Alexandria (AL) – Hunt teams up with a former teammate in big moment. This helps Alexandria beat Jacksonville to avenge their loss at home. Ohatchee’s Crook scores 61 against PV.
THURSDAY’S GIRLS GAMES Alexandria 40, Jacksonville 38
Cedar Bluff at Ashville
Cherokee County 58; Piedmont 39
Clay Central at Saks
Jacksonville Christian 75, Gaston 46
Pleasant Valley 50, Ohatchee 71/71
Ranburne 48, Cleburne County 24
Sand Rock 71, Hokes Cliff 68
Spring Garden 57, Handley 34
Munford, Wellborn
Ragland 64 West End 22
Joe Medley
Knowing your opponent is important. Allyssa Hunt from Alexandria was able to do this by having a little more knowledge. Hunt, a former Cleburne County player, was charged with fouling her former Cleburne County colleague in a crucial moment. Hunt scored her one and only basket in clutch time to help Alexandria beat Jacksonville 38-38 at Van Deerman Gymnasium. Hunt, who moved from Cleburne County last year, said that she is still not used to the idea. Hunt said, “This is always an important rival. They beat us at the start of the season. However, they beat us at our house. So we came out thinking that no matter what, we would beat them.
Alexis Phillips, Hunt’s former teammate and all-time leading scorer, had 17 points. Hunt scored two points, but she made the most important plays at the best moments. Alexandria was still leading by 36-35, but she broke through under the basket. Kailey Dickerson noticed her jumping jacks and passed Hunt to Hunt for the easy basket, making it 38-35. Alexandria coach Craig Kiker stated that they were simply holding the ball and trying to keep the clock running. “If you keep the ball clean, this kind of stuff is what happened when they started pressing.” “We did a really good job in that situation. We did a terrible job after that.”
Phillips scored in transition to reduce the lead to 39-37. She hit one of the two after a turnover that put her on foul line. It made it 39-38. After another Alexandria turnover Phillips was able to drive down the middle of court with the ball in transition. Hunt stood at the foul line, and she held her ground when the pair crashed to the floor. Hunt stated, “She’s an athlete.” “I played with her back while I was at Heflin. But you have to get used the way she plays. She is very physical so I knew that I had to stand firm. “We needed it there.”
Alexandria’s Charlee Paarris won the last possession after another exchange. She made one of two free throws in 3.3 seconds. Alexandria won in a game where both teams missed a starter. Valley Cub Jill Cockrell, a COVID-19 member, was out with COVID-19 on Thursday and did not attend the game. She tried to go to school Thursday. Kiker stated that she thought she looked awful and told her to return home. “There wouldn’t have been any chance of her playing.” [ …]]
OHATCHEE 71, PLEASANT VALLEY50: Jorda Crok made a huge dent in her quest to earn 3,000 career points. She was able to score a county record 61 in the Lady Indians victory. She tied two other girls for the second-highest single game effort in state girls history, but missed the mark of two by Houston Academy’s Carlee Beevis in 1990-91. According to AHSAA records, Raven Mitchell of Sunshine (both in 1996-97 season), and Taurus Pyles from Phillips (both in 1997-97 season), both scored 61 points in a single game.
Crook was able to score at least 50 points in this game for the fourth consecutive season. Bryant Ginn, Ohatchee coach, said, “It’s definitely amazing when you think about it.” “It’s not that I am so focused on the other things going on at the moment, but when you think about it, she has almost 1,000 points in a single season. She never fails to amaze us.”
UAB volleyball signee was 27-of 35 from the field, and 7-of-11 at the free throw line. She scored 19 of 21 Lady Indians points in the first quarter. PV added eight more points in the second. PV then got back into it in the third. With 1:30 remaining in the game, she retired from the game.
Ginn stated, “If I had known (she was so close to the record),” Ginn said. Crook has now scored 2,900 points over her career, and is 18th on the all-time state girls scoring list. She is now only a few points shy of the 3,000-point mark. Next up: Lisa Baswell Bates, Sand Rock coach (Locust Fork), at 3,050. PV was led by Macey Roper with 24 points. Laney Robinson made three 3s in quarter 2 to help Lady Raiders return to the half. She finished with nine.
JACKSONVILLE CHRISTIAN75, GASTON45: JCA induced 25 turnovers and made a total of 12 3-pointers. This improved to 16-7 heading into Friday’s regular season finale against Valley Head.
Senior Erin Prater scored 22 points on senior night with six three-pointers. She also grabbed six rebounds. Kara Grace and Kirsten Walker added 14 points each, while Grace grabbed 10 rebounds. Rebekah Carter, a senior, provided 11 assists to go along with her four points and seven rebounds.
Prater, Grace, and Walker had each four steals.
CHEROKEE COUNTY, 58, PIEDMONT 38: Audrey Haygood made four of the nine 3-pointers in Cherokee County to score a game-high 21 point. Ellison Givens scored 10 points with two 3-pointers.
Piedmont was led by Lele Ridley (18 points) She scored nine points in the first quarter.
