Birthday blowout

By EASportsToday.com
- Tweet
Updated: January 6, 2021

Girls roundup: Anniston gets back in area race with win on coach’s birthday; White Plains builds early lead, but can’t sustain momentum

TUESDAY’S GIRLS SCORES
Anniston 73, Handley 35
Cherokee County 71, Alexandria 41
Collinsville 47, Glencoe 30
Lincoln 62, St. Clair County 40
Pell City 33, White Plains 26
Saks 72, Wellborn 23
Spring Garden 91, Cleburne County 43
Weaver 44, Munford 15

By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today

Eddie Bullock has never lost a game he’s coached on his birthday and he’s been coaching the Anniston girls basketball team for 16 years.

The game the Lady Bulldogs played on their coach’s 57^th birthday Tuesday was one they absolutely could not afford to lose and they played like it.

With Allasha Dudley drilling it from the outside and Asia Barclay pounding it on the inside, the Lady Bulldogs jumped out to a big early lead and buried Handley to avenge an earlier area loss, 73-35.

“I’m celebrating my 28-and-a-half birthday (twice),” Bullock said. “I think (the players) think they’ll be giving me a birthday present, but I just don’t like losing, man. I hate losing. I can take losing, but I hate it. … The rest of the season is going to be my birthday.”

A loss Tuesday night would have effectively given the Lady Tigers the area title having swept Anniston in the season series. But the Lady Dawgs blew the candles out on that one.

Now unless something crazy happens the rest of the month – stop if you’ve heard that before this season – the area host will be determined by a coin toss. In Bullock’s previous 15 seasons at the Anniston helm, the Lady Dawgs have won the area title and hosted their area tournament 12 times.

“We understand that,” he said. “We’re in a coin toss so you could easily still not be hosting, so I’m not banking on that. What I’m banking on is my team playing up to their capabilities and doing the things they need to do.”

Dudley was magnificent. She went oh-for from 3-point range when Handley beat the Lady Dawgs in December in a game that had a lot of outside influences, but she could hardly miss in the friendly confines of the home gym Tuesday night. She hit eight of 10 3-point attempts (10-of-14 overall) and finished with 31 points.

“Tonight was a big game,” Dudley said. “We knew going into the game we had win in order to get a 50-50 chance of playing at home or away, so that kind of pushed me to try to go harder for my team. I knew I was going to be able to shoot well because in warmups I was making a lot.”

Barclay said that first game gave the Lady Dawgs a “lot of motivation,” and they spent the bulk of the last two weeks focusing on the Lady Tigers, learning their tendencies, defenses and presses to be ready for this one. It was 13-4 right out of the gate and 44-25 at halftime.

Dudley had six of her 3-pointers in the half and combined with Barclay for 33 points. Barclay finished with 18 points, 14 rebounds and four assists.

Anniston 73, Handley 35
HANDLEY – Ariana Kyles 1 0-0 2, Jamiya Heard 2 2-4 6, Tiana Nolan 0 0-0 0, Teanna Watts 2 2-4 6, Iyanna Norman 1 0-0 2, Grace Rittenhouse 2 0-0 4, Takeriauna Mosley 2 4-4 9, Emelia Askew 3 0-0 6, Jayla Trammell 0 0-2 0, Shaniah Allen 0 0-0 0, Totals 13 8-14 35.
ANNISTON – Allasha Dudley 10 3-4 31, Alisia Person 1 0-0 3, Serena Hardy 4 2-4 12, Charliese Simmons 0 0-0 0, Shiwanna Jackson 4 0-1 9, Aaliyah Henson 0 0-0 0, Tianna Thomas 0 1-2 1, Akayla Perry 0 0-0 0, Asia Barclay 7 4-6 18, Tanaja Winsley 0 0-0 0. Totals 26 10-17 73.
Handley 11 14 6 4 – 35
Anniston 23 21 21 8 – 73
3-point goals: Handley 1 (Mosley); Anniston 11 (Dudley 8, Person, Hardy 2). Fouled out: Allen. Total fouls: Handley 16, Anniston 17. Officials: Robinson, Prociuck, Morrison.

PELL CITY 33, WHITE PLAINS 26: The Lady Wildcats had everything going their way at the start, opening an 18-3 lead and holding their opponent without a field goal in the first quarter, but they couldn’t hold the edge and lost in overtime.

White Plains hit four 3-pointers in the first quarter, then went scoreless in the second quarter and had only four field goals the rest of the game. The Lady Wildcats were outscored 9-2 in overtime with Reagan Tarver scoring five points – all from the free throw line.

They did not attempt a free throw in the game, while Pell City was 14-of-29 from the line.

Pell City 33, White Plains 26 (OT)
PELL CITY – Madison Farris 1 0-2 2, Bekah Hooks 1 4-10 6, Heaven O’Neal 1 0-2 2, Reagan Tarver 1 7-10 10, Nyla Treptan 1 0-0 2, Kristin Kurezejeski 2 3-5 7, Lyricka McCay 2 0-0 4, Kyla Torak 0 0-0 0. Totals 9 14-29 33.
WHITE PLAINS – Callyn Martn 2 0-0 5, Hallie Williams 1 0-0 3, Shaniyah Calloway 0 0-0 0, Camden Wilson 1 0-0 2, Lily Ponder 3 0-0 6, Adriana Sotelo 1 0-0 3, Angel Bozarth 3 0-0 7. Totals 11 0-0 26.
Pell City             3     7    10  4   9     –  33
White Plains     18   0    4    2    2     –  26
3-point goals: Pell City 1 (Tarver); White Plains 4 (Martin, Williams, Sotelo, Bozarth). Fouled out: Torak, Martin. Total fouls: Pell City 13, White Plains 19.

SPRING GARDEN 91, CLEBURNE COUNTY 43: The Lady Panthers hit 11 of their 15 3-pointers in the second half to pull away. Seven players had at least one 3 for Spring Garden in the game, with Sarah Kate McKay hitting six and Ace Austin nailing four. McKay (28 points) and Austin (22) each had four 3s in the second half. Brooklyn McDaniel led Cleburne County with 19 points and 13 rebounds.

Spring Garden 91, Cleburne County 43
SPRING GARDEN – Ace Austin 8 2-2 22, Abbie Woods 2 0-0 5, Kristen Lewis 0 0-0 0, Bri Boles 1 0-0 3, Sarah Kate McKay 10 2-2 28, Avery Steward 2 0-0 5, Lexi Adkison 5 5-8 15, Neely Welsh 3 1-2 8, Abbie Steward 1 0-0 3, Maggie Jarrett 1 0-0 2. Totals 33 10-14 91.
CLEBURNE COUNTY – Faith Brown 3 0-0 6, Haley Price 6 0-1 14, Micah Pentecost 1 0-0 2, Brooklyn McDaniel 8 1-2 19, Haven Freeman 1 0-0 2, Libby Altman 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 1-3 43.
Spring Garden              15  26  20 30  –  91
Cleburne County          17  6    16 4    –  43
3-point goals: Spring Garden 15 (Austin 4, Woods, Boles, McKay 6, Av. Steward, Welsh, Ab. Steward); Cleburne County 4 (Price 2, B. McDaniel 2). Total fouls: Spring Garden 6, Cleburne County 12.