Alexandria boys and girls prevail in early season clash between top-level Calhoun County High School basketball teams
Thursday’s scoreboard
children
Alexandria 62, White Plains 58
Piedmont 69, Weaver 63
Jax Christian 76, GSD 25
Fort Payne 67, Jacksonville 44
Anniston 58, Talladega 46
Spring Garden 79, Gilesville 53
girls
Alexandria 55, White Plains 46
Piedmont 77, Weaver 27
Fort Payne 60, Jacksonville 54
Anniston 45, Talladega 27
Jax Christian 70, GSD 22
Spring Garden 83, Gilesville 13
Lincoln 43, B. B. Comer 42
Written by Joe Medley
East Alabama Sports Today
white plains – In a game where both teams were missing key players, Alexandria’s youth had enough to battle White Plains on Thursday.
Drake Davis scored a team-high 18 points, and the Valley Cubs hit 14 of 18 free throws in the fourth quarter to survive a 62-58 lead in an early showdown between two of Calhoun County’s top teams.
Alexandria, missing after Quindavion McDowell attended his brother’s Air Force graduation in Texas, rose to 4-1.
White Plains, which was without Dylan Barksdale among five players absent due to the flu, fell to 9-2.
“Tough game, tough environment with a really good, well-coached team,” Alexandria coach Will Ginn said. “Just happy to get out of here with a win.”
Alexandria doubled on White Plains after Carter-Johnson and got out to a 17-6 start. White Plains rose to 17-16 but trailed 29-19 at halftime.
With top 3-point threat Josh Wheeler just back from a week-long absence due to the flu, White Plains made just one 3-pointer in the first half. He made two of the Wildcats’ six threes in the second half, but Alexandria scored 12 goals on the night.
“They made open threes, we didn’t,” White Plains coach Chris Randall said. “They did a great job of doubling Carter, and Carter, for the most part, did a good job of getting rid of the ball when he should have.
“We didn’t make enough threes and we didn’t attack hard enough and get to the free throw line.”
Wheeler, who hit three 3-pointers en route to 11 points, made one to put White Plains within three points before a timeout at the four-minute mark of the fourth quarter.
Alexandria came out of a keepaway timeout for a foul on White Plains.
Christopher Acree made four 3-pointers and added 17 points, and Jaylen Henderson added two 3-pointers on his way to 14 points.
Johnson led White Plains with 12 points.
“It wasn’t easy,” Davis said. “We did our job. We’re missing a guy now because Q’s out of town. He’s usually good on the boards, so it was tough without him, but we got it done.”
girls
Alexandria 55, White Plains 46: Thanks to two 3-pointers by freshman Landry Patterson, Alexandria outscored White Plains 21-8 in the fourth quarter.
Patterson made five 3-pointers en route to 15 points as Alexandria improved to 4-1.
“Being a freshman, my goal is to look up to the older girls,” Patterson said. “When I get the ball, I shoot it, I make it, and my team was so proud of me. I felt really good to contribute.
The Valley Cubs also got 16 points from point guard Charlee Parris as White Plains played without injured post player Isabella Higgins (knee) and doubled up on post player Allyssa Hunt and tried to stop a Parris drive.
“She’s asking for a lot of help,” Alexandria coach Craig Kiker said. “They had to double it every time. I didn’t think, a lot of times, she made the right decision on the ball, but they were worried about her and Charlie a lot, so it left Landry open to shoot.”
Cooper Martin led White Plains (8-3) with 21 points, including five 3-pointers, and Cassidy Arnold added 11 points.
“We had a breakdown on defense, and the Patterson girl hit two 3-pointers,” first-year White Plains coach Clay Sprayberry said. “We were trying to run a box-and-one there to keep them from pounding the Hunt girl, who I thought took control of the game, even though she only had four points.”