DOUBLE SPRINGS, Ala. – Addison traveled west on Friday to take on their archrival, the Winston County Yellow Jackets for a pair of varsity matchups and the Bulldogs returned home with a pair of wins. The Addison Ladies came up with a solid 40-34 victory and the men’s game came down to a final shot which fell short and Addison was able to come up with a 49-48 victory.
Addison 40 – Winston County 34 (Varsity Girls)
The Addison Ladies met the Lady Jackets and what should have been a fairly easy win, didn’t turn out that way. Addison defeated Winston County by 20 earlier in the year at home so it seemed that it should be that way again on the Jackets home court. Well, the Lady Jackets played very hard, and the Addison women didn’t do themselves any favors as several key Dawgs suffered foul trouble. The opening period had Addison, as they usually do, come out firing on all cylinders. The pressure defense employed by the Lady Bulldogs caused numerous problems for the Jackets and it led to a 11-3 start for Addison and ended with Addison winning the period 16-7. Addison’s Gracie “Bug” Manley scored 6 points and dominated the paint early on. Hadley “Shooter” Butler only scored 2 points but had 3 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 assists in the first. Brilyn Dover hit a clutch three-pointer for the Dawgs. Winston County’s Madison Comeens kept the Lady Jackets close as she proved deadly from three, nailing two of them.
Now rolls around the second period and it is like kryptonite for the Lady Bulldogs and has been for most of the season. The Lady Bulldogs play like world beaters in the first and then can’t get out of their own way in the second period. Horrible passes, missed shots, no second shots, you name it and it happened to the Dawgs. Plus, Manley picked up her third foul with 5:37 left in the second period. It just so happens that the Lady Jackets took advantage of Addison’s ineptness. The Jackets outrebounded Addison, but it really didn’t matter because the Lady Jackets made crisp passes and played excellent defense. Several easy baskets were scored by the Jackets, and it seemed that Addison had no answer. Double Springs rolled the Dawgs in the period 16-3 to take a 23-19 lead at the half. Jacket junior Olivia Wright scored 10 points in the frame, and I know that was a good late birthday present for her since she celebrated her birthday yesterday. Happy birthday Olivia. Her teammate, Lynleigh Cobb dominated the glass grabbing 6 boards to help Winston County take the lead into the half. Addison didn’t score a bucket in the period and came away with only three free throws for their points. “Magic” Molly Gilbreath had 2 and Butler scored 1. Addison’s Katie Barrett had 4 rebounds for the Lady Dawgs so that was on bright spot.
Clap if you have heard this before. Addison plays horrible in the second period and then comes out and plays great again in the third. Addison dominated the Yellow Jackets 15-5 to take the 34-28 lead into the fourth period. Manley came back with a vengeance, as she had 6 points, 4 boards and 2 assists. Butler had her 4 points and Dover continued her solid work on the glass with 3 points and 4 more rebounds. It was young Miss Dover’s best game of the year. The Jackets could only counter with a Marli Stewart trey and a Wright bucket.
The fourth period was exciting even though it didn’t have alot of scoring in it. Addison jumped out to a 36-28 lead with about four minutes to play and then the Lady Jackets made a little run. Wright scored a bucket to cut the lead to 36-30 and then Cobb hit a free throw to get them a little closer at 36-31. Emma Kate Veal then drained a clutch three-pointer and with only 2:06 to go in the game, it was now Addison 36-34. Addison’s Butler put in a nice basket and then following a Jacket turnover, an intentional foul was called on the Lady Jackets with 8.5 seconds left. Butler calmly drained the two free throws to give Addison the 40-34 lead and that is how it ended.
Butler said after the game,
“I don’t think we played our best and certainly not to the best of our ability, but we were able to come away with a win and that is important to build our confidence for the remainder of the regular season and the upcoming tournaments. A win is a win and we buckled down in the second half and played better basketball. I don’t know what our problem is in the second period but it’s something that has happened to us all year and we need to correct it and I know that we will.”
Unofficial stats
Addison was led in scoring by Manley with 12 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal and 1 block. Gilbreath had 11 points, 5 boards, 1 assist and 1 steal. Butler had 11 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists and 4 steals. Dover had 6 points, 8 rebounds and 2 steals. Lydia “Barbie” Ergle had 4 boards, 1 steal and a block. Barrett had 4 boards and a steal. Lauryn “Beemer” Cunningham had 3 rebounds.
Winston County was led by Wright with a game high 15 points and 8 rebounds. Comeens had 10 points and 7 boards. Stewart had 3 points and 2 boards. Veal had 3 points and 2 boards. Lizzy Bass had 2 points and 1 board. Cobb had 1 point but 10 rebounds. Emma Grace had 2 boards.
The ladies are off until Jan. 19 when they get started at the Winston County Tournament at Lynn where they will be the top seed.
Addison 49 – Winston County 48 (Varsity Boys)
The Addison men were going for the season sweep of the rival Yellow Jackets and it turned out to be a great game. Addison had won the previous matchup fairly easily but tonight was not going to be a repeat. The first period had both teams playing fast paced and really good basketball. The defense was hard and both teams left nothing on the court. Addison won the period 11-9 and it was just as close as the score indicated. Jacket Eli Edgil drained two three-pointers and Senior Sy Blanton, whose seems like Hes been on varsity since middle school, put in a bucket. Addison was led by Bradley “Big Foot” Willette who had 5 points and 4 rebounds in the period. Willette dominated inside. Briley “Snake” Hayes and 4 points of his own along with 4 boards and 2 steals.
The second frame had the Jackets go on an 8-0 run with a couple steals and Addison making some uncharacteristic mistakes. The Jackets took the period 18-13 and a 27-24 lead at the half. It seemed that they had captured the momentum on Senior Night for them. Blanton splashed 8 points in the period, to include 2 long distance treys. Braden Hudson nailed a three as well. Addison was led by Brady Gilbreath, who finally got on track in the second, scored 7 of Addison’s 13 points. Lane “Duct Tape” Tubb had a three for the Dawgs.
The third period had the men from Addison taking control of the game. Addison outscored the Jackets by 6 to go into the fourth period with a 37-34 lead. Gilbreath had 6 points while Jed “Wizard” Wilkins had 4 and Hayes had another three-pointer. Winston County’s Edgil had 5 points and Blanton scored 2 to keep their teams hopes alive for the fourth period. The Jackets were hoping not to repeat their heartbreaking overtime loss to the Meek Tigers last night as they went into the fourth and final period.
The fourth period was excitement times ten for the fans. Edgil drained another three to tie the game at 37 at the beginning of the period and that was just a preview of what was to come. Baskets were traded and the game would go back and forth tied until we got to the 1:06 mark of the fourth when Hayes drove to the basket and put it in for two to give Addison the 47-45 lead. After two defensive stops, one by both teams, Addison’s Josh “West Coast” Netherton hit one of two free throws to extend Addison’s lead to 48-45 with only 33 seconds remaining. Mr. Sy “I got ice in my veins” Blanton calmly took the ball and with only 15 seconds to go on the clock nailed a clutch three-pointer to tie the game up at 48 and send the home side crowd into a frenzy. Addison wasn’t done as Wilkins threw it in to their big man Willette and he calmly turned around for the easy put in but was fouled with 8 seconds to go in the game. Willette made one of two free throws to give the visiting Dawgs the 49-48 lead. Blanton took the inbounds pass and dribbled down the court and spotted up from the top of the key but this time his shot was just off, and Addison came away with a hard fought one-point victory.
Addison’s Briley Hayes,
“We didn’t play near as well as we could but they (Winston County) had something to do with that. We finally started hitting our open shots and were able to drive to the lane for good shots. If we missed the shot, we felt like we could rebound the ball and get some second chance points and we did. I thought it showed a lot of character for us tonight to play here in this gym. This is a tough place to play with their crowd and were able to handle the pressure and come away with the win.”
Unofficial stats
Addison was led by Gilbreath who had 15 points, 5 boards, 1 assist and 4 steals. Hayes had 12 points, 6 boards, 1 assist and 3 steals. Willette had 10 points, 8 boards, 2 assists and 1 steal. Wilkins had 8 points, 4 boards, 2 assists and 1 steal. Tubb had 3 points, 2 rebounds and a steal. Netherton had 1 point, 3 boards and an assist. Jacob “Lanky” McLamb had 4 boards. Hayden “Big Play” Holland had a rebound.
Winston County was led by Blanton with a game high 17 points and 1 board. Edgil had 15 points and 5 boards. Hayden Jackson had 6 points and 4 boards. Ethan Morgan had 3 points and 7 rebounds. Braden Hudson had 3 points and 5 rebounds. Kamden Steele had 2 points and a rebound. Landon Kelley had 2 boards. Eli Moore had 3 boards. Rakim Moore had 2 boards.
The Bulldogs will start play at the Winston County Tournament next Thursday as the No. 2 seed and will play third-seeded Winston County.
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