Back up for the backups
- Updated: January 21, 2020
Jacksonville’s capable bench produces 42 points in win over Pleasant Valley, sets up much-anticipated matchup with Anniston
CALHOUN COUNTY TOURNAMENT
All games at Pete Mathews Coliseum, Jacksonville
Boys bracket
Friday’s game
No. 12 Ohatchee 76, No. 13 Donoho 56
Saturday’s games
No. 11 Weaver 71, No. 14 Faith Christian 58 (OT)
No. 10 Pleasant Valley 63, No. 15 Wellborn 37
No. 8 Jacksonville Christian 80, No. 9 Saks 73 (OT)
No. 5 Sacred Heart 66, Ohatchee 45
Monday’s games
No. 6 Piedmont 70, Weaver 31
No. 7 Jacksonville 91, Pleasant Valley 71
No. 4 Alexandria 67, Sacred Heart 61
No. 1 Oxford 84, JCA 47
Tuesday’s games
Piedmont vs. No. 3 White Plains, 4 p.m.
Jacksonville vs. No. 2 Anniston, 7 p.m.
Wednesday’s games
Oxford vs. Alexandria, 5:30 p.m.
White Plains-Piedmont winner vs. Anniston-Jacksonville winner, 8:30 p.m.
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
JACKSONVILLE – Only five players can start a high school basketball game, but all the reserves who get in the game are expected to maintain the same level of excellence as the starters.
That’s the message Jacksonville coach Cordell Hunt has for his charges, and they didn’t disappoint Monday, playing a big role in the Golden Eagles’ 91-71 victory over Pleasant Valley in the Calhoun County Tournament.
The Golden Eagles got 42 points and 23 rebounds from their bench in advancing to a much-anticipated matchup with second-seeded Anniston in Tuesday’s 7 p.m. quarterfinal. Weather issues twice postponed regular-season games between the teams.
The reserves shot 17 of 36 from the floor and non-starting twins Caden and Cam Johnson were among five Jacksonville scorers in double figures, going for 14 and 10 points, respectively. Caden was 5-of-6 from the floor with a 3-pointer, while Cam was 5-of-11.
“It was just a big team effort,” Hunt said. “I thought everybody contributed. We’ve got a good bench so they come in with no drop off.
“One of the things we talk about is there should be no drop off from the first group. We expect them to play just as well. I expect it. I don’t hope for it. I expect it. We coach them just as hard as we do that first group. When they do something wrong we go back and correct them. They have a lot to learn, they’re young, that’s our young group, but that’s the future of our program.”
The reserves first went into the game en masse late in the first quarter and immediately extended a nine-point lead to 17. They came out after the Raiders got back within 10, but returned late in the second quarter and stretched a 15-point lead to 22 right before halftime. The twins combined for the last 10 points in that run.
“We came out and we did what we were supposed to do as a team,” said Caden Johnson, the older of the twins by one minute. “If you get in and you play good, the team will get you open.”
Point guard Kyrie Maynor led the Golden Eagles starters with 21 points behind 9-for-12 shooting. Donavon McCain had 11 points and eight rebounds, and Yessman Green had 10 points one day after making a football verbal commitment to Jacksonville State.
Josh Ballew led PV with 21 points and four blocked shots. Garrett Cranmer had 16 points and a team-high six rebounds. They were a combined 12-of-19 from the floor.
Both teams shot better than 55 percent from the floor.
Jacksonville 91, Pleasant Valley 71
PLEASANT VALLEY – Josh Ballew 6-8 6-6 21, Garrett Cranmer 6-11 4-5 16, Wyatt Ingram 3-4 2-2 9, Jamie Winningham 4-6 0-0 8, Brody Phillips 2-5 0-0 5, Jake Malsy 2-2 0-0 5, Coleman Haynes 1-3 0-0 3, Damon Parr 1-1 0-0 2, Brayden Wright 0-1 2-3 2, Oliver Young 0-1 0-0 0, Trent Findley 0-0- 0-0 0, Jake Upton 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 25-43 14-16 71.
JACKSONVILLE – Kyrie Maynor 9-12 2-3 21, Caden Johnson 5-6 3-6 14, Donavon McCain 5-6 1-2 11, Cam Johnson 5-11 0-0 10, Yessman Green 3-4 3-4 10, John Broom 3-8 0-0 7, Q Long 3-7 0-0 7, Jaden Barksdale 2-7 0-0 5, Nathan Barnwell 2-7 0-0 4, Hudson Harvey 1-2 0-2 2, Luke Jackson 0-1 0-0 0, Jalen Morton 0-0 0-0 0, Ron Wiggins 0-0 0-2 0, Jacob McCarley 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 37-65 11-21 91.
Pleasant Valley 8 23 27 13 – 71
Jacksonville 23 28 25 15 – 91
3-point goals: PV 7-18 (Ballew 3-3, Cranmer 0-4, Ingram 1-1, Winningham 0-1, Phillips 1-3, Malsy 1-1, Haynes 1-2, Wright 0-1, Young 0-1, Upton 0-1); Jacksonville 6-16 (Maynor 1-3, Cd. Johnson 1-2, Cm. Johnson 0-1, Green 1-1, Broom 1-2, Long 1-1, Barksdale 1-4, Harvey 0-1, Jackson 0-1). Rebounds: PV 26 (Cranmer 6, Winningham 5, Phillips 5); Jacksonville 34 (McCain 8, Broom 5). Total fouls: PV 18, Jacksonville 17.
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