Prep basketball: Jacksonville boys, girls gain sweep at Alexandria

Jan. 7—JACKSONVILLE — Jacksonville's state-championship boys have learned to play without stars from time to time. Caden and Cam Johnson's first half on the bench Friday was just the next test.

The Golden Eagles got a fight from Alexandria but passed.

John Broom hit five of nine 3-pointers en route to a game-high 25 points, and Jacksonville won 68-57 in Larry R. Ginn Gymnasium.

The Golden Eagles, voted the top seed for the approaching Calhoun County tournament Wednesday, improved to 15-4.

Alexandria, the county's No. 3 seed, fell to 10-7.

The Johnson twins, along with Broom fourth-year mainstays for Jacksonville, sat in the first half Friday for reasons Jacksonville coach Tres Buzan chose to keep "in house."

It's not the first time Jacksonville has had to run without key players. Cade Phillips, who transferred in to help Jacksonville win its first-ever state title in boys' basketball last season, missed a chunk of the season's second half with a foot injury.

It meant more playing time for Jaquan Ervin, who scored seven points in his 5:05 of playing time. Buzan also praised Kydric Fisher and DaMonte Sinclair, who played a combined 16 minutes.

"We've got other guys who can play," Buzan said. "They're not always on display because of who we have in front of them, but the group that started tonight and the rotators did an excellent job in the first half."

Jacksonville started the first and second quarters with 8-0 spurts and led 33-25 at the half after Broom swished a long three from the top at the buzzer.

The Johnson twins were clearly ready to return to their normal roles in the second half. Caden finished with 10 points and Cam with seven.

Each had breakaway dunks, Cam's resulting in a technical foul for hanging on the rim at 3:33 of the third quarter.

"I had to hype the game up," he said. "There was a guy kind of under me a little bit, but I had to do it."

Caden Johnson's dunk came late in the game.

"I just felt like I needed to go through the middle and dunk it," he said. "I'd been looking for a dunk the whole game."

Broom also had a break away dunk, but Alexandria matched Jacksonville's flare with scrappiness. Down by as much as 47-29 after Cam Johnson's third-quarter dunk in the third quarter, the Valley Cubs closed to within 58-52 in the fourth,

Davis' two 3-pointers and a jumper highlighted the rally. He finished with 10 points.

Jacksonville hit six of eight free throws before Caden Johnson and Broom finished with dunks.

Quendavion McDowell led the Valley Cubs with 15 points. Evan Snow added 14.

"We did a good job," Buzan said. "We played four quarters and took care of the ball better late, and that's stuff we've been working on, so it's good to see that.

"We've got to keep getting better. There's some things we definitely have to fix, but it's always tough to get a win here. I'm proud of the guys for that."

Girls

Jacksonville 64, Alexandria 54: First-year Jacksonville coach Corey Mize likes defense that keeps'em down, but he doesn't mind offense that lights'em up.

Jacksonville's girls gave their coach both Friday. Ashley Grant led the way with 21 points, and the Golden Eagles (6-11) scored a season-high 64 points.

Grant also had six steals and five rebounds while leading four Jacksonville players in double-figure points. DeAsia Prothro scored 14, Alexis Phillips 12 and Halaina Lozano 11.

"We've been clicking for the next two or three games," Mize said. "We've tried to get better and make sure we take steps forward every game.

"We felt like it was going to be a quarter-by-quarter game, and I felt like we really stepped up. Every time we had to answer, we did."

Lozano hit three 3-pointers on the night and got the Golden Eagles going with two in the first quarter.

"She's been struggling really bad with confidence," Mize said. "This game right here was a big game for her. She's one of our better shooters by far. I think those two shots got her in a rhythm."

Alexandria led 28-24 at halftime, got out to as much as a 42-32 lead in the third quarter then opened the fourth quarter 10-0 to lead 52-35, Grant's breakaway layup both gave Jacksonville its biggest lead and provided the final margin.

"Everybody contributed," Grant said. "We've gotten a lot better since we first started, and we're going to be a force to be reckoned with."

Kailey Dickerson led Alexandria (7-12) with 15 points. Jill Cockrell and Jordyn Walker added eight apiece.

Sports Writer Joe Medley: 256-236-1551. On Twitter: @jmedley_star.