E.A. Sports Today

Gavin’s Barrage

Boys roundup: White Plains captain rises to occasion when Wildcats needed someone to take charge; Anniston wins in OT, Oxford beat another quality opponent and more

White Plains’ Matthew Clay (21) tries to drive to the basket around the defense of Cherokee County’s Luke Goss Friday. On the cover, Gavin Burrage takes charge. (Photos by Greg Warren)

Friday’s boys results
Anniston 72, Sylacauga 67 (OT)
Childersburg 57, Lincoln 32
Clay Central 60, Munford 48
Jacksonville 49, Hokes Bluff 34
JB Pennington 65, Glencoe 36
Ohatchee 73, Gaston 42
Oxford 74, Talladega 58
Piedmont 79, Pleasant Valley 20
Plainview 79, Sacred Heart 68
Ranburne 78, Woodland 33
Spring Garden 64, Faith Christian 36
Talladega Co. Central 64, Winterboro 60
Weaver 73, Saks 65
White Plains 52, Cherokee County 46

By East Alabama Sports Today

When White Plains coach Chris Randall needed someone to step up and take charge Friday night, Gavin Burrage answered the call like the senior captain he is.

Burrage scored 12 points on a night when every basket felt like a touchdown, but he also did a lot of the little things and maybe even more important pulled the group together when things had a chance to go sideways.

He was the absolute difference for the Wildcats as they went on beat top 10 Cherokee County 52-46 in their area opener.

“Being the first area game it just doesn’t get any better than that, being able to start 1-0 when we struggled mightily last year,” Randall said. “I felt in the second half the key to the game was Gavin Burrage. He’s our captain, he’s our glue. Whatever needed to be done, he did it.

“This was the first night he had to score for us to win. He’s had to rebound, he’s had to guard (Oxford post) Zondrick (Garrett), he’s had to guard a point guard, had to take charges, all that kind of stuff, but this is the first night he had to score for us winning.”

The Wildcats trailed by one at halftime and felt fortunate to be that close after going 4-for-12 from the free throw line and missing several short shots in the line. They drew even after three quarter and in the fourth outscored the Warriors 15-9 to win it.

Burrage and Brody Baker each had four points in the quarter.

“He’s everything that a basketball coach would want in a captain,” Randall said of Burrage. “When you’ve got kids like that who are that invested and know what needs to be done and knows what it means to be us, it’s just special.

“Quin Wilson had a great floor game tonight; he played wonderful. Jaden Chatman was wonderful. Everyone contributed, but tonight it was about Gavin.”

White Plains 52, Cherokee County 46
CHEROKEE COUNTY – Blake Dobbs 0 0-2 0, Walton Green 0 0-0 0, Nasire Diamond 1 0-0 2, Ian Edwards 3 4-5 12, Slade Alexander 1 1-1 3, Ivory Moore 3 2-2 8, Mitchell Davis 0 0-0 0, Bradley Elrod 1 0-0 2, Chancellor Latty 4 0-0 8, Luke Goss 4 2-2 11. Totals 17 9-12 46.
WHITE PLAINS – Coleman Messer 0 0-0 0, Quin Wilson 3 3-4 9, Jaden Chatman 3 2-3 8, Simeon Shadrix 2 1-4 6, Jacob Wheeler 0 0-0 0, Brody Baker 4 1-2 10, Matthew Clay 1 0-0 2, Jaden Harris 1 0-0 2, Kahlil Williams 1 1-2 3, Gavin Burrage 5 1-3 12. Totals 20 9-18 52.
Cherokee County 7 16 14 9 – 46
White Plains 6 16 15 15 – 52
3-point goals: Cherokee County 3 (Edwards 2, Goss); White Plains 3 (Shadrix, Baker, Burrage). Total fouls: Cherokee County 14, White Plains 11. Officials: Calkins, Ned, Chambers.

Oxford 74, Talladega 58

OXFORD – The Yellow Jackets (8-3) wrapped up a rugged 10-day stretch of schedule with their fifth straight win. The Jackets got 21 points from Zondrick Garrett and 14 points and 13 rebounds from Rock Taylor.

“It was a tough schedule and we learned how we have to bring our game every night in order to put ourselves in a position to win,” Oxford coach Joel VanMeter said. “We were on such a high after beating Plainview that we came out looking really tired tonight.  We just have to keep learning how to get better and be in a good mental state of mind. We have a chance to be a really good basketball team.”

Six different Tigers scored in the opening quarter as the Tigers were running a deliberate offense, trying to keep the Yellow Jacket running game at bay. Garrett had the first three points of the game for Oxford, but the Jackets trailed 12-10 at the first break.

It was all Oxford in the second quarter as the defense picked up and Justin Moore and Eugene Leonard poured in six points apiece. The Jackets led 37-26 at the half.

Oxford dominated in the second half as they opened up a 71-47 lead before sending in the reserves to wrap things up. –Brant Locklier

Oxford 74, Talladega 58
TALLADEGA – Nigel Scales 2 0-0 6, Chaztin Tanner 3 1-2 7, Jaquon Chatman 2 1-1 5, Aaron Green 3 1-2 7, Rontavious Barclay 3 0-0 6, D’Corian Wilson 2 0-0 4, Radarrius Montgomery 0 2-2 2, J.Q. Wilson 2 0-2 4, Kobe Simmons 7 1-1 15, Brocker Simmons 1 0-0 2. Totals 25 6-10 58.
OXFORD – Rylan Houck 1 0-0 2, Zondrick Garrett 8 6-12 22, Eugene Leonard 3 4-6 10, Mont McClendon 3 3-4 10, Kobe Warren 0 4-6 4, Roc Taylor 5 5-7 15, Justin Moore 5 0-0 11, Trafton Houck 0 0-0 0. Totals 25 22-35 74.
Talladega 12 14 16 16 – 58
Oxford 10 27 19 18 – 74
3-point goals: Talladega 2 (Scales 2); Oxford 2 (McClendon, Moore). Technical fouls: Talladega bench. Fouled out: Leonard. Total fouls: Talladega 24, Oxford 15.

Anniston 72, Sylacauga 67 (OT)

Free throws were a major factor in Anniston’s only two losses this season and they were huge in their latest victory.

Antonio Kite was 6-for-6 from the line in overtime and 12-of-14 in the second half as the Bulldogs toppled the reigning Class 5A state champions and avenged the loss in their season opener.

Kite scored 31 points to lead all scorers. Kwame Milton scored 17 points, including four 3-pointers. Theron Montgomery had 15 and was his usual force on the glass.

Sylacauga forced overtime when Caden Lunsford made a put-back at the buzzer. Anniston went up by five in the overtime, but the Aggies hit a 3-pointer to make it a two-point game, then Kite went to work at the line.

“He’s a different maker,” Anniston coach Torry Brown said. “He’s one of those players who comes around every so often that’s a really special player.”

Sylacauga won the first meeting between the teams 71-66. The Aggies were 30-of-42 from the free throw line in that one.

The Bulldogs return to action Monday at Jacksonville to finish a stretch of 10 games in 20 days since the start of the season.

“We’ve had a crunch,” Brown said. “To play so many games and having seven of them on the road, if we can play well Monday and hopefully get a win I’ll be thrilled where we are.”

Ohatchee 73, Gaston 42

OHATCHEE – The Indians put all five starters in double figures, opened a big early lead and cruised to an area victory. Bayley Tillison and Evan Keller led the attack with 12 points each. Cameron Foushee had 11 and Nathan Higgins and Grayson Alward had 10 each. Foushee and Higgins scored all their points in the first half as the Indians opened a 47-26 lead.

Ohatchee 73, Gaston 42
GASTON – Nicolas Lewis 2 0-0 4, Garrison Hunt 5 5-5 17, Malik Redmond 2 6-12 10, Joseph Moore 0 1-2 1, Kendall Blackwell 3 0-0 6, Ethan Stone 0 1-2 1, Jayden Dupree 0 0-1 0, Kavontae Lindsey 1 1-3 3. Totals 13 14-25 42.
OHATCHEE – Parker Alexander 0 0-0 0, Nathan Higgins 3 3-4 10, Trey Pesnell 2 0-0 5, Grayson Alward 4 2-4 10, Todd Dover 1 1-2 3, Cameron Foushee 5 0-0 11, Evan Keller 4 2-2 10, Bayley Tillison 5 0-0 12, Austin Wyatt 0 3-4 3, Briley Hale 3 1-4 7. Totals 27 12-20 73.
Gaston 14 12 11 5 – 42
Ohatchee 24 23 16 10 – 73
3-point goals: Gaston 2 (Hunt 2); Ohatchee 7 (Higgins, Pesnell, Foushee, Keller 2, Tillison 2). Fouled out: Wyatt, Hale. Total fouls: Gaston 15, Ohatchee 22. Officials: Watson, Weeks, Pool.

Piedmont 79, Pleasant Valley 20

PIEDMONT – Silas Thompson led four players in double figures with 13 points and the Bulldogs scored their second lopsided victory in as many nights as the JoJo Odam coaching era has gotten off to an explosive start. The average margin of the victory in the Bulldogs first two games (wins) has been 63.5 points and they’ve outscored their two opponents 165-38. Piedmont jumped out to a 23-7 lead in the first quarter.

Piedmont 79, Pleasant Valley 20
PLEASANT VALLEY – Austin Johnson 0 0-0 0, Jake Malsy 1 0-0 3, Brayden Wright 0 1-2 1, Trent Finley 0 0-0 0, Josh Ballew 0 0-0 0, Brody Phillips 3 0-1 7, Wyatt Ingram 0 2-2 2, Coleman Haynes 1 0-0 2, Connor Wolfe 0 0-0 0, Garrett Cranmer 2 0-0 5, Jackson Almaroad 0 0-0 0, Colby Gaines 0 0-0 0. Totals 7 3-5 20.
PIEDMONT (2-0) – Carl Myers 4 1-2 11, Kaedon Jenkins 3 0-0 8, Delo Foster 5 2-2 12, Silas Thompson 4 5-7 13, Alex Odam 5 0-0 12, T.J. Fairs 3 2-2 9, Malachi Jackson 1 0-0 2, Jakari Foster 4 0-0 8, Sean Smith 2 0-0 4. Totals 31 10-13 79.
Pleasant Valley 7 3 8 2 – 20
Piedmont 23 19 26 11 – 79
3-point goals: 3 Pleasant Valley (Malsy, Phillips, Cranmer); Piedmont 7 (Myers 2, Jenkins 2, Odam 2, Fairs). Total fouls: Pleasant Valley 10, Piedmont 10. Officials: Barber, Wise, Pratt.

Weaver 73, Saks 65

The Bearcats got balanced scoring from their main scorers and had just enough to slip past Saks. Robert Gaines led Weaver with 21 points. Amardric Elston had 17, Shamar Spinks 16 and DeAndre McCain 12. Zaejuan Johnson led Saks with 16, which included four 3-pointers.

Weaver 73, Saks 65
WEAVER – Taylor Deck 1 0-0 2, Robert Gaines 8 3-5 21, Gary Wallace 1 0-0 2, Shamar Spinks 7 1-3 16, DeAndre McCain 4 3-3 12, Amardric Elston 8 1-2 17, Colby Thompson 1 1-2 3. Totals 30 9-15 73.
SAKS – Tyler Smith 6 0-0 13, Zaejuan Johnson 5 2-2 16, Daveon Dukes 4 1-1 9, Leonta Jones 1 0-2 2, Zay Elston 5 2-5 13, Benji Wilson 0 0-0 0, Marreo Thomas 1 0-0 2, Jordan Cosper 2 5-6 10. Totals 24 10-16 65.
Weaver 16 16 16 25 – 73
Saks 13 13 12 27 – 65
3-point goals: Weaver 4 (Gaines 2, Spinks, McCain); Saks 7 (Smith, Johnson 4, Elston, Cosper). Technical fouls: Gaines. Fouled out: Dukes. Total fouls: Weaver 14, Saks 15. Officials: Stringer, Wood, Warren.

Jacksonville 49, Hokes Bluff 34

HOKES BLUFF – Jacksonville’s Donavon McCain gave a truly dominating performance, scoring 21 points and grabbing 18 rebounds to lead Jacksonville to an area victory. Jay Davis added nine points, but also recorded five assists and four steals. The Golden Eagles dominated on the offensive boards, grabbing 27 and scoring 26 second-chance points.

Jacksonville 49, Hokes Bluff 34
JACKSONVILLE –
Donavon McCain 9-16 2-3 21, Jay Davis 3-10 2-2 9, Yessmen Green 3-10 1-2 7, Omarion Adams 1-7 1-2 4, DeMarien Stewart 1-14 0-0 3, Hudson Harvey 1-3 1-1 3, Kyrie Maynor 1-3 0-0 2, Luke Jackson 0-4 0-0 0, Carter Landers 0-1 0-1 0, Jayden Barksdale 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 19-69 7-11 49.
HOKES BLUFF – Hayden Lipscomb 3-9 3-4 9, Cory Cross 4-8 0-0 8, Robert Greaves 2-7 1-3 6, Payton Lemons 2-5 0-0 5, Ethan Whitcomb 0-0 3-3 3, Ashton Gulledge 0-1 2-2 2, Tucker Marsh 0-2 1-2 1, Dylan Teague 0-2 0-0 0, Matthew Johnson 0-1 0-0 0, Caleb McGinnis 0-1 0-0 0, Jackson Fielding 0-1 0-0 0, Braydon Hill 0-1 0-0 0, Jonathan Wise 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 11-38 10-16 34.
Jacksonville 13 15 11 10 – 49
Hokes Bluff 9 8 9 8 – 34

3-point goals: Jacksonville 4-24 (McCain 1-1, Davis 1-3, Green 0-3, Adams 1-4, Stewart 1-10, Harvey 0-1, Jackson 0-2); Hokes Bluff 2-12 (Greaves 1-5, Lemons 1-3, Gulledge 0-1, Teague 0-2, Johnson 0-1). Rebounds: Jacksonville 51 (McCain 18, Green 7, Stewart 7); Hokes Bluff 33 (Cross 5, Teague 5). Total fouls: Jacksonville 15, Hokes Bluff 13.

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