Friday basketball

By EASportsToday.com
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Updated: December 22, 2017

It will be Alexandria and Etowah in Champions Classic final after Valley Cubs get past Jacksonville, Blue Devils dispatch Saks

Alexandria’s Jake Weathington (14) follows through with one of his four 3-pointers against Jacksonville Friday night. On the cover, Cubs senior Dalton Dodd (21) gets ready to put a play in motion. (Photos by B.J. Franklin/GungHo Photos)

FRIDAY’S RESULTS
Patrick Ball Memorial Tournament
Piedmont 52, Gaston 44

Steel City Invitational
Pelham 53, Sacred Heart 51

Champions Christmas Classic
Ranburne 57, Cleburne County 28
Westbrook Christian 61, Glencoe 33
Randolph County 64, Ohatchee 44
Weaver 68, Lincoln 59
Etowah 63, Saks 43
Alexandria 54, Jacksonville 50

Cherokee Invitational
Girls bracket
Glencoe 66, Chattooga 57
Handley 60, Gaylesville 34
Collinsville 54, Cedar Bluff 37
Spring Garden 56, Sand Rock 46
Boys bracket
Collinsville 54, Cedar Bluff 49
Munford 62, Gaylesville 24
Lafayette 69, Chattooga 68 (OT)
Spring Garden 68, Sand Rock 35

Spain Park Girls Christmas Tournament
Jacksonville 47, Vigor 43

Etowah’s aptly named Jamin Graham (23) gets way up to reject a Saks shot. (Photo by B.J. Franklin/GungHo Photos)

To see a photo gallery of the winner’s bracket semifinals, visit www.bjfranklin.smugmug.com

By East Alabama Sports Today

It will be an all Class 5A Area 13 final for the Champions Christmas Classic title after Etowah and Alexandria both scored semifinal wins Friday night.

Alexandria held off a furious fourth-quarter rally by Jacksonville to win 54-50. Etowah took down Saks 63-43.

The winners are scheduled to play for the championship Saturday at 7:30 p.m. Jacksonville and Saks are slated to meet for the second time this week in the third-place game at 6.

Dalton Dodd led Alexandria with 22 points and nine rebounds. Jake Weathington hit four 3-pointers and had 12 points.

Weathington hit two of his 3s in the third quarter as the Valley Cubs opened a 46-34 lead. But then Jacksonville fought back to make it interesting down the stretch.

“We battled a very athletic team (and) found a way to survive a close game,” Alexandria coach Jason Johnson said. “We struggled from the line a little, but made enough stops to survive.”

“I thought we did a good job with Dodd earlier on but he’s a good athlete and he’s gonna get his points and he did,” Jacksonville coach Cordell Hunt added. “We just turned the ball over too much in the second half. We hit a spell there where we couldn’t score. When you do that against Alexandria they’re going to nickel-and-dime you and get you. They turned the ball over (in the fourth) and we were able to get some buckets, but it was about two or three possessions too late.”

In the other semifinal, Etowah hit four of its seven 3-pointers in the first quarter and six in the first half on the way to a 36-24 halftime lead. Alec Timmons led a balanced Blue Devils attack with 11 points. Saks’ DeVaughan Beason led all scorers with 14 points.

Saks’ Darien Briskey tries to get a handle on a loose ball during the Wildcats’ Champions Classic semifinal against Etowah. (Photo by B.J. Franklin/GungHo Photos)

FRIDAY’S BOX SCORES
Champions Christmas Classic
Alexandria 54, Jacksonville 50
ALEXANDRIA – Dalton Dodd 6-12 8-18 22, Jake Weathington 4-9 0-0 12, Landan Williams 2-3 5-6 9, Joe Tucker 2-5 0-0 4, Adam Young 1-3 0-0 3, Jalen Borders 1-1 0-0 2, Dru Davis 1-2 0-0 2, Grayson Chaffin 0-1 0-0 0, Romeo Dye 0-3 0-0 0, Jared Ponder 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 17-41 13-24 54.

JACKSONVILLE – DeAndrew McCain 5-9 0-0 12, Cade Landers 4-8 1-1 10, DeDarien Savage 3-4 2-2 8, Alex Gilbert 3-7 0-0 7, Donovan McCain 2-3 2-3 6, Ron Wiggins 2-7 0-0 4, Alex Davis 1-2 0-0 2, DeMarien Stewart 0-0 1-2 1, Jaden Barksdale 0-0 0-0 0, Carter Landers 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-40 6-8 50.

Alexandria 13 16 17 8 — 54
Jacksonville 10 16 8 16 — 50

3-point goals: Alexandria 7-20 (Dodd 2-4, Weathington 4-8, Tucker 0-1, Young 1-3, Davis 0-1, Dye 0-3); Jacksonville 4-9 (De. McCain 2-4, Cd. Landers 1-1, Gilbert 1-3, Wiggins 0-1). Rebounds: Alexandria 24 (Dodd 9); Jacksonville 30 (Do. McCain 7). Total fouls: Alexandria 11, Jacksonville 15. Officials: Smith, Evans, Stringer.

Etowah 63, Saks 43
ETOWAH – Taylor Berry 3 0-0 8, Chris Griffin 3 0-0 7, Alec Timmons 2 5-6 11, Jamin Graham 3 3-4 9, Emil Smith 3 1-2 8, Justin Harris 1 0-0 2, Trevon Caldwell 1 2-2 5, Davion Smith 1 1-1 3, Jessie Altman 2 0-1 4, DeAundre Williams 0 0-0 0, DeRicky Wright 2 2-2 6. Totals 21 14-18 63.

SAKS – Darien Briskey 5 1-8 11, DeVaughan Beason 4 4-6 14, Laderrick Bell 1 0-2 2, Brent Clark 0 0-0 0, C.J. Lauderdale 2 0-0 5, Zay Elston 1 1-2 2, Daveon Dukes 1 0-2 2, Marreo Thomas 0 0-3 0, Jaylen Young 0 1-2 1, Tyler Smith 2 1-4 5. Totals 16 8-29 43.

Etowah 18 18 12 15 — 63
Saks 11 13 9 10 — 43

3-point goals: Etowah 7 (Berry 2, Griffin, Timmons 2, E. Smith, Caldwell); Saks 3 (Beason 2, Lauderdale). Total fouls: Etowah 25, Saks 15. Officials: Walker, Smith, Wood.

Weaver 68, Lincoln 59
LINCOLN – Javian Surles 8 5-6 22, Tre Garrett 3 0-4 6, Conner Thomas 2 0-1 6, Earl Wells 6 1-2 13, Zay Ragland 0 0-0 0, Shamar Hampton 0 2-2 2, Shaun Davis 1 0-2 2, Josh Jackson 1 1-2 3, Brian Garrett 2 0-0 5, Joe Howard 0 0-0 0. Totals 23 9-19 59.

WEAVER – London Knight 10 3-6 24, Robert Gaines 5 2-2 13, Shamar Spinks 6 1-2 14, Nick Torres 2 0-0 4, Dalton Hamby 0 1-2 1, Gary Wallace 0 0-0 0, Amardric Elston 5 2-4 12. Totals 28 9-16 68.

Lincoln 11 14 20 14 — 59
Weaver 21 6 21 20 — 68

3-point goals: Lincoln 4 (Surles, Thomas 2, B. Garrett); Weaver 3 (Knight, Gaines, Spinks). Technical fouls: T. Garrett. Fouled out: Elston. Total fouls: Lincoln 14, Weaver 13. Officials: Lemon, Robertson, Woods.

Ohatchee’s Blake Buckelew goes flying after colliding with Randolph County’s Thomas Ryder (30) under the basket Friday night. (Photo by Beverly Wright)

Randolph County 64, Ohatchee 44
OHATHCEE – Blake Buckelew 2 0-0 4, Ben Glass 2 0-1 4, Carson Stone 0 2-2 2, Grayson Alward 1 0-1 2, Kevin Williamson 1 0-0 3, Evan Keller 5 4-6 16, Domonique Thomas 3 0-0 6, Aaron Moore 3 1-3 7, Briley Hale 0 0-0 0. Totals 17 7-13 44.

RANDOLPH COUNTY – Andrew Prestridge 7 0-1 18, Demarcus Davis 1 0-0 2, Jamarcus Brown 0 0-0 0, Caleb White 4 4-6 13, Brody Wortham 4 1-2 13, Tre Terrell 1 0-0 2, Aaron Knight 5 2-6 13, Thomas Ryder 0 0-0 0, Billy Turner 1 1-2 3. Totals 23 8-18 64.

Ohatchee 11 11 11 11 — 44
Randolph County 16 13 17 18 — 64

3-point goals: Ohatchee 3 (Williamson, Keller 2); Randolph County 10 (Prestridge 4, White, Wortham 4, Knight). Fouled out: Alward. Total fouls: Ohatchee 16, Randolph County 17. Officials: Evans, Baker, Williams.

Ranburne 57, Cleburne County 28
RANBURNE – Devon Chambers 7 2-2 17, Jake Burson 1 0-0 2, Sammy Green 6 1-1 13, Dalton Gibbs 0 1-2 1, Brett Maddox 3 1-2 10, Zach Benefield 1 1-3 3, Jackson Pollard 1 0-0 2, Brody Bailey 0 0-0 0, Ireland Morgan 2 0-1 4, Brock Young 2 0-0 5. Totals 23 6-11 57.

CLEBURNE COUNTY – A.J. Brown 1 0-0 2, TaiShun Hall 1 1-2 3, Chase Smith 1 0-0 2, Brad Smith 0 0-0 0, Rese Morrison 5 0-0 13, Levi Harcrow 1 0-5 2, Ben Casey 2 0-0 6, Miller 0 0-0 0, Xavier Brown 0 0-0 0. Totals 11 1-7 28.

Ranburne 14 14 23 6 — 57
Cleburne Co. 8 2 13 5 — 28

3-point goals: Ranburne 5 (Chambers, Maddox, Young); Cleburne County 5 (Morrison 3, Casey 2). Fouled out: A.J. Brown. Total fouls: Ranburne 8, Cleburne County 14. Officials: Lemon, Warren, Robertson.

Patrick Ball Memorial Tournament
Piedmont 52, Gaston 44
PIEDMONT (8-3) – Carl Myers 2-8 1-2 7, Kaedon Jenkins 4-6 3-4 13, Delo Foster 1-2 0-2 2, Ryley Kirk 6-18 1-4 16, Lee Stanley 1-4 1-3 4, Silas Thompson 1-7 0-3 2, Alex Odam 2-7 3-4 8. Totals 17-52 9-22 52.

GASTON – Nicolas Lewis 0 0-0 0, Garrison Hunt 2 0-0 6, Joseph Moore 0 0-0 0, Davin Wyatt 11 2-6 27, Kendall Blackwell 0 0-0 0, Sawyer Bryson 2 2-2 7, Ethan Stone 0 0-0 0, Zachry Satterfield 2 0-4 4. Totals 17 4-12 44.

Piedmont 10 14 16 12 — 52
Gaston 13 10 10 11 — 44

3-point goals: Piedmont 9-27 (Myers 2-7, Jenkins 2-3, Kirk 3-9, Stanley 1-2, Odam 1-5, Thompson 0-1); Gaston 6 (Hunt 2, Wyatt 3, Byrson). Rebounds: Piedmont 29, Gaston 26. Fouled out: Bryson. Total fouls: Piedmont 9, Gaston 16. Officials: Davis, Horn, Battles. Notes: Piedmont hit more 3-pointers (9) than 2s (8) and came from behind to complete a brutal eight-game-in-nine-day stretch 7-1. In addition to their points, Jenkins had eight rebounds, Myers and Kirk had four assists each and Foster had three blocked shots.