Champions showdown

By EASportsToday.com
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Updated: November 24, 2020

Handley, Collinsville to meet in rematch in Champions Classic final, Oxford, Ohatchee meet in consolation game; slow approach gets Cleburne County quick victory in Lincoln

Lauren Ellard throws an outlet pass to get Oxford’s fast break going Ellard hit a 3-point midway through the fourth quarter that got the Lady Jackets within one point of the lead. (Photo by B.J. Franklin).

TUESDAY’S GIRLS GAMES
Champions Girls Thanksgiving Classic
White Plains 65, Pleasant Valley 50
Spring Garden 74, Hokes Bluff 28
Jacksonville 30, Alexandria 18
Semifinals: Collinsville 53, Oxford 40
Semifinals: Handley 57, Ohatchee 32

Lincoln Round Robin Classic
Cleburne County 50, Leeds 27

By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today

The championship game of the Champions Girls Thanksgiving Classic will take on a familiar look Wednesday night.

It’ll be a rematch of last year’s tournament final after Collinsville took down Oxford 53-40 and Handley dispatched Ohatchee 57-32 Tuesday night.

Handley will have a lot of incentive. The Lady Tigers lost only seven games a year ago, but two came at the hands of Collinsville – both in holiday tournaments. It was 67-38 here last year.

“I try to use that as an incentive for my girls, to get my girls fired up,” Handley coach Courtney Strain Screws said. “I told them you are very unique compared to every team in this state; we had every single player return to our roster this year.

“I’d bet very few other teams have that, so you can’t tell me you’re not an experienced team. I’m hoping our experience going into tomorrow night will help us tremendously.”

The Handley-Ohatchee semifinal was tight in the first half, but the Lady Tigers ramped up their pressure defense, even in the face of some first-half foul trouble, and it eventually wore down the Lady Indians.

Ohatchee coach Bryant Ginn described the halves as polar opposites for his team. The Lady Indians scored only 12 points in the second half. They had 11 in the second quarter.

“We talked before the game about no live-ball turnovers and boxing out,” Ginn said. “We did that phenomenally in the first half and in the second half it was like one or two mistakes kept compounding on top of each other. We’ve got to put two halves together.”

**Xai Whitfield is congratulated at the bench after her 3-pointer at the buzzer earned Oxford a 36-36 tie with Collinsville going into the fourth quarter. (Photo by B.J. Franklin)**

In the earlier semifinal, Oxford was looking to knock off its second reigning state champion in as many games here and it had a shot.

The Lady Jackets beat 1A champion Spring Garden in their tournament opener Saturday and were knocking on the door against the 2A champs.

They fell back and rallied several times in the game and finally got it tied on Xai Whitfield’s 3 at the third-quarter buzzer. Lauren Ellard’s third 3-pointer of the game got them to within 41-40 with 4:29 to play, but the Lady Jackets never scored again.

“The girls don’t have that killer instinct yet,” Oxford coach Melissa Bennett said. “In our two losses we played terrible and been in the games. When we get some leadership, some fire in our belly from more people than one or two, this group is going to be really special.”

The Lady Jackets missed a golden opportunity to apply pressure on the Lady Panthers in the final two minutes of the third quarter thanks to a couple technical foul situations. They were in the midst of another rally and could have at the very least tied the game, but managed only two points and came up empty on the extra possessions that came with the fouls.

“That’s the lack of killer instinct that we have right now,” Bennett said. “That mentality is the hardest thing to develop especially when you’re trying to get girls to switch from what they’re used to and what they’re comfortable with.”

While Handley and Collinsville will be battling for the tournament title, two Calhoun County teams will be playing in consolation game for the best for the week they can muster.

“Our whole objective is to get some respect,” Bennett said. “A lot of people have a lot to say about Oxford girls basketball and we’ve got to start defending ourselves with our actions. I don’t care if it’s the consolation game, I don’t care if it’s the first game, it doesn’t matter. Every time we step on the floor we’re trying to earn respect.”

Champions Girls Thanksgiving Classic
White Plains 65, Pleasant Valley 50
WHITE PLAINS – Callyn Martin 8 2-5 18, Hallie Williams 0 2-2 2, Shaniya Calloway 0 1-2 1, Camden Wilson 3 2-2 8, Lily Ponder 6 5-6 17, Adriana Sotelo 1 0-0 3, Angel Bozarth 4 3-6 13, Kaylee Johnson 1 1-2 3. Totals 23 16-25 65.
PLEASANT VALLEY – Lily Henry 2 3-6 8, Rylee Haynes 4 2-5 11, Marlie Wright 0 0-0 0, Kianna Hester 0 0-0 0, Gracie Hood 4 0-0 12, Macey Roper 6 6-12 19, Anna Worthy 0 0-0 0, Erin Rose 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 11-23 50.

White Plains                 13  18 11 23   –  65
Pleasant Valley            13 9   11  17   –  50
3-point goals: White Plains 3 (Sotelo, Bozarth 2); Pleasant Valley 7 (Henry, Haynes, Hood 4, Roper). Total fouls: White Plains 15, Pleasant Valley 19. Officials: Walker, Russell, Elston. Notes: White Plains’ Martin tied her career high with 18 points, with eight coming in the second quarter.

Spring Garden 74, Hokes Bluff 28
SPRING GARDEN – Ace Austin 4 2-3 14, Abbie Woods 1 2-2 4, Bri Boles 1 0-0 3, Sarah Kate McKay 4 2-4 11, Lexy Adkison 4 4-6 12, Neely Welsh 6 2-2 15, Abbey Steward 3 0-0 9, Maggie Jarrett 2 2-2 6. Totals 25 14-19 74.
HOKES BLUFF – Maddie Smith 2 0-0 6, Reece Hawks 0 0-0 0, Halle Davenport 2 0-0 6, Ava Dodd 3 0-0 6, Kileigh Blackwell 2 3-4 8, Preslee Blackwell 0 0-0 0, Chloe Rule 1 0-0 2. Totals 10 3-4 28.

Spring Garden             28 18 17 11 –  74
Hokes Bluff                   3   8   8   9   –  28
3-point goals: Spring Garden 10 (Austin 4, Boles, McKay, Welsh, Steward 3); Hokes Bluff 5 (Smith 2, Davenport 2, K. Blackwell). Total fouls: Spring Garden 9, Hokes Bluff 15. Officials: Caldwell, Tillery, Lemon. Notes: Spring Garden hit six 3-pointers in the first quarter, with Austin nailing three.

Jacksonville 30, Alexandria 18
JACKSONVILLE – Rebekah Gannaway 1 1-2 4, Amiyah Buchanan 3 3-8 9, Autumn Carr 0 0-0 0, Kayla Broom 4 1-2 10, Ashley Grant 0 2-2 2, Bree Edmonson 0 0-0 0, Amarie Curry 2 1-4 5, Maggie Anderson 0 0-1 0, Kierra LaCount 0 0-0 0. Totals 10 8-19 30.
ALEXANDRIA – Ashley Phillips 4 0-3 8, Jordyn Walker 1 4-7 6, Maddie Ritchie 0 0-0 0, Kirsten Heathcock 0 0-0 0, Clancy Bright 0 0-0 0, Sarah Pelham 1 0-0 3, Christian Hess 0 0-0 0, Kailey Dickerson 0 0-0 0, Tylea Hunt 0 0-0 0, TyShica Woodgett 0 0-0 0, Jill Cockrell 0 0-0 0, Chloe Gattis 0 1-2 1, Aubrey Christian 0 0-0 0. Totals 6 5-12 18.

Jacksonville 4 7 13 6 – 30
Alexandria 3 6 4 5 – 18
3-point goals: Jacksonville 2 (Gannaway, Broom); Alexandria 1 (Pelham). Fouled out: Woodgett, Christian. Total fouls: Jacksonville 17, Alexandria 19. Officials: Caldwell, Tillery, Douthitt.

Semifinals: Collinsville 53, Oxford 40
OXFORD (5-2) – Justice Woods 1 2-6 4, Xiaonna Whitfield 2 1-2 6, Lauren Ellard 3 5-7 14, Lamya McGrue 3 0-0 6, Kaleah Taylor 2 4-4 10, Emma McCullough 0 0-0 0, Lisa Montgomery 0 0-0 0, Keziah Mickler 0 0-0 0. Totals 11 12-19 40.
COLLINSVILLE (3-2) – Tyla Tatum 3 2-2 9, Kayla Beene 2 0-0 5, Caroline Brannon 1 1-2 3, Hedley Hamilton 6 5-6 19, Sydney Maddox 0 0-0 0, Olivia Akins 5 0-2 12, Cadence Amison 0 0-0 0, Emma Terrell 3 0-0 7. Totals 20 8-12 53.

Oxford 8 11 17 4 – 40
Collinsville 13 11 12 17 – 53
3-point goals: Oxford 6 (Whitfield, Ellard 3, Taylor 2); Collinsville 5 (Tatum, Beene, Hamilton 2, Terrell). Technical fouls: Collinsville coach Tidmore, Maddox. Total fouls: Oxford 16, Collinsville 16. Officials: Wood, Douthitt, Gamble.

Semifinals: Handley 57, Ohatchee 32
HANDLEY – Ariana Kyles 2 2-5 4, Jamiya Heard 0 0-0 0, Tiana Nolan 0 0-0 0, Teanna Watts 8 1-2 17, Delisha Slaughter 0 1-2 1, Iyanna Norman 1 0-0 2, Grace Rittenhouse 3 0-0 6, T. Mosley 3 2-4 9, Emelia Askew 3 0-0 6, Jayla Trammell 5 0-3 10, Shaniah Allen 0 0-2 0. Totals 25 6-18 57.
OHATCHEE – Gracyn Snow 1 0-1 2, Rachel Dunaway 0 2-4 2, Tori Vice 3 0-3 6, Gracie George 1 1-2 3, Millie Rainwater 0 0-0 0, Jorda Crook 6 4-10 16, Alyssa Davis 1 1-2 3. Totals 12 8-22 32.

Handley 12 14 12 19 – 57
Ohatchee 9 11 5 7 – 32
3-point goals: Handley 1 (Mosley). Total fouls: Handley 19, Ohatchee 15. Officials: Walker, Wood, Gamble.

Lady Tigers’ slow-go takes off

LINCOLN – Todd Gable’s first piece of advice from the bench Tuesday afternoon was a reminder to the Cleburne County players on the floor to slow down.

The Lady Tigers are typically a transition team, but they took a slower approach to help their offense and it resulted in making quick work of a Leeds team that came into this day of the Lincoln Round Robin undefeated.

They overran the Lady Green Wave, 50-27

“We did it because we haven’t been real patient on offense and we’ve been stressing be more patient and slow down,” Gable explained “We haven’t been shooting the ball real good right now, so we wanted to make sure we had a high-percentage shot, a good look, instead of just (firing) one up there.”

You can’t argue with the results. The Lady Tigers (2-1) shot 37 percent from the field for the game, but were 41 percent (16-of-39) on their 2-point attempts.

They never trailed. Content to work the ball around the 3-point arc in search of the best shot available, they methodically opened an 8-3 lead in the first quarter that grew to 19-8.

They outscored Leeds (5-1) in the third quarter 18-2 to take complete control and held it to 11 points ini the second half.

The slow-and-steady approach was a real boon to Brooklyn McDaniel and Faith Brown. They led the Lady Tigers with 24 and 20 points, respectively. And when they scored, they scored in bunches.

McDaniel had two runs in which she scored 11 straight points for her team. Brown, a freshman, had a 12-point run on the heels of McDaniel’s second flurry – in the third quarter.

“At first I did not like playing slow, but we got yelled at at halftime, so I guess we took it up a notch,” McDaniel said.

Lincoln Round Robin
Cleburne County 50, Leeds 27
CLEBURNE COUNTY (2-1) – Brooklyn McDaniel 7-19 8-8 24, Faith Brown 9-20 2-5 20, Haven Freeman 1-2 1-3 3, Micah Pentecost 1-2 0-0 2, Makenzie Frames 0-0 1-2 1, Kaydence Wright 0-1 0-0 0, Libby Altman 0-1 0-0 0, Jacy Littleton 0-1 0-0 0, Annie Brown 0-0 0-2 0, Chloe Kerr 0-2 0-0 0, Oliivia McDaniel 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-48 12-20 50.
LEEDS (5-1) – Jordan Davis 2 0-0 4, Kailyn Jones 0 0-0 0, Paige McKinney 0 0-0 0, Jazmyn McGee 0 0-0 0, Zoe Thomas 0 1-2 1, Emma Grace Payne 1 2-4 4, Katelyn Howard 0 1-3 1, Katelyn Sims 4 1-1 10, Rhiannon Buzbee 2 0-0 5, Larianna Pollard 0 2-2 2, Mikayla Jordan 0 0-0 0, Rhyan Carson 0 0-0 0. Totals 9 7-12 27.

Cleburne County 8 13 18 11 – 50
Leeds 3 13 2 9 – 27
3-point goals; Cleburne County 2-9 (B. McDaniel 2-8, Brown 0-1); Leeds 2 (Sims, Buzbee). Total fouls: Cleburne County 16, Leeds 17. Officials: Smith, Askew, Ware.