Bringing it home
- Updated: February 3, 2021
Boys roundup: White Plains wins showdown with Handley to secure No. 2 seed and home court in area; Munford wins to guarantee winning season, Oxford streak hits 21 and more
Tuesday’s boys games
Hokes Bluff 55, Ohatchee 36
Jacksonville 66, Springville 59
Jacksonville Christian 77, ASCTE 53
Munford 55, Clay Central 47
Oxford 54, Gadsden City 43
Piedmont 56, Cherokee County 44
Plainview 100, Spring Garden 66
Ragland 89, Ashville 52
Ramsay def. Anniston
Ranburne 64, Lafayette 50
Weaver 86, Pleasant Valley 85 (OT)
White Plains 74, Handley 67
CLASS 4A AREA 9
Boys Bracket
Feb. 8
Cleburne County at Munford, 6 p.m.
Feb. 9
Cleburne County-Munford winner at Anniston, 7 p.m.
Handley at White Plains, 6 p.m.
Feb. 11
Championship game at higher seed
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
They were playing for something far more important than simple jersey colors in the area tournament at White Plains Tuesday night.
They were playing for a result that could be quite pivotal to the teams’ postseason future. It was that important.
The home-standing Wildcats needed to hold serve on their home court to assure themselves the No. 2 seed and a home game when these teams meet again in the opening round of the tournament. They got the result they wanted, a 74-67 victory over Handley in a game played with all the intensity of a playoff game.
Why did it matter so much? Both teams’ home court has a reputation as tough place to play. As it is, White Plains is 18-2 in the Palace on the Plains these last two seasons and currently has a nine-game winning streak there. Handley is equally tough to beat at home and took down the Wildcats on its home floor in Roanoke last month.
And with three really good teams in the five-team Class 4A Area 9, one good one isn’t going to make it out of the area. By winning, the Wildcats tied with Handley for second and won the tiebreaker by virtue of their win over top-seeded Anniston.
“They are ultra-talented and the problem with them being ultra-talented is they are very well-coached and we need every single advantage we can get,” White Plains coach Chris Randall said from his office in the bottom of the gymnasium. “We feel like playing at home with our guys who have grown up playing in this gym it just means a lot to us; it’s a special place.
“To get to play one more game up there means the world to us. We didn’t want to go down 431 (to Roanoke). We want to play upstairs.”
“We’re way better at home in front of our home fans, on our goals,” senior guard Jaden Chatman said. “We went up there and they got us good, so it feels good. We’re a lot more confident, like everyone else is, at home, so it’s good to be able to get it back at home.”
The teams played the game like they knew home-court mattered. It was a back-and-forth affair the fourth quarter when the Wildcats pulled away and then turned back a Tigers rally by making free throws and a basket taken straight out of their football playbook in the final two minutes.
Brody Baker kept the Wildcats in it early with 10 of their first 12 points. Handley pulled away from a 12-12 game with a 13-3 run, but the Wildcats topped it with a 16-2 run to take a three-point halftime lead.
White Plains took a six-point lead into the fourth quarter and led by 10 with six minutes to go, then Jaquavious Robinson and Graham Martin brought the Tigers back. Robinson scored 14 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter and Martin had 18 of his 21 in the second half, nine in each of the last two quarters. They combined for six 3-pointers in the second half, going head-to-head with White Plains’ Jacob Wheeler from long range.
Baker led White Plains with 20 points. Wheeler had 12 – all in the second half. Five of the six Wildcats who scored, scored in double figures.
“The fourth quarter was like a heavyweight fight,” Randall said. “Both teams took some big punches.”
The Wildcats delivered the knockout blow in the final 15 seconds when Chatman and Walker Osteen hooked up on a play that looked they had run so many times before on the Wildcats’ football team. Chatman, the White Plains quarterback, threw a deep pass to Osteen, the Wildcats’ running back.
It was a 50-50 ball, but Osteen, who had been challenging the Tigers’ big inside all night (eight rebounds), went up and pulled it away from Handley defender Tydrick Treadwell and proceeded to take it in for a layup to give the Wildcats a five-point lead. Wheeler then made a steal with eight seconds left and the Wildcats closed it out with a pair of free throws.
“He threw it perfect,” Randall said. “You like to see your kids on a 50-50 ball go up and it mean enough to them to just rip it out of the air – and not only rip it, but finish it. Walker did a beautiful job of going and getting it at its high point, just like he was coached in football. It was well done.”
“It was kind of the chemistry from the football field; we would always kind of do our own thing sometimes when we didn’t like what Coach (Chandler) Tyree was doing,” Chatman said. “He told me he was going deep and said I can catch it and I trusted him. I just threw it up and let him make a play, just like football.”
White Plains 74, Handley 67
HANDLEY – Ian Mosley 1 0-0 3, Christian Jones 2 0-0 5, Graham Martin 8 1-1 21, Jalen Herren 0 2-2 2, Jaquavious Robinson 7 3-4 22, Maurice Cameron 0 0-0 0, Josh Smith 5 0-0 10, Dequerion Nunn 0 0-0 0, Dylan Brooks 0 0-2 0, Tydrick Treadwell 1 0-0 2, Quaday Lewis 0 0-0 0, Timarious Treadwell 1 0-0 2. Totals 25 6-9 67.
WHITE PLAINS – Quin Wilson 3 7-10 15, Jaden Chatman 3 5-7 12, Jacob Wheeler 4 0-0 12, Landon Senciboy 0 0-0 0, Brody Baker 7 4-6 20, Jesse Hubbard 0 0-0 0, Walker Osteen 5 2-3 13, Kahlil Williams 1 0-0 2, Garrett Wilson 0 0-0 0. Totals 23 18-26 74.
Handley 20 9 13 25 – 67
White Plains 12 19 17 26 – 74
3-point goals: Handley 11 (Mosley, Jones, Martin 4, Robinson 5)
White Plains 10 (Q. Wilson 2, Chatman, Wheeler 4, Baker 2, Osteen). Technical fouls: Smith. Fouled out: Smith. Total fouls: Handley 23, White Plains 10. Officials: Burroughs, Calkins, Howell.
Munford reaches milestone
MUNFORD – When Michael Easley took over the Munford basketball team one of the first things he talked about with his players was changing the culture of the program.
The needle has moved.
The Lions matched their most wins in a season in eight years and guaranteed their first winning season in going back a lot farther than that when they dumped Clay Central, 55-47. They are now 13-10 and have one regular season game left and at least the 4/5 play-in game against Cleburne County in their area tournament.
According to incomplete records on the Alabama high school sports history website, the Lions were 13-15 in 2012-13 and their last listed winning season was 1997-98 (19-5).
“I’m really happy for our kids,” said Easley, who came to Munford from Saks two years ago for the football job and assumed the basketball post in the winter. “We talked before the season about changing the basketball culture here. That was our goal last year, too, and while we made progress, we didn’t take as many steps forward as we wanted to.
“So, coming into this year we wanted to build off what we started last year and take a big step forward. We wanted to finish the season with a winning record. We knew the area was going to be brutal, but we wanted to get to 13 or 14 wins because that hadn’t been done in a while.
“Getting win 13 and securing a winning record on the season was big for our program. You have to give our kids credit. They bought in to what we’re trying to do and accomplished those goals.”
The Lions used a big second half to get it done. Playing their eighth game in 12 days, they scored 42 points in the final two quarters after managing only 13 in the first half.
Jaquan Anderson scored 18 of his 23 points in the second half, 16 in the third quarter. Connor Morgan scored 12 of his 17 in the second half, nine in the fourth quarter, where he went 7-for-9 from the free throw line. They had five 3-pointers in the half.
“We struggled in the first half,” Easley said. “We challenged a few of our guys at halftime to look to score more and Jaquan and Connor did that, especially with the 3-ball.”
Munford 55, Clay Central 47
CLAY CENTRAL – Davion Thomas 0 0-0 0, Clay Yates 1 1-2 4, Tanne Higgins 8 1-6 19, Ejay Simmons 2 2-4 6, Elisha McNeil 4 2-5 12, Boyd Ogles 2 0-1 4, Isaiah Denny 0 0-0 0, Terry Heflin 1 0-0 2. Totals 18 6-18 47.
MUNFORD – Jaquan Anderson 7 5-6 23, Dwight Moore 3 1-3 7, Rashad Russell 0 2-2 2, Jay Tuck 2 0-2 4, Caderio Holland 0 0-0 0, Connor Morgan 4 6-7 17, Kyler Gibson 1 0-0 2. Totals 17 14-20 55.
Clay Central 10 12 11 14 – 47
Munford 6 7 23 19 – 55
3-point goals: Clay Central 5 (Higgins 2, Yates, McNeil 2); Munford 7 (Anderson 4, Morgan 3). Total fouls: Clay Central 15, Munford 10. Officials: Morriss, Evans, Hayes.
OXFORD 54, GADSDEN CITY 43: Rylan Houck scored 17 points, 12 in the second half, and the Yellow Jackets won their 21st game in a row to give coach Joel VanMeter his 201st career coaching victory. Justin Moore had 11 and Roc Taylor 10.
Oxford 54, Gadsden City 43
OXFORD – Cordell Chatman 0 0-0 0, Rylan Houck 7 1-2 17, Peyton Watts 0 0-0 0, Mike McGraw 2 2-6 6, Roc Taylor 4 2-4 10, Bakari Dailey 3 1-1 7, Justin Moore 5 0-0 11, Josh Patton 0 3-4 3. Totals 21 9-17 54.
GADSDEN CITY – Shamar Huff 2 0-0 5, Kahmari Smith 0 0-0 0, Demarcus Macon 4 0-0 10, Ratavious Hicks 2 3-6 7, Jordan Walker 1 1-1 3, Jermarious Bryant 0 0-0 0, Brady Troup 2 3-4 9, Dylan Sawyer 3 0-0 6, Zion Kirby 0 1-2 1, Jahemn Norris 1 0-0 2, Rodney Johnson 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 8-13 43.
Oxford 11 16 15 12 – 54
Gadsden City 13 7 8 15 – 43
3-point goals: Oxford 3 (Houck 2, Moore); Gadsden City 5 (Huff, Macon 2, Troup 2); Total fouls: Oxford 15, Gadsden City 16.
JACKSONVILLE 66, SPRINGVILLE 59 (OT): John Broom hit seven of 10 shots from the field and scored 23 points to lead the Golden Eagles. He also had four rebounds and four sasists. Nathan Barnwell scored 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting and grabbed six rebounds. Quinn Long scored 10 points, grabbed seven rebounds and dealt six assists. The Golden Eagles had 17 assists on their 24 field goals.
Jacksonville 66, Springville 59
SPRINGVILLE – Cason Kersh 6-16 0-0 16, Vincent Gooch 6-14 2-3 14, Pearson Baldwin 6-11 0-1 12, Amari Cowan 2-3 1-1 5, Chase Higgins 2-5 0-0 4, Jamel Williams 1-1 0-0 3, Gage Frederick 1-2 0-0 2, Garrett Howard 1-3 0-0 2, Rece Gleason 0-4 1-2 1, Larry Winston 0-2 0-0 0, Luke Richardson 0-1 0-0 0, John Wolf 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-62 4-7 59.
JACKSONVILLE – John Broom 7-10 6-8 23, Nathan Barnwell 5-6 1-2 11, Quinn Long 4-11 2-5 10, Julian Hill 3-6 0-0 8, Omarion Adams 2-2 0-2 5, JaeTaj Morrris 2-2 0-0 5, Caden Johnson 1-4 0-0 2, Coby Zackery 0-1 2-2 2, Jaylon Prater 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-42 11-19 66.
Springville 10 14 15 14 6 – 59
Jacksonville 20 13 14 6 13 – 66
3-point goals: Springville 5-24 (Kersh 4-12, Gooch 0-5, Cowan 0-1, Williams 1-1, Howard 0-1, Gleason 0-2, Winston 0-1, Richardson 0-1); Jacksonville 7-15 (Broom 3-4, Long 0-2, Hill 2-4, Adams 1-1, Morris 1-1, Cd. Johnson 0-2, Zackery 0-1).
Rebounds: Springville 31 (Baldwin 6); Jacksonville 29 (Long 7, Barnwell 6). Total fouls: Springville 19, Jacksonville 14.
JACKSONVILLE CHRISTIAN 77, ASCTE 53: Ethan Fair scored 19 points, Braxton Brown grabbed 10 rebounds and the Thunder (15-6) got contributions throughout the lineup in handling their visitors from Huntsville.
Eleven JCA players scored and 12 grabbed at least one rebound. Mason Johnson had nine points, while Brown and Tanner Wilson each had eight. Brodie Clay grabbed seven rebounds, while Johnson and Tyler Doggrell each had six. Fair also had four assists and four steals.
PIEDMONT 56, CHEROKEE COUNTY 44: Alex Odam added 24 points to his boys school career scoring record and Luke Bussey hit three 3-pointers among his 12 points to lead the Bulldogs. Odam was 10-of-23 from the field with seven assists and four steals. Bussey had five steals. Jakari Foster had a team-high nine rebounds.
Piedmont 56, Cherokee County 44
PIEDMONT –Alex Odam 10 4-7 24, Omarion Foster 1 0-0 3, Luke Bussey 3 3-5 12, Jadon Calhoun 3 1-2 8, Jack Hayes 0 0-0 0, Jakari Foster 2 1-1 5, Sean Smith 2 0-0 4. Totals 21 9-15 56.
CHEROKEE COUNTY –Jackson Ames 1 1-1 3, Malachi Horton 1 0-1 3, Cade Hopper 0 0-0 0, Nas Diamond 2 0-2 4, Jaden Wilson 0 0-0 0, Slade Alexander 4 5-7 14, Connor Elrod 6 4-6 18, Others 1 0-0 2. Totals 15 10-17 44.
Piedmont 10 18 12 16 – 56
Cherokee County 12 8 13 11 – 44
3-point goals: Piedmont 5 (O. Foster, Bussey 3, Calhoun); Cherokee County 4 (Horton, Alexander, Elrod 2). Total fouls: Piedmont 17, Cherokee County 12. Officials: Elsworth, Battles, Dykes.
RAGLAND 89, ASHVILLE 52: Matt Trammell hit eight 3-pointers – two in each quarter – and erupted for 37 points to lead the Purple Devils. erupted for 37 points. Ragland’s three other scorers in double figures – C.J. Lawler (13), Jordan Turner (12) and Josh Phillips (12) – matched Trammell’s output.
RANBURNE 64, LAFAYETTE 50: Tyler Craft had the hot hand early, scoring 16 of his 18 points in the first half, and the Bulldogs jumped to a 39-21 halftime lead. Carson Riddle added eight of his 13 in the first quarter. Colby Hanson picked his spots and hit four 3-pointers on the way to 14 points.
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