Carter takes over

By EASportsToday.com
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Updated: December 18, 2017

Girls roundup: Wellborn star puts team on her shoulders in the final four minutes; Alexandria wins in double overtime; scores and box scores

Ohatchee’s Tori Vice (10) drives to the basket against Wellborn’s Katessa Carter during Monday’s game. On the cover, Vanessa Carter takes a swipe at a shot by Vice. (Photos by Beverly Wright)

MONDAY’S RESULTS
Alexandria 56, Cleburne County 47
Donoho 47, JCA 30
Fort Payne 61, Oxford 34
Piedmont 63, Westbrook Christian 32
Pleasant Valley 47, Ragland 17
Sacred Heart 55, Faith Christian 31
Spring Garden at Weaver
Wellborn 47, Ohatchee 37

By East Alabama Sports Today

When the game’s on the line it helps to have one of the best players in the county on your side.

After having control most of the game, the Wellborn girls basketball team found itself locked in a tight game with Ohatchee Monday. But in the final four minutes, after a brief rest, who do you think was going to take over?

The game belonged to Vanessa Carter and the Lady Panthers gladly put it in her hands.

With the Lady Panthers clinging to a 32-29 lead — after leading by as many as 13 — Carter scored eight points down the stretch and assisted on six of the other seven as Wellborn pulled away for a 47-37 victory.

“She did step it up, especially defensively,” Wellborn coach Shanese Morgan said. “She was more aggressive, more vivacious, and we needed that spark at the end of the game.

“She’s a leader out on the court and that’s what we need sometimes. Sometimes it doesn’t just need to come from the coach on what you need to do. Sometimes it needs to come from one of the players on the floor.”

Carter’s 3-pointer at the start of the fourth quarter gave Wellborn a 32-19 lead, but then she went to the bench of a rest. The Lady Indians took advantage of her absence to score 10 straight points, capped by a Kourtney Shuler 3-pointer, to make it 32-29 with 4:22 to play.

Gracie George did all she could to help keep the Lady Indians in it after Carter returned, but the Wellborn star was just too dominant.

In the final two minutes, Carter scored three points from the line, but she had two steals, forced Ohatchee into another turnover and had two assists. She finished with 23 points.

“The whole time I was sitting on the bench I was thinking, ‘Coach I’ve got to get in there, I’ve got to get in there and be a game changer, turn the game around,’” Carter said. “It was a little scary sight at first when I was sitting on the bench, but then I got back in and picked my momentum up and got some easy buckets off some steals.”

Alexandria 56, Cleburne County 47: Kaitlin Harvey scored six of her 11 points in the two overtimes to lift the Lady Cubs to victory. Cleburne County’s Chelsea Parker, in her first game back from ACL surgery, tied the game with the back end of a two-shot foul and the Lady Cubs missed two free throws sending the game to overtime. Heflin’s Olivia McDaniel forced the second OT with a basket, but Alexandria turned the tide with intense defense. The Lady Cubs played the game without 1,000-point scorer Brie Bradford, who suffered a hard fall in their area victory over Douglas Friday.

Sacred Heart 55, Faith Christian 31: Ayanna Foster and Iemyiah Harris each scored 20 points and combined for 29 of their team’s 34 second-half points to carry the Lady Cardinals to victory. Foster had 17 in the half.

Fort Payne 60, Oxford 34: Kori Willingham hit five of her six 3-pointers in the first half and Fort Payne hit nine in the game.

Pleasant Valley 47, Ragland 17: Emma Hood scored a career-high 26 points in about 20 minutes of the first three quarters. Usually playing at the top of the Lady Raiders’ press and cashing in on the fast-break layups it creates, Hood on this night scored four points off defense with the rest – and 8-of-11 from the foul line – coming on offensive sets.

Piedmont 63, Westbrook Christian 32: Kayley Kirk and Sydney Prater scored 16 points each to lead the Lady Bulldogs. Kirk got her night started in a big way, hitting two of her three 3-pointers and scoring 11 points in the first quarter.

GIRLS BOX SCORES

Wellborn 47, Ohatchee 37
OHATCHEE (5-7) – Graycn Snow 1 0-0 2, Jazmine Adams 1 0-0 3, Tori Vice 5 1-5 12, Kourtney Shuler 3 0-0 7, Marli Hanks 0 0-0 0, Gracie George 4 0-0 8, Regan Snow 2 1-2 5. Totals 16 2-7 37.

WELLBORN – Taliyah Kirby 0 0-0 0, Vanessa Carter 8 4-10 23, Anaya Lowe 1 0-0 2, Itiania Weatherly 4 0-2 9, McKenzie Raines 0 0-0 0, Katessa Carter 1 0-3 2, Olivia Brantley 0 0-0 0, Chloe Adkinson 0 0-0 0, Kristyne Haisch 0 0-0 0, Makkeisha Jones 5 1-4 11. Totals 19 5-19 47.

Ohatchee 3 12 4 18 — 37
Wellborn 8 13 8 18 — 47

3-point goals: Ohatchee 3 (Adams, Vice, Shuler); Ohatchee 4 (V. Carter, Weatherly). Total fouls: Ohatchee 11, Wellborn 10. Officials: Eric Wilson, Larry Stubbs, Terry Belyeu.

Alexandria 56, Cleburne County 47 (2 OT)
ALEXANDRIA – Ashley Phillips 1 2-4 4, Destiny Heathcock 2 2-2 6, Kayleigh Steen 0 0-0 0, Kaitlin Harvey 5 1-3 11, Kameron Simpson 5 0-0 12, Sarah Kilgore 5 1-5 12, Allison Bonds 1 0-0 2, Maggie Phillips 2 5-6 9. Totals 21 11-20 56.

CLEBURNE COUNTY – Olivia McDaniel 5 3-5 13, Shanna Brown 0 1-2 1, Chelsea Parker 4 1-4 9, Alex Casey 0 2-2 2, Brooklyn McDaniel 4 0-0 8, Haven Freeman 1 2-4 4, Tatiana Ervin 2 0-0 4, Kendall Houston 3 0-0 6. Totals 19 9-17 47.

Alexandria 9 7 13 10 8 9 — 56
Cleburne Co. 12 5 6 16 8 0 — 47

3-point goals: Alexandria 3 (Simpson 2, Kilgore). Fouled out: Ervin. Total fouls: Alexandria 13, Cleburne County 20.

Sacred Heart 55, Faith Christian 31
SACRED HEART – Abbie Vingers 2 1-2 5, Alyssa Bell 5 0-2 10, Ayanna Foster 9 2-8 20, Iemyiah Harris 10 0-0 20, Jacque Beyerle 0 0-0 0, Joelle Tillery 0 0-0 0, Sydney Marion 0 0-0 0. Totals 26 3-12 55.

FAITH CHRISTIAN – Emily Sills 3 1-2 7, Kassidy Nix 1 0-0 2, Kristin Covington 5 2-5 12, Logan Boyd 1 0-0 3, Montana Huie 0 0-0 0, Sarah Kate McVeigh 0 0-2 0, Sydnee Johnson 2 2-2 7. Totals 12 5-11 31.

Sacred Heart 11 10 18 16 — 55
Faith Christian 2 16 2 11 — 31

3-point goals: Faith Christian 2 (Boyd, Johnson). Total fouls: Sacred Heart 10, Faith Christian 10.

Fort Payne 60, Oxford 34
OXFORD – Anna Bolton 1 0-0 2, Makayla Kidd 1 0-0 2, Halaya Harmon 0 0-0 0, Ashleigh Jackson 2 0-0 4, Trem Britt 4 2-2 11, Akiera Robinson 2 1-2 5, AuMaria Lindsey 0 0-0 0, JaMyia Byrd 0 0-0 0, Justyce Smith 4 2-6 10, Kaylyn Hendrix 0 0-0 0. Totals 14 5-10 34.

FORT PAYNE – Catherine Anderson 5 0-2 11, Rachel Walker 0 0-0 0, Isabelle Goggans 5 2-3 13, Kaiya Jones 0 0-0 0, Mattie Prewett 1 0-1 2, Madison Goodwin 0 0-0 0, Kori Willingham 7 0-0 20, Martina Ogle 0 0-0 0, Alysabeth Sheppard 4 0-0 8, Jenna Williams 0 0-0 0, TeeAnna Kelley 2 1-2 7, Payton Vest 0 0-0 0. Totals 24 3-8 60.

Oxford 10 9 7 8 — 34
Fort Payne 19 19 12 10 — 60

3-point goals: Oxford 1 (Britt); Fort Payne 9 (Anderson, Goggans, Willingham 6, Kelley). Total fouls: Oxford 11, Fort Payne 12. Officials: Armstrong, Epperson, Phillips.

Pleasant Valley 47, Ragland 17
RAGLAND – Makenzie Campbell 2 1-2 5, Hailey Hoss 0 0-0 0, Jewel Ferguson 1 0-0 2,TyAsia Howard 2 0-0 4, Samantha Day-Jones 2 0-0 4, Lania Daniels 0 2-4 2, Lauren Dill 0 0-2 0. Totals 7 3-8 17.

PLEASANT VALLEY – Lindsey Pritchett 0 0-0 0, Mac Parris 1 0-0 3, Rylee Haynes 3 0-2 6, Alyssa Cash 0 0-0 0, Bailey Dollar 1 0-0 2, Chandler Dorsett 1 0-0 2, Emma Hood 9 8-11 26, Karmyn Sparks 2 0-0 4, Brooke Perry 2 0-0 4. Totals 19 8-13 47

Ragland 6 5 4 2 — 17
Pleasant Valley 17 13 11 6 — 47

3-point goals: Pleasant Valley 1 (Parris). Total fouls: Ragland 11, Pleasant Valley 14. Officials: Hinkle, Woods, Watson.

Piedmont 63, Westbrook Christian 32
WESTBROOK – Brooke Seawright 0 0-0 0, Macy Beecham 2 7-9 12, Tran 2 0-0 4, Autumn Ingle 1 1-2 3, Kendall Sharp 4 0-1 8, Sara King 0 1-2 1, Ember O’Sullivan 0 0-0 0, Kenzie Saunders 2 0-0 4. Totals 11 9-14 32.

PIEDMONT – Kayley Kirk 5 3-5 16, LeLe Ridley 0 2-4 2, Kaitlyn Ridley 6 1-2 13, Pinky Nation 3 0-2 7, Camron Logan 1 0-0 2, Cassidy Jackson 0 0-0 0, ZaHayla Walker 0 1-2 1, Aliyah Teague 1 0-0 3, Sydney Prater 6 3-5 16, Kiara Jackson 1 0-0 3. Totals 23 10-20 63.

Westbrook 11 7 10 4 — 32
Piedmont 29 15 10 9 — 63

3-point goals: Westbrook 1 (Beecham); Piedmont 7 (Kirk 3, Nation, Teague, Prater, K. Jackson). Total fouls: Westbrook 15, Piedmont 13. Officials: Pratt, Ratcliff, Williams.