Jacksonville, AL – Buzan’s intense timeout spurs Jacksonville boys to an impressive second half after a rough beginning at Piedmont. Jacksonville’s girls dominate.
Tuesday’s scoreboard
BOYS
Jacksonville 67, Piedmont 57
Munford 60 Wellborn 47
Pleasant Valley 50, Woodland 24
White Plains 60, Cherokee County 36
Faith Christian 51, Wadley 39
Spring Garden 59, Jax Christian 43
Weaver 70, Cleburne County 45
Glencoe the 62nd Glencoe, B.B. Comer 60
Cullman the 58th Oxford 50
Alexandria 75, Lincoln 39
Handley 43 Anniston 41
GIRLS
Handley 44 Anniston 33
Jacksonville 59, Piedmont 15
Cleburne County 44, Weaver 37
Central-Clay 56, Saks 24
Woodland 50 Pleasant Valley 42
Glencoe 51 B.B. Comer 21
Clay-Chalkville 51, Southside 50
Oxford 72. Cullman 65
Alexandria 46, Lincoln 40
By Joe Medley
Piedmont -The ace of the Piedmont teamTres Buzan brought blaze on the Jacksonville squad during the second quarter timeout on Tuesday in Piedmont.
The team was led by Devin Barksdale and Ky’dric Fisher Buzan’s team showed toughness immediately after the match.
Jacksonville recovered from as deep as a 14-point gap and was dominant in the second half to win the game 67-57.
The Golden Eagles improved to 14-5 while sending Piedmont (10-7) to a second loss in a row, and Jacksonville won an easy sweep of the boys-girl doubleheader. They won 59-15. Golden Eagle girls rolled 59-15.
Barksdale scored 27 points in the game, including 10 of them in the 4th quarter. Fisher as well as Jaquan Ervin both scored 13 points each and Fisher scoring 12 points in the second quarter.
Jacksonville recovered in the second half after Piedmont scored the game’s opening 12 points. The team led 38-25 at the half. The rally began by a fierce timeout and Jacksonville losing 31-17 with only two minutes remaining in the first quarter.
Buzan was a teammate who huddled on the court, and made it the effort to keep eye contact throughout the huddle. He also expressed his frustration in the well-attended game.
“I did not realize we played Jacksonville basketball,”” Buzan said. “We are held to a very high level.
“The players were unhappy with the way they played. They were aware that they were not playing well. I’m not pleased with the way the team was playing and it was time to say something.”
The fire started to show on the scoreboard during the final quarter. Fisher scored 10 points in the third quarter with two 3-pointers and Jacksonville beat Piedmont 22-7 over the course of those three minutes.
Fisher’s coast-tocoast run, which was punctuated by an up-and-under play towards the basket, brought Jacksonville at the same time for the very first time in 41-41.
“It was merely a matter of remembering the things it is that we are,” Fisher said. “We did not play our style of basketball in the initial half however we regrouped and fixed everything and played more aggressively.”
Jacksonville also put pressure on the team in the second quarter and forced sixteen Piedmont turnovers.
The better half of Piedmont’s season began in the opening half. The Bulldogs start off with 12-0 however, the Bulldogs came back with a rapid seven-point run when Jacksonville was able to close at 12-8.
Ishmael Bethel was the top scorer for Piedmont in scoring with 18 points including two 3-pointers as well as a shot that dunk. Colton Proctor added 11 points and Jaylen Brown had 10.
After losing 50-30 against White Plains, Piedmont came determined to improve their offensive performance, Piedmont coach Matt Glover said.
“We were off to a great beginning,” Glover said. “The one thing we have to master is to not allow our defense to go off our offensive.
“In the opening half we scored and our defense was impressive. In the second period, when we failed to make our shots I was thinking defensively, we weren’t playing as well. We’ve got a chance to reverse this.”
Piedmont has lost its most prolific returning scorer when Rollie Pinto was injured in an injury to her knee during football season. However, it’s not all bad. The Bulldogs had a winning streak of 10 times. Glover believes that the team is doing well.
“I shared with my group, we’re getting close,” he said. “We’re close to being there. But we’re not there yet. I believe we’ll arrive at the end of the year however, we’re still not there.
“When you’re playing back-to-back state champion, you need to be able close the game. We just didn’t finish the game like we should have.”
Girls
JACKSONVILLE 59 15, PIEDMONT 15: Jacksonville forced 33 turnovers, and held Piedmont at 17 per cent shooting, and was leading 43-8 at the halftime. Alexis Phillips scored a game-high 23 points.
Jacksonville has been 8-3 since an unbeaten start against a tough early schedule.
“Defense is our mindset and defense has been our primary focus,” Jacksonville coach Corey Mize stated. “I believe we did a great job this evening and played defense. …
“We’re playing at a very top level at the moment and performing very well. It’s just a matter of carrying this attitude to the next game that’s Centre (Cherokee County.”
For Phillips her performance, Mize called her “a game changer.”
“I’ve kept myself in the gym, and I’ve continued to improve my shots and worked out and did my best at practicing,” she said.
