Worth the wait

By EASportsToday.com
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Updated: December 2, 2016

Boys roundup: Late-starting Valley Cubs shake slow start to win their opener; White Plains routs Ohatchee, Talladega hands Anniston first loss

Thursday’s Games
Alexandria 61, Jacksonville 46
JCA 83, Gaylesville 60
Talladega 58, Anniston 40
White Plains 53, Ohatchee 23
Saks at Cleburne County
Pell City at Lincoln

Friday’s Games
Gadsden City at Oxford
Lincoln at Alexandria
Jacksonville at Ohatchee
Spring Garden at Sacred Heart
Weaver at Saks

By East Alabama Sports Today

JACKSONVILLE – After weeks in the gym preparing for a late season-opener, the Alexandria basketball team finally got on the floor against “someone else” Thursday night. And after some expected tough sledding in the early going, the Valley Cubs made it a good start.

The Cubs found their groove in the second half and pulled away to beat Jacksonville 61-46.

Dalton Dodd led the Cubs with 17 points, seven rebounds and three steals. Josh Tucker had 12.

“We’ve got a lot of inexperience and young players – a lot of them are playing their first varsity game — so we kind of knew going in there would be some difficulties and we experienced a lot in the first half,” Alexandria coach Jason Johnson said. “We were just a little nervous and it took them about a half to get settled down and just play.

“Even though we’d been practicing for a month and were ready to play for sure I warned them we might struggle early and just keep fighting through it. We were happy to have gotten to play and happy to get the win.”

The Cubs got things turned around with some aggressive defense that sparked their offense. They aggressively attacked the basket and even though they didn’t hit shots they did get to the foul line.

They were 27 of 37 from the line in the game. Dodd was 11 of 14.

White Plains 53, Ohatchee 23

ANNISTON — Michael McGuirk and Drake Preston both hit three 3-pointers and were among three White Plains scorers in double figures. McGuirk led all scorers with 18 points. Macey Carr had 13 and Preston had 10.

Talladega 58, Anniston 40

TALLADEGA – Robert Houston and TraShaundez Bolden grabbed 11 rebounds apiece as the Tigers dominated the boards in their home opener to hand the Bulldogs their first loss of the season. Ashton Duncan led Talladega’s offense with 19 points; he also had six rebounds and four steals.

Thursday’s Boys Box Scores
Alexandria 61, Jacksonville 46
ALEXANDRIA (1-0) – Dalton Dodd 3-10 11-14 17, Josh Tucker 5-9 2-2 12, Austin Tatlor 2-2 3-4 9, Jamal Tucker 2-4 4-7 8, Chase Smitherman 1-2 4-4 6, Romeo Dye 1-1 3-4 5, J Cunningham 1-1 0-0 2, Devan Grant 1-3 0-0 2, Dru Davis 0-4 0-2 0, Jake Weathington 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 16-38 27-37 61.

JACKSONVILLE – Alex Gilbert 3-7 0-1 9, Rivan Hill 2-8 2-2 7, Alex Davis 3-3 0-2 6, DeAndre McCain 2-6 0-0 6, Josh Glass 0-0 5-10 5, Hunter Vinson 2-4 0-0 5, Tahj Kirkland 1-3 0-0 3, Jesse Wilson 1-2 0-0 2, Jay Davis 1-3 0-0 2, Jamir Jackson 0-0 1-2 1, K.J. Satcher 0-0 0-1 0. Totals 15-36 8-18 46.

Alexandria 13 19 22 7 — 61
Jacksonville 11 14 14 7 — 46

3-point goals: Alexandria 2-7 (Dodd 0-1, Tatlor 2-2, Ja. Tucker 0-1, Grant 0-1, Weathington 0-2); Jacksonville 8-21 (Gilbert 3-6, Hill 1-5, McCain 2-5, Vinson 1-1, Kirkland 1-2, J. Davis 0-2). Rebounds: Alexandria 33 (Dodd 7, Ja. Tucker 6); Jacksonville 24 (A. Davis 5, Wilson 5). Fouled out: Tatlor, A. Davis. Total fouls: Alexandria 24, Jacksonville 26.

White Plains 53, Ohatchee 23
OHATCHEE – Buckelew 1 0-0 2, Ben Glass 1 0-0 3, Michael Alward 0 0-0 0, Carson Stone 0 0-0 0, Domonique Thomas 0 0-0 0, Brennan Wink 0 0-0 0, Keller 1 0-0 3, Austin Tucker 3 3-6 9, Andrew Roberts 1 0-1 2, Bayley Tillison 0 0-0 0, Jordan Lowe 2 0-0 4, C.J. Ray 0 0-0 0. Totals 9 3-7 23.

WHITE PLAINS – Jaylen Jackson 1 1-2 4, Peyton Morgan 0 0-0 0, Dylan McCareeth 1 1-3 3, Justin Foster 0 0-0 0, Austin Bussey 0 0-0 0, Andrew McCarter 0 0-0 0, Michael McGuirk 6 3-4 18, Drake Preston 3 1-2 10, Macey Carr 6 0-0 13, Gavin Burrage 0 0-0 0, Brett Beaver 2 1-4 5. Totals 19 7-15 53.

Ohatchee 5 9 7 2 — 23
White Plains 22 15 16 0 — 53

3-point goals: Ohatchee 2 (Glass, Keller); White Plains 8 (Jackson, McGuirk 3, Preston 3, Carr). Total fouls: Ohatchee 18, White Plains 14. Officials: Burroughs, Kelley, Phillips.

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