Alexandria (AL) – Brown’s intensity from the sidelines means that Anniston boys turn defense to offense and draw even with Alexandria
By Joe Medley
Anniston had a sixth player in Monday’s win at Alexandria. He wore slacks, a pullover and sneakers. Torry Brown, a veteran coach, spent the fourth quarter standing, with one foot on the court, and one foot off, encouraging his Bulldogs through each step of defense. Anniston turned defense into offense in the fourth quarter. Anniston won a split and avenged a loss at home to Alexandria, 59-50 in Larry R. Ginn Gymnasium. Brown said, “We needed the game, just to our confidence,” as he wiped his sweat from his face. It was what we needed.
Anniston was coming off a loss to Handley, 44-41, in Friday’s Class 4A/A8 action. In regular-season play, the Bulldogs were defeated by White Plains and Piedmont in Calhoun County. Anniston won the tiebreaker and retained the top seed in the area, earning the right to host the next week’s tournament. This week’s focus is on regaining confidence, and momentum for the postseason.
Anniston lost to Alexandria, 61-60, in overtime Jan. 2, at home. Monday was Alexandria’s script flip day for the Bulldogs. Brown’s voice surpassed that of “No. In the fourth quarter, Anniston had 1 fan. Anniston forward Javencroft stated, “It motivated me.” “Seeing my coach on the sideline makes it even more difficult to play,” Javen Croft, Anniston forward, said. My energy was kept up by seeing Jayden Lewis and my teammates attacking the rim.
Lewis led the Bulldogs scoring 21 points. There were many driving buckets in transition. Defense was the key to offense. The defense was the key. Coaches can get floor statistics by watching film. However, Croft and Hezekiah Harris started breaks with many blocks. Croft stated, “It was an important factor.” “We restricted their threes and they began scoring in the paint. “We came back in at halftime, talked about it, and then we stepped up.”
