E.A. Sports Today

Finishing up

Friday roundup: Teams wrap up regular season, turn focus to area tournaments; Anniston, Ragland win close ones

Friday’s boys games
Anniston 89, Lincoln 87
Ragland 67, Vincent 66
Spring Garden 97, Pleasant Valley 58

Friday’s girls games
Glencoe 47, Ider 39
Jacksonville 33, Gadsden City 29
Spring Garden 64, Pleasant Valley 42

By East Alabama Sports Today

Torry Brown was looking for a volunteer.

Lincoln’s Brian Garrett had 33 points when he played Anniston earlier this season and was on that kind of pace again in the first half Friday night.

The Bulldogs’ coach wanted to know who in the dressing room wanted to guard the Golden Bears’ scorer in the second half. It was no surprise who answered the call.

“Antonio, being who he is, said I want to guard him,” Brown said. “I said, ‘OK, and I’m going to tell you how many he’s scoring, too.’”

Antonio – Kite, for those who haven’t guessed – held Garrett to two free throws for much of the third quarter while scoring 20 in the quarter himself, helping the Bulldogs wrap up their regular season with an 89-87 victory.

“He can really guard when he puts his mind to it; he and (Malcolm) Carlisle are really good on-the-ball defenders,” Brown said. “It was good to see him take that challenge, but it also was good to see him answer it like that on the other end, too.”

Kite, who didn’t start because Brown starts seniors on Senior Night, parlayed his big third quarter into 28 points for the game. Garrett finished with 26.

The win capped a hard closing week for the Bulldogs heading into the area tournament. It started with a bad loss to top-ranked Ramsay on the road, but they got back on track with a road win at Talladega and Friday’s finale.

“We’ve played four less games than last year, but win wise it’s probably about the same,” Brown said. “Considering we’ve played a really tough schedule, we’re 21-5 and everybody’s healthy. We couldn’t ask for much more.”

Anniston 89, Lincoln 87
LINCOLN –
Brian Garrett 9 6-6 26, Korry Davis 1 0-0 3, Camare Hampton 6 1-2 13, Isaiah Ashley 1 0-0 2, Jai Tanner 8 3-4 22, JD Davis 2 1-2 5, Tre Hines 1 0-2 2, Jayden Woods 6 1-2 14. Totals 34 12-18 87.
ANNISTON (21-5) – Mark Toyer 4 1-1 10, Antonio Kite 11 5-5 28, Jamarcus Billingsley 0 0-0 0, Malcolm Carlisle 6 2-4 18, Troy Hall 2 0-1 4, Miciah Myles 3 0-0 6, Tadyn Jones 3 3-4 9, Taishun Hall 2 0-0 4, Kam Sandlin 4 0-0 8, Talib Christian 1 0-0 2. Totals 36 11-15 89.
Lincoln                   14   24  19   30  –  87
Anniston                21   21  29   18  –  89
3-point goals: Lincoln 7 (Garrett 2, K. Davis, Tanner 3, Woods); Anniston 6 (Toyer, Kite, Carlisle 4). Total fouls: Lincoln 18, Anniston 15. Officials: Morriss, Woods, Harrell.

Ragland 67, Vincent 66

VINCENT – Ragland coach Andy Eden was worried about the way his Purple Devils would respond after suffering their worst loss of the season last Friday. They were heading into the final week of the regular season and it was important to go into the playoffs in the right frame of mind.

All is well. The Purple Devils won their final three regular-season games – two on the road – capped by Friday night’s come-from-behind season-ender that secured their second straight 20-win season.

C.J. Lawler hit a pair of free throws in the double bonus with 11.1 seconds left to give Ragland (20-5) the lead and Josh Phillips secured the win by corralling a rebound with four seconds left after K.J. Youngblood’s runner spun out of the basket.

The Purple Devils, who averaged 77 points in their final-week sweep, trailed early but rallied to take a brief lead in the second quarter. They spent a lot of capital in coming back and Vincent took advantage of it to regain a three-point halftime lead.

Four of Ragland’s starters had two fouls in the first half, but senior reserves Jakolbe Brewster and Gavin Ward came off the bench with some solid minutes to help get them to halftime.

Phillips led Ragland with 20 points. He scored 15 in the second half. Lawler and Matt Trammell had 18 apiece. Trammell scored 13 in the second half. Lawler was 5-of-6 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter, 7-for-8 in the second half. The Purple Devils were 11-of-14 from the line in the second half. 

Tae McGregor led Vincent with 24 points. Blake Allums scored all 15 of his points on five 3-pointers.

“I was proud of the way we fought back and kept it close on the road,” Eden said. “I was worried all week about how we’d bounce back. To pull this one out is really good for us.”

Ragland 67, Vincent 66
RAGLAND (20-5) –
C.J. Lawler 4 7-8 18, Matt Trammell 7 1-2 18, Jordan Turner 2 2-2 7, Josh Phillips 8 4-5 20, Kentrell Turner 1 0-0 2, Owen Schall 1 0-0 2, Jakolbe Brewster 0 0-0 0, Gavin Ward 0 0-0 0. Totals 23 14-17 67.
VINCENT – K.J. Youngblood 6 4-6 16, Tray Youngblood 0 0-0 0, Jermarey Lawson 0 2-2 2, Tae McGregor 10 2-6 24, Blake Allums 5 0-2 15, Will Harris 1 0-0 2, Easton Fields 0 0-0 0, Tyquin Goodman 3 1-1 7. Totals 25 9-17 66.
Ragland                  12   15  21   19   –  67
Vincent                   18   12  15   21   –  66
3-point goals: Ragland 7 (Lawler 3, Trammell 3, J. Turner); Vincent 7 (McGregor 2, Allums 5). Total fouls: Ragland 14, Vincent 16. Officials: Pierson, Davis, Murray.

SPRING GARDEN 97, PLEASANT VALLEY 58: The Raiders dropped their final regular-season game without leading scorer Josh Ballew. The senior 1,000-point scorer who went for 46 in a Tuesday loss to Weaver hurt his knee in the fourth quarter Thursday at West End. His status for Tuesday’s area tournament opener against Weaver is uncertain.

GIRLS GAMES
SPRING GARDEN 64, PLEASANT VALLEY 36:
Ace Austin scored 14 of her 30 points in a second quarter that made all the difference in the game. The outburst helped the Panthers extend a five-point lead to 15 at halftime. Lily Henry led PV with 11 points.

Spring Garden 64, Pleasant Valley 36
PLEASANT VALLEY –
Lily Henry 4 0-0 11, Rylee Haynes 3 2-2 8, Marlie Wright 1 0-0 3, Gracie Hood 3 0-0 9, Macey Roper 2 0-3 4, Anna Worthy 0 1-2 1. Totals 13 3-7 36.
SPRING GARDEN – Ace Austin 13 0-0 30, Bri Boles 0 0-0 0, Sarah Kate McKay 6 0-0 14, Avery Steward 1 0-0 2, Lexy Adkison 4 1-1 9, Neely Welsh 2 0-0 6, Abbey Steward 0 0-0 0, Maggie Jarrett 1 0-0 3. Totals 27 1-1 64.
Pleasant Valley     7  10   10     9   –   36
Spring Garden    12   25  12   15   –   64
3-point goals: Pleasant Valley 7 (Henry 3, Wright, Hood 3); Spring Garden 9 (Austin 4, McKay 2, Welsh 2, Jarrett). Total fouls: Pleasant Valley 5, Spring Garden 3.

JACKSONVILLE 33, GADSDEN CITY 29: The Lady Golden Eagles trailed 15-13 after the first quarter, but held Gadsden City to one point in the second and 14 the rest of the game. Jacksonville’s defense held the Lady Titans to 24 percent shooting from the floor, 4-of-26 from 3-point range.

Kayla Broom led Jacksonville with 13 points, 10 rebounds and five steals. Amarie Curry had six points, nine rebounds and blocked three shots. Camille Jenkins was Gadsden City’s leading scorer with 11 points. Jaedyn Sharp grabbed 11 rebounds and blocked seven shots.

Jacksonville 33, Gadsden City 29
GADSDEN CITY –
Camille Jenkins 4-16 1-2 11, Tameah Gaddis 2-14 0-0 5, Jermila Underwood 2-2 0-0 5, Ajainay Tinker 2-10 0-0 4, Jaedyn Sharp 1-4 0-0 2, Amiyah Williams 1-1 0-0 2, Auburn Dupree 0-1 0-0 0, Karleigh Sheffield 0-0 0-0 0, Zaniuah Brooks 0-0 0-0 0, Janiyah Butts 0-0 0-0 0, Monique Curry 0-0 0-0 0, Marriah Ragland 0-0 0-0 0, Madison Tinker 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 12-49 1-2 29.
JACKSONVILLE – Kayla Broom 4-14 4-7 13, Amarie Curry 2-11 2-4 6, Patience Carr 2-4 2-2 6, Amiyah Buchanan 1-3 2-2 4, Rebekah Gunnaway 2-4 0-0 4, Ashley Grant 0-3 0-0 0, Maggie Anderson 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 11-39 10-15 33.
Gadsden City      15   1    9   4   –  29
Jacksonville        13   5  11   4   –  33
3-point goals: Gadsden City 4-26 (Jenkins 2-13, Gaddis 1-7, Underwood 1-1, A. Tinker 0-4, M. Tinker 0-1); Jacksonville 1-5 (Broom 1-2, P. Carr 0-1, Gannaway 0-1, Grant 0-1). Rebounds: Gadsden City 33 (Sharp 11); Jacksonville 39 (Broom 10, Curry 9). Total fouls: Gadsden City 18, Jacksonville 21.

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