Pleasant Valley (AL) – Boy bracket: PV coach Hood goes back to an old play that he knew long ago. It sealed the win for JCA, who routs Wellborn.
CALHOUN COUNTY BOYS TURNAMENT
Friday’s games
Jacksonville Christian , Wellborn 31
Pleasant Valley 67, Ohatchee63
Al Muskewitz
Pleasant Valley coach Brad Hood demanded a deep baseball play late in the Christmas tournament, a game he learned from his mentor and used regularly as the PV girls’ coach.
Although the Raiders failed to connect that day, Hood and Hunter Sparks were both certain that if they ran it again down the road, it would work.
It happened Friday, late in the fourth quarter in their first-round match in the Calhoun County Basketball Tournament. Jaden Sparks gave the baseball pass to Hunter, who caught it just before midcourt. He made the layup that iced the Raiders’ win over Ohatchee 67-63.
Hood said, “I made that thing up during a tournament over Christmas.” “Man-to-man play is not a common practice for most teams. It’s more like zone press. One team ran up on us from the top of the mountain and jumped on our man. We had the chance to play that play to ice it, but they didn’t and were crazy.
“I told you that you’ll be available next time and we waited for that chance. We noticed they were being aggressive and ran our big man up. It is important to understand that if the big guy takes him along, then that man in middle, you can just let him get it. They did it, and I was proud of their efforts. That was it.
“That was Carmyn Sparks running up and Emma Hood running back. Emma takes one step forward, and she goes with her. We just gave it to Carmyn and then they went with her. It’s a wonderful play. It was taught by Shane Sanderson back in the day when I was a college student.
With 16.4 seconds remaining, the Raiders went from leading by four points to trailing by six. Ohatchee’s Kolby Henders hit a 3-pointer in two seconds to make it a one-possession match. Hunter was fouled by the Indians with three-tenths remaining. Hunter would have had no time to take a shot if Hunter missed.
Hunter made the first free shot to end the game.
The Raiders played their fourth game in five consecutive days, and the win extended their winning streak of four games.
It was back-and-forth. Although the Raiders led by 14 points after three quarters, they were still leading by double digits. However, every quarter the Indians would win. It would have been different if Ohatchee could have connected on half the shots it missed near the goal.
Hunter Sparks stated, “I knew they weren’t going to disappear easily.” “I knew that if we were able to keep it from being turned over, we would be successful. They would eventually take the lead from me, but I wasn’t really afraid. I was confident.”
Hood stated, “We were resilient to being so young and inexperienced.” Ohatchee deserves our gratitude. Those kids never give up and that is what I teach my children – we can’t let down. Ohatchee did the right thing and those children have a lot heart.
With 2:44 left, the Indians reduced it to three. Kolby Battles then hit two buckets at 30 seconds each. Hunter Sparks made two free throws to make it 64-55% with 55 seconds remaining. To make it four, the Indians returned with a Kelby Crook 3 and Jake Roberts 2 to make it four.
The Indians must have realized something was wrong because Jaden Sparks threw the inbounds pass, which Kyle Smith usually runs.
Hunter Sparks stated, “Jaden was screaming to my name to come down and the only one back were Kolby and his man. The coaches were shouting for Kolby to get up, so everybody’s pushing up and I’m pump fakeng up.” “I felt my dude grab at me as if he wanted to stay with me. I started to run and I felt like I was about to rip out. I knew that Jaden would throw it at me right in the chest as soon as he did.
“I nearly lost it at the finish. They grabbed at me, but I faked it outside right on my rim and said I have this. You always want the guy to seal it for you.
PV’s Jesse Gannaway was the star with 24 points. He had four 3-pointers, and 14 in the third quarter. Smith scored 18 points with four 3s, Hunter Sparks scored 15, and Battles had 10. Ohatchee’s scoring leader was Jake Roberts with 17 points.
Piedmont will be playing the Raiders in Round 2 on Monday, 7:30 p.m.
PLEASANT VALEY – Jayden Sparks0 0-1 0, Jesse Gannaway8 2-4 22, Hunter Sparks6 5-8 17, Jayden Velazey0 0-00 0, Bryce Freeman0 0-00 0, Kolby Battles5 0-0 10, Braxton Wilkins0 0-00 0, Kyle Smith6 2-2 18. Totals 25 9-15 67.
OHATCHEE-Eli Teem 7 3-3 17, Jesse Baswell 0 0-0 2, Colby Hester 3 3-7 12, Jake Roberson3 2-5 8, Ethan Blackburn0 0-0 0, Brent Jennings2 1-4 5, Luke Vinson0 1-2 1, Kelbecrook3 3-6 10. Totals 23 13-27 63.
Pleasant Valley 17-18 19 13 -67
Ohatchee 8 9 14 23 –
3-point goals: Pleasant Valley 8 – Gannaway 4, Smith 4, Ohatchee 4, Teem 2, Hester and Crook Baswell fouled out. Total fouls: Pleasant Valley 20, Ohatchee 17.
JCA 70. WELLBORN 31. Thunder coach Tommy Miller is often concerned about his players feeling nervous when they step on the big stage. However, he wasn’t worried this time as his veteran players were already there.
This night, the Thunder had nothing to worry about. They scored 29 points in quarter one and cruised to victory in the first round. They led 45-15 at the half and outscored the Panthers by 19-2 in quarter three.
Tommy Miller, JCA coach, said that they didn’t feel jitters. “I was worried that we might not make it, but I have seniors who have been here before. The game experience is what you’ll get.
“I thought that we played well, but we’re going have to play much better than that to play against White Plains (4.30 p.m. on Monday). I believe if we work hard and can get on the board with them, we can play them a game. But if not, they’ll take us out.
Ethan Fair was the Thunder’s top scorer with 19 points. Braxton Brown scored 13 points with three 3-pointers, while Tyler Doggrell had 10. Brown had nine rebounds and three assists, as well as four steals. Doggrell had seven rebound and three assists.
Miller stated that Braxton Brown is improving every game. His shooting is improving. Cameron Moses is shooting open 3s. That will help us down the stretch.”
JACKSONVILLE CHRISTIANS – Ethan Fair 7, 3-4 19, Tyler Doggrell 5, 0-2 10, Braxton Brown 5, 0-0 13, Noah Lee 1, 0-0 13, Jordan Garner 3, 2-2 4, Jordan Garner 3, 2-2 8, Asher McNeal 0, Hunter Brown 3-7 7, Cam Moses 2, 0-0 6. Totals 28 6-10 70.
WELLBORN – Ryan Wilson 0 0-0 0. Connor Woodard 0 0-0 0. Avery Odom 2 2-2 6. C.J. Hubbard 00-0 0, Chris Williams 1 0-0 0. Jaylen Gilbert 1 0-0 0. Jackson Long 7 0-0 18.Trey Downs 2 1-2 7. Totals 12 3-4 31.
JCA 29 16 9 6 -70
Wellborn 8 7 14 – 31
3-point goals: JCA 8 (Fair 2, B. Brown 3, H. Brown and Moses 2, respectively; Wellborn 4, (Long 4). Total fouls: JCA 7, Wellborn 10.
