8 4-6 23, Tyler Hemphill 5 0-0 13, Malik Weed 0 0-0 0, Quin Carmichael 2 0-2 4, Dee Whiteside 5 3-4 14, L.J. Carmichael 2 4-4 8, Chris Prince 0 0-0 0. Totals 22 11-16 62.
TALLADEGA – Fred Dickerson 5 4-6 15, Jay Smoot 9 3-4 22, Jarvis McKinzie 2 1-2 5, Ashton Duncan 7 3-5 17, Jamonte Twyman 1 0-0 2, Waderrius Tuck 0 0-1 0, Robert Houston 0 0-0 0, Jae-lyn Russ 2 0-0 4. Totals 26 11-18 65.
Lincoln 24 16 10 12 — 62
Talladega 14 14 16 21 — 65
3-point goals: Lincoln 7 (Caldwell 3, Hemphill 3, Whiteside); Talladega 4 (Dickerson, Smoot, Duncan 2). Fouled out: Whiteside, Houston. Total fouls: Lincoln 16, Talladega 16.
Saks 45, St. Clair County 30
SAKS (16-8) – Jalen Wynn 0 1-2 1, Demetrius Powell 2 0-0 5, Quay McCord 0 0-2 0, Quin Smith 2 0-1 5, Jaylen Britt 3 0-0 8, Davieuntae Booker 1 0-0 2, Alfonza Ward 4 3-5 14, DeMario Burnett 1 0-0 2, Trey Hughley 1 0-0 2, Darien Briskey 3 1-1 7. Totals 17 5-11 45.
ST. CLAIR COUNTY – Taylor Mickens 0 0-0 0, Nyjil Cotton 0 0-0 0, Hakeem Davis 5 0-0 15, Grayson Beatty 2 0-0 4, Justin May 1 0-0 2, Mason Anderson 1 2-2 5, Temothee Smith 0 1-2 1, Garrett Sanders 1 1-2 3. Totals 10 4-6 30
Saks 17 9 13 6 — 45
St. Clair Co. 10 9 10 1 — 30
3-point goals: Saks 6 (Powell, Britt 2, Ward 3); St. Clair Co. 6 (Davis 5, Anderson). Total fouls: Saks 13, St. Clair Co. 14. Officials: Madaris, Clark, Holloway.
Clay Central 68, Jacksonville 56
JACKSONVILLE – Taye Ackles 5-17 1-2 15, Cam Horton 4-19 2-3 12, Rivan Hill 2-10 5-6 9, Will Fuller 2-3 0-0 4, Casey Trull 2-7 0-0 4, Aaron Bragg 1-3 0-0 3, Alex Gilbert 1-6 0-0 3, Tahj Kirkland 1-3 0-0 2, Blake Morris 1-1 0-0 2, Jay Davis 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 20-70 8-11 56.
CENTRAL – Davyn Flenard 7-8 9-18 23, Joc Bullock 5-12 1-2 14, Dawson Taylor 5-7 0-0 11, D.J. Ford 3-3 0-0 6, Cameron Peoples 2-5 1-3 5, Dustin Hardy 2-3 0-0 5, Quen McKinney 1-7 0-2 2, J.T. Burns 0-1 2-2 2, Tyler Smith 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 25-47 13-27 68.
Jacksonville 12 8 18 18 — 56
Central-Clay Co. 14 21 16 17 — 68
3-point goals: Jacksonville 8-34 (Ackles 4-14, Horton 2-10, Hill 0-4, Bragg 1-2, Gilbert 1-3, Kirkland 0-1); Central 5-12 (Flenard 0-1, Bullock 3-6, Taylor 1-2, Hardy 1-2, Burns 0-1). Rebounds: Jacksonville 48 (Fuller 10, Hill 8, Horton 7); Central 48 (Flenard 12, Peoples 9). Total fouls: Jacksonville 18, Central 9.
Glencoe 49, Pleasant Valley 36
PLEASANT VALLEY – Josh Preston 1 0-2 2, Dakota Jones 1 0-0 2, Caden Turner 3 0-0 7, Riley Vernon 4 0-0 11, Britton Proper 2 0-0 4, Marshall Smith 0 0-0 0, Reid Hightower 2 0-0 6, Nick Robbins 1 0-0 2, Jordan Lambert 0 0-0 0, Cantor Knight 0 0-0 0, Chase Craven 1 0-0 2. Totals 15 0-2 36.
GLENCOE — Zack Cowley 0 0-0 0, Aaron Bush 2 0-0 4, Jacob Bradley 2 0-1 5, Pace Ozmint 1 5-6 7, Justin Barkley 1 1-2 4, Sam Holbrooks 6 1-4 13, Craig Barkley 0 0-2 0, Dalton Roberts 1 2-2 4, Paul Hicks 1 0-0 2, Jeffrey Ford 4 2-4 10. Totals 18 11-23 49.
Pleasant Valley 12 2 12 10 — 36
Glencoe 17 9 7 16 — 49
3-point goals: PV 6 (Hightower 2, Vernon 3, Turner); Glencoe 2 (Bradley, J. Barkley). Total fouls: PV 20, Glencoe 10.
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