From super sub to super starter
- Updated: December 12, 2019
Boys roundup: Piedmont’s Thompson brings the same energy to starting that he did as Bulldogs’ sixth man a year ago
Thursday’s boys scores
Auburn 60, Handley 58
Cleburne County 46, Ranburne 42
Mountain Brook 80, Oxford 45
Pelham 52, Jacksonville 43
Piedmont 67, Pleasant Valley 56
Ragland 86, Jacksonville Christian 82
Saks 77, Coosa Christian 47
Talladega 71, Lincoln 67
Victory Christian 51, ASD 46
White Plains 65, Collinsville 40
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
JACKSONVILLE – Last year they called Silas Thompson a Super Sub for the energy he brought to the game as Piedmont’s first man off the bench. This year he’s a Super Starter.
The senior forward had a 20-point game for the second time in three games this season, going for 27 points and seven rebounds as the Bulldogs held off improved Pleasant Valley 67-56.
Thompson got a taste of starting last year when he opened the first four games as Delo Foster was recovering in concussion protocol, but his real value came as as the sixth man. The Bulldogs will tell you the only reason he wasn’t a starter was because you can’t start six at a time.
“He just did a good job last year accepting that role,” Piedmont coach JoJo Odam said. “He knew this year going in – we talked about it over the summer – he was going to have to be the guy who steps up to give us some more scoring. He’s accepting it and does a great job.
“He does such a good job getting to the hole and drawing contact. He’s hard to guard. He probably should’ve been a starter last year and he knew that. But he’s a starter now.”
On Saturday, two days after playing in the Class 3A state championship football game, he opened the season with 23 points against Mt. Zion (Ga.) on 9-of-15 shooting from the floor. He was 8-of-9 from the floor against the Raiders and 10-of-13 from the free throw line. He was held to four points by Weaver on Tuesday.
Thompson scored 14 points in the first half, including the final three-point play, as the Bulldogs opened a 35-26. Then he came out and scored 11 of their first 15 in the third quarter as the lead swelled to 50-33. He capped that run with a five-point play, hitting a layup, missing the and-one, but draining a 3-pointer after Omarion Foster kicked out the offensive rebound.
“That’s what we liked about him last year, he gave us so much energy,” Odam said. “He’s an energy guy. He gets excited. He’s so full of energy and he brought that last year off the bench and now he’s doing it as a starter. He’s the same guy he was last year he’s just doing it as a starter.”
“It’s really not that different,” Thompson said. “The first game of the year I seemed to settle in real good. It’s a little different not coming in with a spark, but we’ve got another sixth man in Luke Bussey who’s filling that role real good. Whatever coach asks me to do I’ll do to the best of my abilities.”
Alex Odam had an off night for the Bulldogs but still finished with 19 points. Trey McFarland added 15.
Josh Ballew, Garrett Cranmer and Wyatt Ingram kept the Raiders in it with 18, 14 and 11, respectively. They helped get the Raiders within five with as much as 4:20 to play. It was a six-point game with two minutes left, then the Bulldogs closed it out from the free throw line.
“I told the guys I was proud of the way we battled,” PV coach Ryan Chambless said. “We’re at least battling people. If we can just keep getting a little bit better offensively and take care of the ball more throughout the entire game we’ll have a chance to win some of those, but we go through stages where we’re a little careless with the ball and that hurts us.”
Piedmont 67, Pleasant Valley 56
PIEDMONT (3-0) – Alex Odam 5 9-14 19, Omarion Foster 0 0-0 0, Luke Bussey 1 2-2 4, Trey McFarland 6 1-4 15, Silas Thompson 8 10-13 27, Jack Hayes 0 2-2 2, Malachi Jackson 0 0-0 0, Jakari Foster 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 24-35 67.
PLEASANT VALLEY – Josh Ballew 7 3-3 18, Garrett Cranmer 4 4-6 14, Coleman Haynes 4 1-2 9, Justin Willingham 0 0-0 0, Damon Parr 1 0-0 2, Jake Malsy 0 0-0 0, Brandon Wright 0 0-0 0, Brody Phillips 0 2-2 2, Wyatt Ingram 4 0-0 11, Jake Upton 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 10-13 56.
Piedmont 14 21 21 11 – 67
Pleasant Valley 16 10 23 7 – 56
3-point goals: Piedmont 3 (McFarland 2, Thompson); Pleasant Valley 6 (Ballew, Cranmer 2, Ingram 3). Technical fouls: Malsy. Fouled out: Hayes. Total fouls: Piedmont 15, Pleasant Valley 26. Officials: Kelley, Hollingsworth, Phillips.
White Plains 65, Collinsville 40: Jacob Wheeler scored all 15 of his points on five 3-pointers in the second half and the Wildcats hit 12 from behind the arc as a team in the game. Wheeler led the Wildcats with 15 points. Garrett Wilson scored nine of his points in the fourth quarter on three 3-pointers.
COLLINSVILLE – Jacob Jones 2 0-0 6, Isaac Jones 5 2-6 14, Malachi Orr 1 0-0 2, Blake Sparks 0 1-2 1, T.J. Osborn 1 0-0 2, Cordell Worthy 1 0-0 2, Billy Briggs 6 0-0 13. Totals 16 3-8 40.
WHITE PLAINS – Coleman Messer 3 0-0 6, Quin Wilson 1 0-0 3, Jaden Chatman 2 4-5 9, Jacob Wheeler 5 0-0 15, Brody Baker 3 0-0 6, Carson Wright 1 0-0 3, Walker O’Steen 3 1-2 7, Kahlil Williams 3 0-0 7, Garrett Wilson 3 0-0 9. Totals
Collinsville 11 11 11 7 – 40
White Plains 13 18 17 17 – 65
3-point goals: Collinsville 5 (J. Jones 2, I. Jones 2, Briggs); White Plains 12 (Q. Wilson, Chatman, Wheeler 5, Wright, Williams, G. Wilson 3). Total fouls: Collinsville 8, White Plains 9.
Talladega 71, Lincoln 67: D’Corian Wilson hit 12 of 16 free throws and scored 25 points as the Tigers put some separation between themselves and the Golden Bears and remained undefeated in Class 4A Area 11. The Tigers are one game up in the loss column on Anniston and two up on Lincoln.
The Tigers were 12 of 17 from the line as a team in the fourth quarter while outscoring Lincoln 25-18 to secure their sixth win in seven games. Kobe Simmons had 13 points and six rebounds, while Nigel Scales added 11, including a 3-pointner to put the Tigers up two with 1:30 to play.
Javion Surles led Lincoln with 21 points, but the Tigers held him without a field goal in the fourth quarter. Briar Garrett had 20 and Tre Hines had 15, with eight coming in the fourth quarter.
TALLADEGA (6-1) – Nigel Scales 5 0-0 11, Arron Green 4 0-0 8, Michael McGregor 2 1-3 5, Rontavious Barclay 2 3-4 7, D’Corian Wilson 6 12-16 25, Raderius Montgomery 1 0-0 2, Kobe Simmons 6 1-2 13, Keontae Funderburg 0 0-0 0. Totals 36 17-25 71.
LINCOLN – Javion Surles 8 3-8 21, Cam Reynolds 0 0-0 0, Tre Garrett 2 0-0 5, Steven White 1 0-0 2, Brian Garrett 8 1-2 20, J.D. Davis 2 0-0 4, Tre Hines 7 1-2 15. Totals 28 5-12 67.
Talladega 15 19 12 25 – 71
Lincoln 21 8 20 18 – 67
3-point goals: Talladega 2 (Scales, Wilson); Lincoln 6 (Surles 2, T. Garrett, B. Garrett 3). Technical fouls: T. Garrett. Total fouls: Talladega 15, Lincoln 16. Officials: Childs, Prochuck, Dupree.
Saks 77, Coosa Christian 47: Zay Elston and Jordan Cosper combined to score 13 points in the first quarter to get Saks off to a good start. Zaejuan Johnson hit three 3s in the second to take the Wildcats to nine-point halftime lead and they broke it open in the third with Elston and Cosper combining for 15. Elston and Cosper scored 17 points each in the game and Johnson finished with 15.
COOSA CHRISTIAN – Dartavious Britton 4 1-1 10, Julian Ford 4 9-9 19, Evan Delp 3 4-4 12, Zach Elrod 1 0-0 2, Hunter Millirons 1 0-0 2, Isiah Cole 1 0-0 3. Totals 14 14-14 47.
SAKS – Benji Wilson 0 0-0 0, Zaejuan Johnson 5 1-1 15, Will Mixon 3 0-0 6, Leonta Jones 2 0-0 4, Patrick Williams 0 1-4 2, Conor Martin 1 2-2 5, Kyle Goedde 2 0-0 4, Jordan Cosper 7 0-1 17, Isiah Davis 0 0-0 0, Zay Elston 8 0-1 17, Tyler Smith 3 2-2 8. Totals 31 6-11 77.
Coosa 8 24 6 9 – 47
Saks 20 21 27 9 – 77
3-point goals: Coosa 6 (Britton, Ford 2, Delip 2, I. Cole); Saks 9 (Johnson 4, Martin, Cosper 3, Elston). Fouled out: Wilson. Total fouls: Coosa 9, Saks 16. Officials: Guyton, Davis Weston.
Ragland 86, Jacksonville Christian 82: Chase Vinson scored 34 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, but the Thunder (8-3) were outscored by four in the fourth quarter after rallying to tie the game. Kobe Messer had 23 points and seven rebounds, Eli Fair had 10 points and Brady Shaddix dealt nine assists.
Mountain Brook 80, Oxford 45: The Spartans overwhelmed the Jackets with 10-of-14 shooting from 3-point range. “They were flawless,” Oxford coach Joel VanMeter said.
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