Both boys and girls victors over Southern
By Bob Sutton
Special to The Alamance News
The Williams boys’ basketball team had to pretty much run away from Southern Alamance in the nightcap of Monday’s Tony Perrou Classic at Southern Alamance.
That seemed to be the only solution for the Bulldogs, who won 68-60 in a tight matchup.
“We played better in the second half,” Williams coach Tommy Cole said. “We beat them down the court several times.”
The Bulldogs (9-7) notched their fifth consecutive victory.
Milton Turner used clutch late-game free-throw shooting on his way to 15 points for Williams. Greyson McCadden and Cam’ron Jones both scored 13 points and Jaelan Brown had 11.
Williams led 25-24 at halftime. A stretch of scoring a total of 10 points across four consecutive possessions in the third quarter appeared to put the Bulldogs in command.
Southern (5-11) kept coming back. After McCadden’s 3-pointer had Williams up 57-49, the Patriots tallied the next five points, capped by Harrison Watson’s two free throws.
Turner went 4-for-4 on free throws in a 42-second stretch with less than two minutes remaining and McCadden scored on a drive to help seal the outcome.
“That’s the whole year,” Southern coach Chris Miller said. “We fight to get back in it. But they hit some good shots.”
Nathan Teague racked up 20 points and Watson ended up with 15 for the Patriots, who lost their fourth game in a row.
“We’ve got to work on finishing,” Watson said.
** Williams’ girls used sizzling 3-point shooting to prevail 68-57 against Southern.
The Bulldogs made 12 shots from beyond the 3-point arc, including five apiece from Jai’Nasia Bailey and Kamryn Russell.
“It’s definitely great when we find our shooters,” Williams forward Briahna Scott said.
Scott scored six straight points as Williams built a 28-19 lead for what became a 33-26 halftime edge. Southern used offensive rebounding to climb back in the third quarter.
Bailey’s 3-pointer at the third-quarter buzzer allowed the Bulldogs to hold a 43-40 lead going to the fourth. From there, more 3s defined the outcome. Bailey and Russell hit consecutive long-range shots to extend the lead to double digits.
“We were excited to play Southern because they beat us last year,” Russell said. “It’s nice when (the shots) fall.”
Scott and Bailey both scored 16 points, while Russell had 15 and Jordyn Taylor added 14 for the Bulldogs (13-3).
Coach Jason Cheek said the 3-point production was about twice of Williams’ normal output.
“We finally had a game where we were shooting the ball the way we’re capable of shooting,” Cheek said.
Southern (11-5) received 24 points and 17 rebounds from MeiLani Patterson, 13 points from Clara LaChapelle and 11 points and five steals from Shaniya Paylor.
** During the afternoon, Eastern Alamance split games with Chatham Charter, with its girls’ team winning 49-34.
The Eagles (10-7) pulled away on the strength of a 16-2 scoring advantage in the fourth quarter.
Eastern has won four of its last five games. Chatham Charter is 11-4.
On the boys’ side, undefeated Chatham Charter hammered Eastern Alamance 85-40, sending the Eagles to their fourth consecutive loss.
“That’s four good teams in a row,” Eastern coach Brad Costa said.
Michael Reaves had 14 points for the Eagles (9-8), who’ll have another stiff challenge from high-scoring Eastern Randolph in Friday night’s non-conference home game.
The Eagles were without post player A.J. Weaver, who has missed two games with a foot injury. Forward Cole McGinnis went out in the first half with a twisted ankle.
