Jacksonville AL – Fort Payne sophomore Luke Stephens beats Piedmont’s Alex Odam by 37-22 in a matchup of dynamic players. Wildcats win 11
By Al Muskewitz
Piedmont’s Alex Odam was on the floor for one last chance to see him, but it turned to be overshadowed by a No. 1. Fort Payne sophomore Luke Stephens also wears No. 1 scored 25 points in halftime and 37 in the final game to lead his team past Bulldogs 72-61 at Jacksonville State’s Pete Mathews Coliseum. Piedmont’s Odam scored 22 points.
Michael Banks, Fort Payne coach, said that it was the best of the best on the court pushing each other. He also explained that they had to learn how create against a very good defender and a good basketball player. “It brought out the best from both them,” he added. Stephens is on a tear lately. He scored 35 against Cherokee County on Tuesday night, 29 against Douglas in the previous game and 19 against Oxford the day before. He scored 19 points against Piedmont in the first quarter.
JoJo Odam, Bulldogs coach, said that “he’s just an excellent player.” We knew he was a good player. He’s played in some fall leagues and I’ve seen him at many other places. Our effort was not there. We weren’t keen to guard the first quarter so we tried our best to get to zone and mix it up. They stayed hot. We finally got after it in the second half and started mashing them with some effort.” The crowd was eager to see a one on one matchup between the No. They got their wish in the third half, but not necessarily by design.
JoJo asked Stephens to take the defense on himself, and he did. Alex agreed and the two players spent the next eight minutes in close proximity. JoJo stated, “We just told them somebody has got to guard him.” They discussed it in the huddle. It was either Alex (Alex) oder Ish (Bethel). He’ll need to be protected by someone. Someone will have to put in some effort to get the job done in the second half.
It worked. Odam kept his opponent to five points in third half, but scored six for himself. Alex stated that Odam played well in the first half. We knew that we would have to place more pressure on him in the second half. Stephens described it as a “good experience” playing against Odam. Stephens also understood that if the Bulldogs focused on Odam, it would provide opportunities for his teammates. Carter Tinker had 10 points, Nolan Fowler scored 11 and Carter Tinker contributed 10. Piedmont’s second-leading scorer was Rollie Pinto, who scored 17 points. Bethel scored 11 points with three 3-pointers. [read more…]
