How sweep it is
- Updated: December 30, 2021
Cleburne County boys, girls sweep Holiday Hoops Classic crowns for first time; Brown, McDaniel named MVPs
CLEBURNE COUNTY HOLIDAY HOOPS CLASSIC
Boys Games
Pleasant Valley 82, Ranburne 62
Vincent 56, Ohatchee 26
Winterboro 56, Munford 43
Cleburne County 65, Clay Central 61 (OT)
Girls Games
Jacksonville 49, Glencoe 35
Ohatchee 55, Ranburne 38
Cleburne County 69, Alexandria 36
By East Alabama Sports Today
HEFLIN – The Cleburne County basketball coaches were cleaning up the gym at the end of the night Wednesday when girls coach Todd Gable took a call that eventually was to include boys coach Josh Perry.
Gable told the caller to hold on, Perry was up on Cloud 9 and he would do his best to try to get him down.
Both Cleburne County teams created some holiday hoops history Wednesday when they won their respective championships in their Holiday Hoops Classic for the first time.
The boys won their tournament for the first time, beating Clay Central 65-61 in overtime. The girls won theirs for the second time in four years, beating Alexandria 69-36.
Dayleon Brown (21 points) was named MVP of the boys tournament. Brooklyn McDaniel (31 points, 20 rebounds) was MVP on the girls side.
“This is huge for our schools and programs,” Gable said.
“I’m really excited, especially for our kids,” Perry said after being coaxed off the Cloud. “The past couple weeks they really bought into what we were trying to do defensively and tonight they get rewarded for it.”
The boys have been on a roll, winning six of their last seven. But they had to work to get their latest victory.
They were down nearly 20 in the second half and trailed by 14 at one point in the fourth quarter, but they battled back and had a chance to take the lead and possibly win it in regulation when they turned it over with 4.2 seconds to play. Clay Central missed a half-court shot at the buzzer.
The Tigers went up five in overtime and then kept the Vols at bay with free throws by Jaylan Groce and Grey Freeman down the stretch. Brown didn’t score in the overtime, but he had 14 points in the second half, including going 8-of-9 from the free throw line.
“The biggest thing is we struggled the first seven games of the year,’ Perry said. “We were 0-7 and in a bad place. We had a team meeting and got together and started figuring it out. We were so bad early on, to get to where we are now is huge, and I’m glad the kids are getting rewarded for it.
“For us as a boys program I hope this carries over for us and sparks us down the road. Maybe this won’t be our last big win of the year. For both teams, it’s exciting. The girls team is playing its best basketball right now and the boys are playing as good as they can.”
The girls team had just as much reason to be excited. They won their tournament for the first time since 2018 and did it in dominating fashion.
The Lady Tigers held Alexandria’s top scorer Ashley Phillips scoreless in the first half and second-leading scorer Jordyn Walker to just one 3-pointer while opening a 26-10 halftime lead, and then got even stronger in the second half.
McDaniel scored 17 of her 31 points in the second half and Faith Brown scored 13 of her 19 in the half.
“I thought in the past we had some good game plans going into the season and didn’t fully execute,” Gable said. “Tonight, they fully executed and did a tremendous job. Through the whole tournament we had some tremendous individual efforts.”
Gable said he was “a little concerned” about McDaniel’s ankle before the game and, with an eye towards to the bigger picture, thought of holding her out for safety sake. But the double-double machine and eventual MVP had a message for anyone who was worried.
“Her ankle had been giving her fits,” Gable said. “Even in the shoot-around I didn’t have her do a lot. But I could tell (she was focused). She had that look about her. She wsa all business. Even in the locker room, she was all business.
“I told the trainer to look at her real good. She just told them you just tape my ankle super tight tonight. She had her mind made up. Nobody was going to stop her today.”
CLEBURNE COUNTY HOLIDAY HOOPS CLASSIC
Boys Championship Game
Cleburne County 65, Clay Central 61 (OT)
CLAY CENTRAL –Clayton Yates 1 0-1 3, Tanner Higgins 4 0-0 10, E.J. Simmons 8 1-2 17, Elisha McNeil 3 2-3 8, Isaiah Denny 2 1-2 5, Keisen Lindsey 0 2-2 2, Terry Heflin 1 0-0 2, Luke Shaddix 0 2-2 2, Denzel McNeil 2 2-4 6, Deshaun Gibbons 2 0-0 6. Totals 23 10-16 61.
CLEBURNE COUNTY (6-8) –Dayleon Brown 5 9-11 21, Grant Harcrow 1 0-0 2, Jaylon Groce 1 5-7 7, Rico Hugley 0 0-0 0, Dee Prothro 5 2-7 12, Kyler McGrinn 5 2-8 12, Isaac Marshall 1 0-0 2, Grey Freeman 3 3-4 9. Totals 21 21-37 65.
Clay Central 19 15 14 7 6 – 61
Cleburne County 7 16 19 13 10 – 65
3-point goals: Clay Central 5 (Yates, Higgins 2, Gibbons 2); Cleburne County 2 (Brown 2). Technical fouls: Simmons 2, Prothro. Fouled out: Simmons, Prothro. Total fouls: Clay Central 29, Cleburne County 19. Officials: Kelley, Jarrett, Pratt.
Girls Championship Game
Cleburne County 69, Alexandria 36
ALEXANDRIA (7-7) –Ashley Phillips 4 3-5 12, Jordyn Walker 3 1-5 9, Kirsten Heathcock 0 2-4 2, Jill Cockrell 1 2-4 4, Charlee Parris 0 3-7 3, Kailey Dickerson 0 0-0 0, Sumira Duncan 1 0-0 2, Chloe Gattis 1 1-2 4. Totals 10 12-27 36.
CLEBURNE COUNTY (12-4) –Faith Brown 7 4-4 19, Karley Boyd 0 0-0 0, Hannah Turley 1 0-0 3, Jacy Littlejohn 3 0-0 6, Hailey Price 2 4-4 10, Brooklyn McDaniel 11 7-8 31, Kaydence Wright 0 0-0 0, Libby Altman 0 0-0 0. Totals 24 15-16 69.
Alexandria 6 4 14 12 – 36
Cleburne County 13 13 23 20 – 69
3-point goals: Alexandria 4 (Phillips, Walker 2, Gattis); Cleburne County 6 (Brown, Turley, Price 2, McDaniel 2). Total fouls: Alexandria 14, Cleburne County 20. Officials: Jarrett, Kelley, Pratt.
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