Winning at home

Girls holiday roundup: Cleburne County wins its own tournament for first time; Glencoe, Sacred Heart fall in title games, and more

By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today

HEFLIN – When Todd Gable took delivery on the Cleburne County Holiday Classic championship trophy the Lady Tigers coach was so taken by its appearance he wasn’t sure he wanted to part with it so easily.

“We were talking about it and someone said somebody was going to get a nice trophy to take home with them,” Gable recalled. “I told them you don’t know how much I want to win this trophy.”

The Lady Tigers hadn’t won their own tournament since its inception, but Saturday night they were comfortable in knowing the trophy was safe at home after they came from behind to beat Pelham 47-42.

“This is huge,” Gable said. “This is one of those things you want to win it every year, but especially this year. We have a young team and that’s just a confidence booster for us.

“I told the girls that was a program builder right there. We beat a great team tonight, beat a great team to get there. That’s just a huge motivation for us going forward.”

They’ve been close. Last year they lost in the finals to Piedmont. Two years ago, they were knocked into the loser’s bracket in the second round.

If they were going to finally break through this year it was going to have be from behind. They trailed 12-6 after one quarter, led 19-17 at halftime and were tied at 29 going into the fourth quarter.

“Before the game me and (assistant Bradley) Dawson felt we could play with them, but I wasn’t real sure the girls believed they could,” Gable said. “They look at Pelham as a 6A school; they’ve got some big girls, some fast guards. How they reacted is what I wanted to see, especially in the first quarter.

“They went up on us, but the last three minutes of the quarter we got a little more comfortable with our offense, the defense played a little better and we kind of calmed down. At the end of it I said to them you know you can play with them now and we came back in the second quarter and outscored them 13-5. It was a big momentum swing.”

Freshman Haley Price was named most valuable player after scoring 17 points in the title game. She was 3-for-4 from behind the 3-point arc and 6-for-6 from the free throw line.

“We had a little talk with her to get confidence up and ever since then she’s had really good games,” Gable said. “She’s led us in scoring every night. She’s played lights out.”

She wasn’t the only one in the title game. Brooklyn McDaniel, another freshman, played what Gable suggested was her best defensive game of the year. She stuck with Pelham post Emma McKenney and held her to nine points. Laci Gogan led Pelham in scoring with 15 points on five 3-pointers.

Cleburne County 47, Pelham 42
PELHAM – Myriah Tate 1 2-2 4, Laci Gogan 5 0-0 15, Lauren Watts 0 2-2 2, KK Tomlinson 2 1-1 6, Jade Jones 0 0-2 0, Victoria West 0 0-0 0, Maggie Walsh 2 2-4 6, Jasmyne Hill 0 0-0 0, Emma McKenney 3 3-4 9. Totals 13 10-15 42.
CLEBURNE COUNTY – Olivia McDaniel 3 1-5 7, Kendall Houston 3 1-2 8, Haven Freeman 3 0-0 6, Micha Pentacost 0 0-0 0, Brooklyn McDaniel 2 5-8 9, Haley Price 4 6-6 17, Jacy Littleton 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 13-22 47.
Pelham 12 5 12 13 – 42
Cleburne County 6 13 10 18 – 47
3-point goals: Pelham 6 (Gogan 5, Tomlinson); Cleburne County 4 (Price 3, Houston). Total fouls: Pelham 23, Cleburne County 12. Officials: Pratt, McCareeth, Evans.

WEAVER 62, WINTERBORO 46
Caleigh Cortez and Haley Homesley scored 16 points each to lead the Lady Bearcats to their second win of the tournament in the third-place game. Trinity Pulliam scored eight of her 10 points in the second quarter when the Lady Bearcats pulled away from a one-point lead to 13-point halftime lead.

The Lady Bearcats beat Oxford and Winterboro in the tournament and lost to runner-up Pelham in the semifinals by three. Cortez averaged 14.0 in the three games, scoring 36 points in the last two.

“We played well against some good teams; we got a lot better this week,” Weaver coach Gary Atchley said. “I can’t say enough about Cortez and what she does on the basketball court.”

Weaver 62, Winterboro 46
WEAVER – Madison Atchley 1 0-0 2, Caleigh Cortez 7 2-3 16, Kiese Hubbard 1 0-0 2, Maleah Foster 6 0-0 12, Trinity Pulliam 5 0-0 10, Dijinea Anderson 2 0-0 4, Abby Gaines 0 0-0 0, Haley Homesley 8 0-0 16. Totals 30 2-3 62.
WINTERBORO – Jada Lawler 4 0-0 8, Kylia Stamps 4 0-0 11, Jasmine Fluker 1 0-0 2, Amiya Garrett 1 0-0 3, Brianna Jackson 2 2-6 6, Kya Brown 1 4-5 6, Taniya Garrett 1 7-10 9. Totals 14 13-21 46.
Weaver 16 20 12 14 – 62
Winterboro 15 8 13 10 – 46
3-point goals: Winterboro 5 (Stamps 3, A. Garrett, Brown). Fouled out: Pulliam. Total fouls: Weaver 12, Winterboro 11. Officials: Burroughs, Barber, Ned.

PIEDMONT 61, RANDOLPH COUNTY 27
Kayley Kirk scored 21 points and Sydney Prater had 19 as the Lady Bulldogs rolled over Randolph County. Kirk scored 11 points in the first quarter, hitting three of her four 3-pointers, and Prater added eight as Piedmont raced to a 23-9 lead. Kirk also had six steals and four assists. Prater grabbed eight rebounds and had six assists.

Piedmont 61, Randolph County 27
PIEDMONT (5-4) – Kayley Kirk 8 1-3 21, Lele Ridley 2 2-3 6, Hannah Barbee 0 0-0 0, Armani Perry 1 0-0 2, MacKenzie Tolbert 0 0-0 0, Amber Rainey 0 0-0 0, Sadie Naugher 0 0-0 0, Madison Tyree 2 0-0 4, Z’Hayla Walker 4 0-0 8, Sydney Prater 8 3-6 19, Kiara Jackson 0 1-2 1. Totals 25 7-14 61.
RANDOLPH COUNTY – Emma Prestridge 2 0-0 4, Christina Desherlia 0 0-0 0, Kaylee Robinson 0 4-8 4, Keisley Cotton 4 0-0 9, Emily Heard 3 0-0 7, Emma Huddleston 1 0-0 2, Christa Marable 0 1-2 1, Abby Huddleston 0 0-0 0. Totals 10 5-10 27.
Piedmont 23 12 19 7 – 61
Randolph County 9 13 3 2 – 27
3-point goals: Piedmont 4 (Kirk 4); Randolph County 2 (Cotton, Heard). Total fouls: Piedmont 12, Randolph County 12. Officials: Kelley, Binnion, Ned.

Etowah Girls Holiday Tournament

ATTALLA – Sacred Heart came so close to winning a holiday tournament title Saturday, taking the championship game into overtime before falling to Sand Rock 49-45.

The Lady Cardinals used a big second half to rally from an eight-point halftime deficit and extend the game. Sand Rock outscored them in the extra session 10-6 with Kirby DeBoard scoring six.

Sand Roick’s Lanie Henderson led all scorers with 20 points. DeBoard had 17. Myiah Harris scored all of Sacred Heart’s points in overtime with a pair of 3-pointers. She hit four 3s in the game and led the Lady Cardinals with 18 points.

Sand Rock 49, Sacred Heart 45 (OT)
SAND ROCK – Caley Garrett 2 1-2 6, Kirby DeBoard 6 4-7 17, Haley Lisenbee 0 0-0 0, Maci Brown 1 1-2 3, Jenna McKnight 0 0-0 0, Lily Middlebrooks 0 0-0 0, Lanie Henderson 7 3-7 20, Kynleigh Chesnut 1 1-2 3, Victoria Collum 0 0-2 0. Totals 17 10-22 49.
SACRED HEART – Alisia Person 1 0-0 3, Myiah Harris 6 2-2 18, Ayanna Foster 4 3-5 11, Cearia Jenkins 0 0-2 0, Joelle Tillery 2 0-0 6, Jordan Sabree 1 0-3 2, Serena Hardy 1 0-0 2, Taysia West 1 1-2 3. Totals 16 6-14 45.
Sand Rock 11 8 12 8 10 – 49
Sacred Heart 7 4 18 10 6 – 45
3-point goals: Sand Rock 5 (Garrett, DeBoard, Henderson 3); Sacred Heart 7 (Person, Harris 4, Tillery 2). Fouled out: Sabree Total fouls: Sand Rock 14, Sacred Heart 21. Officials: Tinsley, Rory, Battles.

Glencoe Holiday Shootout

GLENCOE – Things went real well for Glencoe in the first quarter, but the Lady Jackets couldn’t find that form the rest of the game and Fort Payne raced them 62-40 to take back the tournament title they took from Lady Panthers a year ago.

Anna Beth Giles scored all seven of her points in the first quarter as Glencoe went out fast and opened a 20-16 lead, but scored only three points the next quarters and needed the rest of the game to match what they did in the first.

Isabelle Goggans and Kylie Neil led Fort Payne with 20 and 18 points, respectively. They scored all 16 of the Lady Wildcats’’ points in the first quarter and combined for 31 of their 33 points in the first half.

Fort Payne 62, Glencoe 40
FORT PAYNE – Isabelle Goggans 7 3-6 20, Kaiya Jones 0 0-0 0, Mattie Prewett 1 0-0 3, Madison Goodwin 0 0-0 0, Kori Willingham 2 0-0 6, Logan Neil 2 0-0 5, Kylie Neil 7 4-4 18, Alysabeth Sheppard 3 0-0 6, Martina Ogle 0 0-0 0, TeeAnna Kerley 0 4-4 4. Totals 22 11-14 62.
GLENCOE – Anna Claire Hipps 1 0-0 2, Anna Grace Goodwin 1 0-0 3, Anna Beth Giles 3 0-0 7, Ashley Morgan 3 0-1 6, Asia Dennis 1 6-9 8, Lexi Gray 1 0-0 3, Lauren Cole 1 0-0 2, Crimson Silvey 0 0-0 0, Aubrey Gray 4 1-2 9. Totals 15 7-12 40.
Fort Payne 16 17 17 12 – 62
Glencoe 20 3 6 11 – 40
3-point goals: Fort Payne 7 (Goggans 3, Prewett, Willingham 2, L. Neil); Glencoe 3 (Goodwin, Giles, Gray). Technical fouls: Cook. Total fouls: Fort Payne 15, Glencoe 11. Officials: Askew, Smith, Caldwell.

Sandestin Hilton Beach Blowout

FREEPORT, Fla. – White Plains played with Breathitt County for the final three quarters, but it was a game of catch-up as the Lady Wildcats got behind early and eventually fell 42-28.

Leading scorers Hannah Griffith and Amy Brewer combined for 13 points in the first quarter as the Lady Bobcats jumped out to a 20-8 lead. Brewer finished with 20 points for the game. Jocelyn Harris led White Plains with 10 points.

Breathitt County (Ky.) 42, White Plains 28
BREATHITT COUNTY – Hannah Griffith 3 2-5 8, Amy Brewer 8 4-4 20, McKenzie Robertson 1 0-0 2, Kaylea Clemons 1 0-0 3, Adreonna Schutz 2 2-4 6, Kayla Watts 1 0-0 3, Alexis Francis 0 0-0 0, Rylee Bush 0 0-0 0, Kaylea Ritchie 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 8-13 42.
WHITE PLAINS – Callyn Martin 1 0-0 3, Hallie Williams 1 1-2 3, Ary Rosario 1 3-6 5, Camdyn Wilson 0 0-0 0, Adriana Satelo 1 0-0 2, Jocelyn Harris 4 2-7 10, Angel Bozarth 1 1-6 3, Kaylee Johnson 1 0-0 2. Totals 10 7-21 28.
Breathitt Co. 20 3 6 13 – 42
White Plains 8 2 7 11 – 28
3-point goals: Breathitt Co. 2 (Clemons, Watts); White Plains 1 (Martin). Fouled out: Schutz.
Total fouls: Breathitt Co. 18, White Plains 9.

This story will be updated.

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