Jacksonville (AL) – Seniors celebrate senior night with victory against Alexandria. They look forward to bigger games; Piedmont rallies past Cherokee County for its 20th win and more
THURSDAY’S BOYS GAMES Jacksonville 68, Alexandria 47
Ashville 50, Cedar Bluff 48
Clay Central 57, Saks 33
Gaston 67 Jacksonville Christian 60
Gaylesville at Donoho
Hokes Bluff 81 and Sand Rock 77
Horseshoe Bend 60 in Winterboro 54
Pleasant Valley 47, Ohatchee 65
Pell City 65, Lincoln52
Piedmont 70, Cherokee County 666
Spring Garden 62, Handley 57
Munford, Wellborn
Ragland West End
Joe Medley
The seniors who are Jacksonville’s state champions have big games to play at Van Deerman Gymnasium. They could also be playing in an area tournament or sub-regional. But they could find better ways to make senior night. John Broom, an all-state guard signee and South Alabama signee said that “this one’s pretty special.” “I’d say we beat our rivals 21 to 1, got a great crowd everywhere, just for the entire game.”
Broom scored 25 points, while Caden Johnson had 24. This helped Jacksonville beat Alexandria 68 to 47 on Thursday. Broom, twins Caden Johnson, Cam Johnson, Ethan Duke, and Dee Protho gathered on the court to celebrate senior night. The school’s first boys’ basketball state champion, Jacksonville’s 2022 Class 4A championship was won by Broom, the Duke twins, and Duke.
Prothro moved from Cleburne County. The group could only approach their last regular-season home match in one direction. Caden Johnson stated, “I just came back with a killer mentality.” It was evident right away. He capitalized on a physical mismatch between Evan Snow, a shorter Alexandria guard, and scored 11 points in the first quarter to help Jacksonville take a 16-2 lead.
Caden Johnson’s big start featured a dunk and an assist by Cam Johnson. Jacksonville also took advantage of seven Alexandria turnovers during the first quarter. Will Ginn, Alexandria coach, said that “We hurt ourselves going out.” “We had too many turnovers, and gave them just a bunch of stuff. They don’t need any stuff.” They don’t need stuff.
CHEROKEE COUNTY 70: Piedmont senior point guard Alex Odam is responsible for passing the ball to his teammates when they are shooting well. Some nights, Odam has to score the points. He was a Jacksonville State signee and scored 44 points. This included nine in the fourth quarter, when the Bulldogs outscored the visitors 17-6. The Bulldogs rallied from a seven point deficit to reach 20 wins for only the fourth time in five seasons. He made 17 of Piedmont’s 28 field goals, and he also took all 13 of the Bulldogs’ free throws (hitting 10)
“It was one of those nights that I knew I would have to score a good amount to win. Odam stated that he knew it was necessary. “Some nights, I don’t need to.” At one point, the Bulldogs (20-5) trailed 13 at quarter-time. But Odam nearly erased that deficit on his own. He scored 16 points for Piedmont in the third quarter, reducing the Warrior lead down to 60-53 going into the final quarter.
With 5:41 left in the game, the Warriors led 66 to 59 on a Landon Caldwell basket. However, the Bulldogs had one more scoring surge. With 2:50 remaining, Cole Wilson’s 3-pointer tied the game at 66. The Bulldogs then took the lead 68-66 with an Odam basket. Wilson scored 11 points and hit three 3s for Bulldogs.
JoJo Odam, Piedmont coach, said that it was a “big three”. He’s made a lot this year. He has ice in his veins. He buries the ball, just like he did at White Plains. He shoots it so well. Everyone has confidence in him.” Alex Odam stated, “It speaks volumes about our team. We never quit.” “Last night, we were in the exact same position (a loss to Fort Payne of 72-61). Although we did manage to get down a bit, it was not enough to overcome that hump. It was a refreshing experience to pull this one out.
Cherokee County’s Jack Amos was disappointed by the Piedmont win. The senior guard scored 26 points, and surpassed the 1,000-point mark.
“I would like to express my gratitude to my coach and my team. Amos stated that if it weren’t for them, this would not be possible. It didn’t go as I expected, but it’s still a happy moment. Few people can claim to have scored 1,000 points in basketball. It’s a great feeling.
The Warriors had their chances to tie or regain the lead down the stretch, with the last being with 10.9 seconds remaining.
Cade Hopper, who was at the scorer’s table at midcourt, in-bounded Malachi Horton the ball. He then tossed it to Jaden Wilson under the basket. Wilson was fouled with just 3.6 seconds left. Wilson then took the pass from Jaden Wilson.
Wilson then in-bounded Odam with 0.2 seconds remaining. Odam was fouled and sent over to the free-throw lines. Odam took both of the final shots.
Coach Caleb Hays of Cherokee County said that his team had a better fourth period than we. “We played very well throughout the game, even the fourth. We didn’t play terrible, I thought. It’s only that Alex made a lot of shots. He didn’t miss many, I’m sure. Although we lost some opportunities and made some poor decisions, it was a learning experience for us. Alex was great. “I don’t know why people would stop Alex.” [ read further…] Shannon Fagan, WEIS radio
GASTON, JACKONVILLE CHRISTIAN 67:JCA’s Ethan Fair had 18 points, four rebounds and three assists.
Braxton Brown scored 11 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Tyler Doggrell had a team record of 10 rebounds and five points. Noah Lee added eight rebounds to his four points.
OHATCHEE 65, PLEASANT VALLEY47: Colby Hester scored eight points in the second quarter while Jake Roberson had eleven of his 21 points in the third. The Indians won the game. PV was led by Jesse Gannaway with 22 points.
