Buzzer beater
- Updated: January 25, 2021
Boys roundup: Taylor’s 3 at buzzer sends Alexandria past Jacksonville, Faith’s Copeland gets first coaching win in relief, Oxford clinches area crown and more
MONDAY’S BOYS GAMES
Alexandria 64, Jacksonville 61
Anniston 72, Cleburne County 37
Faith Christian 85, Coosa Christian 42
Handley 72, Munford 40
Jacksonville Christian 59, Donoho 39
Ohatchee 69, Pleasant Valley 62
Oxford 51, Springville 43
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
Collin Taylor was having such a tough night shooting he just knew his last shot had to go in. He didn’t want to play overtime.
It was as true as any shot he’d ever put up. Taylor drained a 3-ball from the right corner with three-tenths of a second left to lift Alexandria over Jacksonville 64-61.
Taylor, who tied for the most 3-pointers in last week’s County Tournament (seven), was only 3-of-10 from the field and had hit only one of his previous seven 3-point attempts before nailing the first buzzer-beater he can remember hitting in “a long time.”
The only question when he got it in the corner was if he’d get it off in time.
“It was off all game; I knew that shot had to be the shot to go in,” he said. “I knew when I passed it back to my teammate there was three seconds left and I knew when he passed it back I had to shoot it or we were going to go in OT – and we didn’t want that.
“When I saw it in the air, I knew it was going in. I rushed it, but I rush shots all the time because that’s what I practice. I practice getting them off quick because if it came down to it I’d be ready.”
Taylor finished with eight points. Landan Williams led the Valley Cubs with 26 points and 10 rebounds; he was 10-of-14 from the floor. D’Anthony Walton was just as strong, scoring 24 points and grabbing 14 boards; he was 5-of-8 from 3-point range.
Jacksonville placed four scorers in double figures, led by John Broom’s 23 points. Caden Johnson had 12 points and 10 rebounds. Omarion Adams had 13 points, seven assists and four steals. Quinn Long scored 11 points.
It was the second time this season the Golden Eagles literally lost at the buzzer. They lost a home game to Gadsden City on a baseline layup by the buzzer.
The Golden Eagles jumped out quickly at the start of each half, but Alexandria rallied both times to get back in the game. Johnson and Broom combined for the first eight points of the game, but the Valley Cubs woke up and went on an 18-3 spree to take their first lead. It went like that the whole game.
Jacksonville got it back to within 20-18, then Alexandria broke off a 10-2 run to take a 33-26 halftime lead. The Valley Cubs had seven 3-pointers or three-point plays in the half.
The Golden Eagles scored 10 of the first 12 points of the second half to open a 43-35 lead, but Alexandria rallied again and carried a 47-44 lead into the fourth quarter. The Cubs were up eight with six minutes to play, but Jacksonville rallied again to take a 61-57 lead with 1:15 to play.
With just about a minute to play Landan Williams failed to convert a three-point play, but Walton was there for the rebound and put back to tie the game at 61 with 57 seconds to play. The Golden Eagles had a chance to take the lead, but John Boom’s 12-foot jumper with 10 seconds left was short of the mark.
The Valley Cubs raced down the floor with the rebound. Taylor kicked it out to Javais McGhee near the top of the key with the clock winding down. McGhee fired it back to him with a quarterback’s zip and accuracy with about three seconds left. Taylor set his feet, fixed his grip and let it fly.
The ball went through the hoop right before the horn sounded.
“He is our best 3-point, but as far as statistics he has struggled this year,” Alexandria coach Jason Johnson said. “But we keep telling him to keep shooting. I thought he was going to keep passing that shot he had in the corner up until he finally decided at the buzzer. I guess he knew what he was doing.
“I kept hollering at least put it up there to give us a chance and let these bigs maybe get an offensive rebound. You want to shoot it with just a little bit of time so you can possibly get a tip-in or something like that. It was (cutting it close).”
Alexandria 64, Jacksonville 61
JACKSONVILLE – John Broom 7-12 6-7 23, Omarion Adams 4-8 3-5 13, Caden Johnson 5-11 0-2 12, Quinn Long 4-12 2-2 11, Nathan Barnwell 1-3 0-0 2, Jaylon Prater 0-3 0-0 0, Cam Johnson 0-1 0-0 0, Coby Zackery 0-0 0-0 0, Julian Hill 0-0 0-0 0, JaeTaj Morris 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-50 11-16 61.
ALEXANDRIA – Landan Williams 10-14 6-11 26, D’Anthony Walton 9-15 1-1 24, Collin Taylor 3-10 0-0 8, Javais McGhee 3-7 0-0 6, Julian Wright 0-1 0-0 0, Ivonte Davis 0-0 0-0 0, Cory Cargal 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 25-48 7-12 64.
Jacksonville 16 10 18 17 – 61
Alexandria 18 15 14 17 – 64
3-point goals: Jacksonville 8-23 (Broom 3-5, Adams 2-4, Cd. Johnson 2-6, Long 1-8); Alexandria 7-20 (Walton 5-8, Taylor 2-8, McGhee 0-3, Cargal 0-1). Rebounds: Jacksonville 32 (Cd. Johnson 10); Alexandria 29 (Williams 10, Walton 14). Fouled out: Prater, Wright. Total fouls: Jacksonville 14, Alexandria 17. Officials: Harrell, Robinson, Childs.
Oxford clinches top area seed
OXFORD – It is stretch drive time for the Oxford basketball team and the Yellow Jackets are starting to take care of some of their goals. They checked off two of them over the last three days.
The first came Saturday night when they polished off another Calhoun County Tournament Championship with a big win over top-seeded Anniston team. Then on Monday, they were back at it in the Oxford Sports Arena and battled past Springville 51-43 to clinch the Area 13 regular-season title ensuring they’ll host the area tournament.
It was their 17th straight win, pushing their record to 21-2.
“It was a good game for us this time of year,” Oxford coach Joel Van Meter said. “A win is a win, no matter how you get it. We have been in play-off mode the last week and having to find different ways to win.”
It was a tired Oxford team that took the floor, playing its fourth game in six days and Springville came to play. The Yellow Jackets surged out to a 45-34 lead in the fourth quarter, but then suddenly a two-point basket, an inbounds steal and long 3 from the corner and another basket off a turnover the lead was down to 45-41 with 2:22 to go.
After an Oxford timeout, Roc Taylor finished off two fast breaks with layups and the lead was back to eight and the Jackets were safe.
Oxford came out cold in the first half against a tight Tiger zone and Springville rebounded well on the defensive end, limiting the Yellow Jackets to just one shot. Oxford was in a stifling man-to-man defense and Springville was patient but having trouble scoring as well. Springville had only eight first-half field goals to Oxford’s seven. The Jackets led 23-20 at halftime.
“We were in the wrong offense and that put us in a bad position to rebound and that was my fault,” Van Meter said.
Rylan Houck led Oxford with 10 first-half points and finished with 23 points and five rebounds. He is averaging just under 20 points in his last four games. Taylor had 10 points and seven rebounds, while Moore had 10 points and five rebounds. –Brant Locklier
Oxford 51, Springville 43
SPRINGVILLE (16-4) – Jamal Williams 1 0-0 2, Garrett Howard 1 2-2 4, Luke Richardson 0 0-0 0, Cason Kersh 6 0-0 14, Amari Cowan 3 2-2 9, Larry Winston 2 0-0 5, Rece Gleason 0 0-0 0, John Wolf 0 0-0 0, Pearson Baldwin 2 0-0 4, Gage Frederick 0 0-0 0, Vincent Gooch 0 1-2 1, Chase Higgins 1 0-0 2, Jake Goolsby 1 0-0 2. Totals 17 5-6 43.
OXFORD (21-2) – Avelon Bush 0 0-0 0, Cordell Chatman 2 2-2 6, Rylan Houck 7 8-9 23, Peyton Watts 0 0-0 0, Mike McGraw 0 2-2 2, Roc Taylor 3 4-5 10, Bakari Dailey 0 0-0 0, Justin Moore 3 4-5 10, Josh Johnson 0 0-0 0, Josh Patton 0 0-0 0, Zurrell Garrett 0 0-0 0, Jarek Burroughs 0 0-0 0, Aaron McFarland 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 20-23 51.
Springvlle 13 7 10 13 – 43
Oxford 12 11 16 12 – 51
3-point goals: Springville 4 (Kersh 2, Cowan, Winston); Oxford 1 (Houck). Fouled out: Baldwin.
Copeland gets first win in relief
Ethan Richerzhagen scored 27 points, Thomas Curlee 22 and Nic Goodgame 15 as Faith Christian returned to the floor and mauled Coosa Christian 85-42 to give acting coach Dexter Copeland his first varsity coaching victory in relief of head coach Schuessler Ware, who missed the game recovering from COVID-19.
Richerzhagen hit three 3-pointers in the first quarter and scored 11 points as the Lions roared to a 32-14 lead. Goodgame also had 11 points in the quarter and Curlee had 10. Goodgame also recorded 11 assists in the game. Andrew Folsom scored four points, but had 11 rebounds and four blocked shots.
“We played a great game; it was good for the boys and girls to get back on the floor,” said Copeland, who is overseeing the boys program during Ware’s quarantine. “The boys were very eager to get back to action (snice they didn’t play in the County Tournament due to COVID-19 concerns).
“We played the type of ball that we like to play, establishing the tempo from the start of the game. We have to come back tomorrow and get good work in and ready for another huge area game with Donoho on Thursday. We’re holding it down for Coach Ware, just trying to keep him happy and uplifted.”
Faith Christian 85, Coosa Christian 42
COOSA CHRISTIAN – Kris Ash 0 0-0 0, Isaiah Cole 1 0-0 3, Zack Elrod 1 0-0 3, Deontaae Ford 5 2-6 15, J.D. Justus 5 3-4 13, Hunter Millirons 0 0-0 0, Caddon Moore 1 0-0 2, Hunter Price 0 0-0 0, Koby Roberts 2 0-0 6 Thomas Skaggs 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 5-10 42.
FAITH CHRISTIAN – Nic Goodgame 5 5-7 15, Thomsa Curlee 8 6-10 22, Ethan Richerzhagen 9 5-8 27, Yashua Arevalo 2 2-2 7, Andrew Folsom 2 0-0 4, Seth Abston 3 2-2 8, Damian Arevalo 0 2-2 2. Totals 29 22-31 85.
Coosa Christian 14 9 9 10 – 42
Faith Christian 32 17 22 16 – 85
3-poiint goals: Coosa 7 (Cole, Elrod, Ford 3, Roberts 2); Faith 5 (Richerzhagen 4, Y. Arevalo). Total fouls: Coosa 20, Faith 11.
Indians spread the wealth
OHATCHEE – David Reed’s six points was the leader among seven players who scored in the second quarter when Ohatchee took the lead on its way to a 69-62 victory over Pleasant Valley.
Read was one of four Indians to score in double figures. He had 11, Konnor Boswell had 10, Jacob Buckelew had 13 and Trey Pesnell was their leading scorer with 14.
Pesnell and Buckelew each scored 10 points in the second half held the Indians maintain their lead. PV’s Zeke Johnson and Garrett Cranmer led all scorers with 18 points each.
Ohatchee 69, Pleasant Valley 62
PLEASANT VALLEY – Garett Cranmer 7 4-6 18, Oliver Young 3 0-0 6, Kolby Battles 1 2-5 4, Zeke Johnson 6 2-2 18, Samuel Palmer 0 0-0 0, Pelham Parris 2 0-0 5, Justin Winningham 3 2-2 8, Michael Glass 1 0-0 3, Jacob Teal 0 0-0 0. Totals 23 10-15 62
OHATCHEE – Noah Fuller 1 0-0 2, Jacob Buckelew 4 2-3 13, Trey Pesnell 6 2-5 14, Eli Teem 1 0-0 2, Justin Powell 2 1-2 5, Konnor Boswell 3 4-8 10, Brock England 1 0-1 2, Aiden Simpson 1 0-0 2, David Read 3 3-3 11, Kelbe Crook 3 2-3 8. Totals 25 14-25 69.
Pleasant Valley 14 7 19 22 – 62
Ohatchee 13 18 18 20 – 69
3-point goals: Pleasant Valley 6 (Johnson 4, Parris, Glass); Ohatchee 5 (Buckelew 3, Reed 2). Fouled out: Johnson, Winningham. Total fouls: Pleasant Valley 22, Ohatchee 17. Officials: Pratt, Jarrett, Hall.
Miller moves closer to milestone
JACKSONVILLE –Landon Wills scored 21 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and had three steals to lead Jacksonville Christian to a 59-39 area win over Donoho and move coach Tommy Miller to within one victory of 1,000 as a boys and girls varsity head coach.
Tanner Wilson added 19 points, while Tavian Alexander had eight points and 12 rebounds.
JCA jumped out to a 36-16 halftime lead and the teams played even in the second half. The Thunder (13-6) can give their coach his milestone win with a victory over Valley Head Thursday.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login