ADDISON, Ala. – Addison hosted the Tharptown Wildcats at cozy Allen Stephenson Gym and split the two varsity games between them. The Lady Bulldogs dropped a heartbreaker 37-35 to the Lady Wildcats while the men pulled away late to take a 63-54 win over the men from Tharptown.
Tharptown 37 – Addison 35 (Varsity Girls)
Both of these teams were looking for their first win of the season and it was a tale of two halves. The very young Lady Bulldogs got off to a good start and actually lead 6-4 at the end of the first period. Gracie Roberts led Addison with 4 points, while Ava Bartlett chipped in two. Karson Wyatt had 3 rebounds in the period to lead Addison. The Lady Wildcats points were scored at the free throw line, and they were led by Alyssa Fischer with 2 points while Alyssa “Little Brandon” Abbott and Aalivia Wilson had 1 point each. Abbott, Wilson, Fischer, Ashton Tharp and Lizzy Duncan had 2 rebounds each to pace the Lady Wildcats.
The second period was probably the best period that the Lady Bulldogs have played all year. They still struggled to get the ball up the court, but they played solid defense and got just enough offense to take the period 11-7 to go into the half with a 17-11 lead. This is the first time the Lady Bulldogs had led at the half. Bartlett had 4 points and Roberts had 3 of her own. Wyatt continued dominating the glass as she had 7 rebounds in the period to lead all players and giving her 10 boards at the half. Tharptown was led by Wilson who had 5 of the Lady Wildcats points while Angeleah Smith put in the other 2. Tharp led Tharptown as she gathered in 2 of the 3 rebounds the Lady Wildcats got in the period.
As I said earlier, it was a tale of two halves. The young ladies from Tharptown came out and played much better in the second half. Tharptown started knocking down three-pointers and holding their own on the glass. Tharptown was led by Abbott with 6 points to include a trey. Harleigh Gordon came alive for 5 points and 4 boards in the period. Smith also knocked down a deep three for Tharptown. Roberts carried the young Dawgs as she scored 8 of the Lady Dawgs’ 11 points. Emma Cleghorn put in a three-pointer of her own for the remaining three points. Addison’s lead was gone, and the game was tied at 28 heading into the fourth.
The fourth period didn’t disappoint as each team matched score for score until the game was tied at 32. With 1:20 seconds left in the game, Addison’s Wyatt drained a contested three-pointer to give Addison the 35 to 32 lead. Tharptown answered right back as Smith hit a three-pointer from in front of the Lady Wildcat bench to tie the game at 35 with .59 seconds left. Addison had problems getting the ball up court and turned the ball over giving Tharptown one last chance to win with only .21 seconds left on the clock. Tharptown went down and took a shot which missed, the rebound was made by Fischer who immediately put the ball back up and in for the go-ahead bucket with only 3.9 seconds to go in the game. Addison was unable to get off a final shot and the Lady Wildcats came away with the win 37-35.
Addison Head Coach Bailey Boland,
“Super proud of my girls. They played with aggression tonight and fought till the very end. Hate for them to lose after they played so well. I told them that the majority of our problems are fixable. We have to cut out the mental mistakes and keep our heads up and be smart on the defensive side of the ball. I believe that we have showed vast improvement since our first game, three games ago.”
Unofficial stats
Addison was led in scoring by Roberts with 14 points, 2 rebounds and 5 assists. Wyatt had 8 points and a game high 17 rebounds with 5 steals. Bartlett had 6 points and 4 rebounds. Cleghorn had 5 points and 9 rebounds. Mattie Johnson had 2 points and 11 rebounds to go along with 2 steals.
Tharptown was led in scoring by Wilson and Smith with 8 points each. Wilson had 4 boards to go along with her points. Abbott had 7 points and 5 rebounds. Gordon had 5 points and 4 boards. Duncan had 4 points and 5 boards. Fischer had 4 points and 6 rebounds. Tharp had 1 point and 4 rebounds.
Addison drops to 0-3 on the young season and will host county rival Lynn Thursday night.
Addison 63 – Tharptown 54 (Varsity Boys)
The Addison boys came out on a mission and jumped on the Wildcats in the first period. Jed Wilkins set the pace for Addison as the point guard led them to a 14-5 lead at the end of the first. Addison jumped out 8-1 and kept up the pressure the remainder of the period. It appeared that the young men from Tharptown were having trouble with Addison’s high-pressure defense as Addison came away forcing numerous turnovers on the Wildcats. The Bulldogs dominated the glass with a 13-4 advantage in the first. Wilkins led all scorers with 8 points, 3 rebounds and 2 steals. Bradley “Big Foot” Willette held down the glass with 4 rebounds. Tharptown was led by their own point guard Malachi Minor who had all 5 Wildcat points.
The second period slowed down a bit as neither team shot the ball particularly well. Addison won the period 12-11 to take a 26-15 lead at the half. Jacob McLamb got hot and led the Dawgs with 7 points while Elijah Roberts put in 4. Tharptown was led again by Minor who carried the Wildcats in the first half as he tallied 8 points for a total of 13 in the first half. Dawson Higgins drained a three-pointer for the remaining points for the Wildcats. Wildcat Jackson Clement bulled his way to 5 rebounds in the period.
The second half kind of followed the ladies’ games first half. Tharptown came out much more focused and after Addison had jumped out to a 33-18 lead, their largest of the game, the Wildcats buckled down and started pressuring the Bulldogs, giving them a taste of their own medicine. Addison went into a Wildcat induced scoring drought as Tharptown cut the Addison lead from 15 down to 7 as they went on a 15-5 run. Dalton Maldonado, who didn’t score in the first half apparently watched some Steph Curry videos at the half and started draining threes from the visitor side corner. Mr. Maldonado has apparently never met a shot he didn’t like and tonight he was draining them. Maldonado scored 11 in the period to include 3 three-pointers and we had ourselves a ballgame again.
The fourth period started with Tharptown continuing to put pressure on Addison and the Bulldogs struggling with it. The Wildcats cut the lead down to one at 47 to 46 with 4 minutes to go as Dillon Valdez got into the action as he nailed a three-pointer trimming the lead. Addison Head Coach Scott Flynn called a timeout and after a spirited discussion Addison decided enough was enough. With the score tied at 50, Addison’s Wilkins drove the length of the court and went into the lane and it looked as if he was going to pull up for a short jumper, but Wilkins found Willette for a quick pass and layup putting Addison up 52-50. After an Addison defensive stop, Wilkins drove to the lane and put in a layup to give Addison a little breathing room at 54-50. That would be as close as the Wildcats could get as Addison put the clamps on the Wildcat offense and had a 9-4 run to close the game out. Addison came away with a hard fought 63-54 victory.
Addison Head Coach Scott Flynn,
“This was a good team (Tharptown) that we played tonight, and I am proud of my guy’s resiliency. We had a big lead and then went into that lull, and they came back and tied it. I don’t like to call a lot of timeouts; I like to let my guys work through it and they did tonight. The timeout we called we just settled each other down and came back out and handled business. The biggest thing I like about this team is our defensive intensity. We have won both our ballgames because of the defensive end of the court.”
Unofficial stats
Addison was led in scoring by Wilkins with a game high 21 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals. McLamb had 15 points, 6 rebounds and a block. Willette had 14 points, 13 boards and a block. Roberts had 8 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists and a steal. Kiah Lake had 5 points and 7 rebounds. Hayden Holland had 5 rebounds and an assist. Owen Pratt had 1 rebound and 2 steals. Kaden Dyson had a steal.
Tharptown was led by Maldonado with 20 points and 4 rebounds. Minor had 13 points and 7 boards. Valdez had 8 points and 3 boards. Jackson Clement had 6 points and 10 boards. Dawson Higgins had 3 points and 5 boards. Edwin Velah had 3 points. Bryson Borden had 2 points.
Addison moves to 2-0 and will host Lynn on Thursday at 7:00 pm.
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