Cubs stage huge rally
- Updated: February 6, 2016
Alexandria rallies from a 15-point deficit with a big fourth quarter; fresh legs, defense the key
By East Alabama Sports Today
GADSDEN – Jason Johnson can’t recall experiencing anything like it. Dalton Dodd certainly never has.
Alexandria roared back from a 15-point fourth-quarter deficit Friday to snatch a 71-63 victory away from Muscle Shoals in a game played at Gadsden State.
The Valley Cubs (17-5) outscored former Alexandria player Neal Barker’s team 23-4 in the fourth quarter.
“Our coaches told us to just keep fighting and playing good defense,” Dodd said. “We did what they told us and it paid off for us.
“We had some big plays in the fourth that gave us some momentum that came from our defensive standpoint. I haven’t ever been a part of one like that. It was nice to be able to get a win on our last regular-season game.”
The Trojans (16-10) used a big run at the end of the third quarter to pull away from what to that point was a close game.
Johnson delved into his depth, put some fresher, quicker players like A.J. Martin, Jamal Tucker and Gerald Murphy into the game to press and the Valley Cubs started forcing turnovers that they turned into points. They also made several free throws down the stretch.
The Cubs were 13 of 19 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter. They were 16 of 23 for the game.
“We had a lot of success and they just kind of rode it out,” Johnson said. “You talk about never giving up, in sports or life or anything, and our kids didn’t.
“To overcome that big a deficit it was a big (feat). Hopefully it’s able to teach these young guys that we’re never out of it. Even if a team makes a big run like they did, we still have a run of our own and never give up.”
Caleb Young led four Alexandria scorers in double figures with 16. Jamal Tucker had 15, Dodd 13 and Luke Tucker 12.
Fort Payne 69, Oxford 63 (OT): The Yellow Jackets had a 15-point lead early in second quarter, but had to come from behind to force overtime before losing in the extra session.
Oxford used a 14-0 run that carried between the first and second quarters to seize control of the game. The Jackets led by seven in the fourth quarter, but needed Eugene Leonard’s two free throws with 38 seconds left to tie the game at 58.
Leonard was 11-of-11 from the line for the game — 8-for-8 in the fourth quarter and overtime — and finished with 19 points.
Torry Robertson’s three-point play gave Oxford a 63-60 lead with 2:08 left in overtime, but they would be the last points the Jackets would score. Wanya King scored the last nine points of overtime, starting with a tie-breaking 3-pointer.
King finished with a game-high 34 points. Braden Jones had 15 points and 17 rebounds for Oxford.
“We let this one get away from us,” Oxford coach Joel Van Meter said.
White Plains 70, Ranburne 47: Michael McGuirk scored 11 points in the second half and Eli Hightower added 10 as the Wildcats pulled away from a modest halftime lead.
Hightower and Kevin Carr each scored eight in the third quarter and McGuirk added seven there as the Wildcats extended their lead.
McGuirk led the attack with 15 points. Hightower had 13 with three 3-pointers and Carr finished with 12.
“I thought we showed a lot of class and toughness; you have to have those things to win on the road,” White Plains coach Chris Randall said. “We got a huge second half from Eli and Mike; they knocked down some big shots in the third quarter. And I loved Kevin’s passing and defense.”
Randall called it “a solid win” heading into the area tournament.
Jacksonville 80, Spring Garden 55: Alex Gilbert missed only one shot all night, going 6-for-6 from the field, to score 17 points and lead a balanced scoring attack that paved the way for victory.
Four Golden Eagles scored in double figures as Jacksonville shot 62 percent from the floor and produced 55 points off the bench. They also shot 45 percent from beyond the 3-point arc. Gilbert and Taye Ackles, two non-starters, had 17 and 16 points, respectively. They combined to shoot 13 of 17 from the floor.
Nine players scored and 10 players had at least one rebound.
JCA 82, Donoho 64: Reed Murphy scored 17 of his 29 points in a 29-point third quarter that helped the Thunder pull away from a slim halftime lead. Walker Messer added 23 points to attack, including 12 of 18 from the free throw line.
Jacob Lecroy led Donoho with 18 points. He had 10 in the first half, including two of his three 3-pointers, to help keep the Falcons close. Tucker Sedmak hit four 3-pointers and finished with 14 points.
Beginning next season the teams will be area rivals for the next two years.
FRIDAY’S BOYS BOX SCORES
Alexandria 71, Muscle Shoals 63
ALEXANDRIA (17-5) — Riley Shaw 1 0-0 3, A.J. Martin 0 0-0 0, Dalton Dodd 4 3-4 13, Gerald Murphy 2 1-1 5, Jamal Tucker 5 2-7 15, Caleb Young 5 6-6 16, Marcus Swink 3 1-2 7, Luke Tucker 4 3-3 12. Totals 17 16-23 71.
MUSCLE SHOALS (16-10) — Braxton Winston 9 1-3 20, Calvin Bak 3 0-0 8, Mark Sears 0 0-0 0, Brandon McIntyre 1 0-0 2, Doc Wells 0 0-0 0, Riley Wolgamott 0 0-0 0, Jacob Vandiver 3 0-0 7, Dwain Smith 2 2-2 6, Mason Soeder 1 0-0 2, Jackson Wolgamott 7 0-0 18. Totals 26 3-5 63.
Alexandria 16 16 12 27 — 71
Muscle Shoals 23 7 29 4 — 63
3-point goals: Alexandria 7 (Shaw, Dodd 2, J. Tucker 3, L. Tucker); Muscle Shoals 8 (Winston, Bak 2, Vandiver, J. Wolgamott 4). Total fouls: Alexandria 10, Muscle Shoals 21. Officials: Robinson, Christian, Montgomery.
Jacksonville Christian 82, Donoho 64
DONOHO — Reaves Nelson 1 0-0 2, Dylan Dunaway 0 0-0 0, Jacob LeCroy 7 1-2 18, Garrett Steed 5 2-4 12, Saad Ibrahim 0 0-0 0, Ross Svensen 2 0-0 2, Joseph O’Neill 0 0-0 0, Ross Hagan 0 0-0 0, Tucker Sedmak 5 0-0 14, Coleman Jones 0 0-0 0, Will Nelson 1 0-0 2, Wilson Russell 0 3-6 3, Walton Montgomery 0 0-0 0, Robert Clausen 2 5-9 9. Totals 23 11-21 64.
JACKSONVILLE CHRISTIAN — Jimbo Tolbert 0 0-0 0, Jayni Mosley 6 2-3 14, Detrick Edmondson 0 0-0 0, Elijah McCormack 2 0-1 4, Walker Messer 5 12-18 23, Kobe Messer 3 0-0 7, Nash Messer 0 1-2 1, Jayden Mitchell 1 2-4 4, Chase Cobb 0 0-0 0, Reed Murphy 11 4-4 29, Austin Dowdey 0 0-0 0, Eli Fai 0 0-0 0. Totals 28 21-34 82.
Donoho 9 21 17 17 — 64
JCA 18 15 29 20 — 82
3-point goals: Donoho 7 (Lecroy 3, Sedmak 4); JCA 5 (W. Messer, K. Messer, Murphy 3). Fouled out: Steed. Total fouls: Donoho 22, JCA 15. Officials: Calkins, Davis, Washington.
Fort Payne 69, Oxford 63
FORT PAYNE — Wanya King 10 7-13 34, Matthew Wilding 0 2-2 2, Keyshawn Hightower 0 0-0 0, Keon Walker 1 0-0 3, Nick Ridgeway 7 2-2 18, Josh Johnston 1 0-0 2, Matthew Jones 0 0-0 0, Brevin George 0 0-0 0, Zackery Walker 0 0-0 0, Nathan Waites 0 0-0 0, Alexander Bynum 3 0-2 6, Ty Brooks 1 2-2 4. Totals 23-52 13-19 69.
OXFORD – Jalen Moore 2-13 0-0 5, Jakolbe McClendon 5-14 1-2 11, Jacob Baker 0-0 0-0 0, Eugene Leonard 4-9 11-11 19, Andrew Pratt 0-0 0-0 0, Jordan Swain 1-2 0-0 2, Chris Jarmon 0-0 0-0 0, Braden Jones 4-10 7-10 15, Zachary Lackey 0-1 1-2 1, Torry Robertson 3-9 3-3 10. Totals 19-58 23-28 63.
Fort Payne 10 18 12 18 11 — 69
Oxford 18 18 10 12 5 — 63
3-point goals: Fort Payne 10-24 (King 7, K. Walker, Ridgeway 2); Oxford 2-11 (Moore, Robertson). Total fouls: Fort Payne 18, Oxford 20. Officials: Chambers, Batey, Hughes.
Jacksonville 80, Spring Garden 55
JACKSONVILLE — Alex Gilbert 6-6 2-3 17, Taye Ackles 7-11 0-0 16, Cam Horton 6-10 1-4 13, Rivan Hill 5-8 0-0 12, Casey Trull 3-3 2-2 8, Jay Davis 2-3 1-1- 5, Tahj Kirkland 2-5 0-2 4, Collin Casey 1-2 0-0 3, Blake Morris 1-1 0-0 2, Aaron Brigg 0-2 0-0 0, Terry Thomas 0-2 0-0 0, Alex Davis 0-0 0-2 0, Will Fuller 0-0 0-0 0, KJ Satcher 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 33-53 6-14 80.
SPRING GARDEN — Riley Austin 6-8 3-4 15, Ben Ivey 3-10 3-5 9, Draven Bowman 3-5 0-0 8, Joe Rogers 2-5 3-4 7, Dillon Rogers 2-9 2-2 6, Ashton Rogers 2-4 0-0 5, Avery Gownes 1-1 0-2 3, Dakota Lambert 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 20-43 11-17 55.
Jacksonville 19 22 16 23 — 80
Spring Garden 4 17 18 16 — 55
3-point goals: Jacksonville 9-20 (Gilbert 3-3, Ackles 2-5, Horton 0-3, Hill 2-3, Davis 1-1, Kirkland 0-2, Casey 0-1, Bragg 0-1, Thomas 0-1) Spring Garden 4-16 (Austin 0-1, Ivey 0-2, Bowman 2-3, J. Rogers 0-2, D. Rogers 0-5, A Rogers 1-2, Gowens 1-1). Rebounds: Jacksonville 29 (Trull 6), Spring Garden 23 (Ivey 4, Rogers 4). Total fouls: Jacksonville 22, Spring Garden 9.
White Plains 70, Ranburne 47
WHITE PLAINS — Peyton Morgan 1 0-0 2, Dylan McCareeth 1 0-0 2, Kevin Carr 5 1-1 12, Eli Hightower 5 0-0 13, Michael McGuirk 5 3-3 15, Quez Wyatt 2 0-0 6, Lawrence Jackson 1 0-0 2, Macey Carr 3 0-0 6, Murphy Doss 4 0-0 8, Brett Beaver 2 0-1 4. Totals 29 4-5 70.
RANBURNE — Owen Smith 6 1-2 16, Levi Gosdin 2 2-2 6, Asa Fordham 1 1-2 3, Jordan English 1 2-2 4, Dylan Wiggins 2 0-0 5, Wilson Rainey 1 0-0 3, Riley Smith 0 0-0 0, Logan Sibley 0 1-4 1, Logan Brown 0 0-0 0, Blake Young 2 1-3 7. Totals 15 9-15 47.
White Plains 15 16 23 16 — 70
Ranburne 13 11 15 8 — 47
3-point goals: White Plains 8 (K. Carr, Hightower 3, McGuirk 2, Wyatt 2), Ranburne 8 (O. Smith 3, Fordham, Wiggins, Rainey, Young 2). Total fouls: White Plains 13, Ranburne 12. Officials: Watson, Battles, Burroughs.
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