Wellborn, AL – Allen takes the lead in the battle as Weaver boys squeak out an the win in the area at Wellborn. A late surge propels Wellborn girls into victory against Weaver.
Scoreboard for Tuesday
BOYS
Weaver 48 Wellborn 42
Gadsden City Gadsden City 62, Jacksonville 46
Jax Christian 79, Valley Head 67
Fort Payne 47, Oxford 44
Glencoe 89, Alexandria 82
Spring Garden 57, Handley 52
GIRLS
Wellborn 51 Wellborn 42
Southside 60 Sardis 26
Gadsden City 28, Jacksonville 26
Fort Payne 46, Oxford 42
Jax Christian 41, Valley Head 40
Glencoe 41, Alexandria 39
Spring Garden 79, Handley 34
By Joe Medley
Wellborn — Weaver’s Junior Allen found the range during the Class 3A area 11 game at Wellborn The Bearcats needed to locate their groove.
KeShawn Allen scored 24 point. Weaver was able to get an impressive win of 48-42.
The Bearcats (5-6) beat Raymond Williams’ 15-point performance and also 12 points from centre Trey Downs as improved Wellborn dropped to 1-1.
“It was definitely a grinding experience,” Weaver coach Beau Winn stated. “Gosh we wouldn’t have hit the water when we fell off the cruise ship from the outside.”
The game didn’t go as planned. Junior Allen, a freshman Junior Allen hit three open 3-pointers from the corner in the opening half and Weaver was ahead by 30-21 at halftime,
Wellborn Reacted to Allen’s hot shooting in the early stages by making it more uncomfortable.
“I made a small change in the way that the wing player in the 3-2 position was coveting the corner rather than it being the big guy’s (Downs’) responsibility to get out,” first-year Wellborn coach Todd Lumpkin said. “It replicates the different zones. But get the wingman lower, but then the player at the top take him there.”
After Allen’s corner was drained the game morphed into an offensive battle, with runouts at a high rate. Wellborn outscored Weaver by 16-11 during the 3rd quarter and both scored 12 points in the fourth quarter.
Wellborn’s most efficient offense was offensive rebounding. Williams scored four offensive boards of his total of 10, and Downs was among his seven total rebounding.
“Their second-change really ruined us this evening, and 33 (Downs) isn’t easy to deal with,” Winn said. “We must not let him have the ball in that manner.
“When we do this we’ll start dubbing which allows for the rebound from the backside But I’m proud of my boys and the way we were able to fight. Small things. We’ve got to figure out how to control the lead.”
Girls
WELLBORN 51 WEAVER 42Calla Hayes had 18 points, including a jumper on the left side that give Wellborn (2-4) over Weaver (2-4) by a wide margin, 41-40.
After a timeout, with only two minutes left and two minutes to play, the Panthers scored their next 10 points.
“The main thing was to relax and get into the game rather than being able to decide what we’ll perform,” first-year Wellborn coach Ashlon Dempsey told the media. “We forced a timeout to calm them down. was feeling like we were bouncing the ball all over.
“I thought we finally had our foot in the game.”
Anna Odom led Wellborn with 22 points. She also contributed to the Panthers beat a 24-point performance from Weaver’s Aaliyah Marks.
Marks scored six 3-pointers during the night, scoring 15 points in the first quarter, which included an assist and steal, as well as a three-pointer in the final minute of halftime to pull Weaver (3-7) to within the score of 24-19.
Dempsey was forced to play a box-and-one defense in the second half and Bentley Bean staying locked on Marks.
“It’s hard, being a student in 10th grade,” Weaver coach Jamie Burns told reporters. “They faced-guarded her once they realized that she was going to ignite them.
“Once she’s in the shot, she won’t lose it. If she was able to hit her shot that helped us. This helped us get back into this game.”
