Star Classic: Short-handed Faith boys playing up with eyes on postseason prize

Dec. 28—HEFLIN — Tuesday's first day of The Anniston Star Holiday Hoops Classic wasn't the best day to catch Faith Christian.

The Lions missed Thomas Curlee, who was out with a fever, Faith coach Cory Hughes said, and Class 5A Clay Central took full advantage with a 69-35 victory at Cleburne County High School.

Then again, holiday tournaments are all about playing different competition, maybe not under the best of circumstances, with an eye toward preparing for postseason battles with same-classified teams.

Consecutive losses to 4A White Plains and 5A Clay Central notwithstanding, the 1A Lions are 10-4 after losing three of five starters from last season's breakthrough Northeast Regional finalist team.

"Last year, I talked about philosophy whiplash," said Hughes, Faith's second-year head coach and the reigning 1A-3A All-Calhoun County coach of the year. "This year, it's just chemistry, and we have a ton of chemistry."

Faith lost All-Calhoun County players Ethan Richerzhagen and Jacques Prater from a team that finished 24-11 and reached the regional for the first time since 2011. Also graduated are regular contributors Colton Pahman, Demonde Bell and Brodie Dodson.

All-county picks Curlee and Yashua Arevalo returned to lead a young team.

Eighth-grader Conner Richerzhagen, Ethan's little brother, has stepped into a starting role at point guard. Senior Tyler Bell, Demonde's little brother, steps in at guard.

"Their brothers are talking to them, giving them advice," Arevalo said.

Junior center Eli Robinson gets rebounds and putbacks, and freshman Parker Robertson is Faith's sixth man.

Junior Carson Harris, who transferred from Oxford, just moved up to varsity and got his first start Tuesday.

"Last year, they were with us at practice all of the time," Arevalo said. "Through the summer, we all just worked together.

"We're starting to click bigger than we did last year, more trusting each other than we did last year."

For now, Faith, the only 1A team in the Holiday Hoops Classic, is testing itself against higher classified competition. The Lions will play 2A Ranburne on Wednesday and a yet-to-be-determined opponent Thursday.

"We play well together, we know what we're trying to accomplish, and the guys' basketball IQ has gone up tremendously," Hughes said. "They understand what we're trying to accomplish and how to help on defense.

"We got exposed today against bigger, more athletic guys, but normally they play really smart together."

Conner Richerzhagen led Faith on Tuesday with 11 points. Robinson and Robertson had seven apiece.

Clay Central's Troy Buchanan scored a game-high 27 points as the Vols improved to 5-4.

"We came out a little flat and slow and couldn't get in a rhythm offensively in the first half," Clay Central coach Josh Giddens said. "Defensively, we put good pressure on the ball.

"They were without their best player. He's really, really good. When you lose 28 points a game, it's tough. They're a good ball team. They know what they're doing."

Ohatchee 64, Ranburne 62: With Ohatchee trailing 42-32 and three minutes left in regulation, Eli Teem hit a 3-pointer to launch an 18-3 run that carried into overtime.

Jesse Baswell's driving shot with 26 seconds left in the third overtime put Ohatchee (5-6) ahead 63-62, and Kelby Crook hit one of two free throws with 2.1 seconds left.

Crook led Ohatchee with 28 points. Jacob Roberts added 12 points.

"We played about as bad as I've seen us play this year, just turning it over, no continuity on defense, not talking, and it was probably that mark (Teem's 3-pointer) where we woke up and decided we've got to be better," Ohatchee coach Bryant Ginn said. "In overtime, we did some things that can get you beat.

"We were fortunate to win. Ranburne's a good team. They knocked down some big shots."

Jax Stewart paced Ranburne with 24 points, including three 3-pointers. Tate Bailey added 11 points.

Cleburne County 42, Weaver 38: Cleburne County (4-10) rallied from as much as a 20-9 deficit in the second quarter. The Tigers trailed 21-14 at halftime.

"We just slowed down," Cleburne County coach Josh Perry said. "We let their pressure get to us and speed us up some. Once we slowed down and played our game, we got back under control."

Weaver (5-11), playing its first game since Dec. 13, took its lead with a 13-2 run to start the second quarter.

"We were executing and doing the things we needed to do," Weaver coach Beau Winn said. "The second half was not the same story, and that's the result that we got tonight."

Jacob Cavender led Cleburne County with 11 points, and Greyson Freeman added 11.

Armane Burton paced Weaver with 12 points, and Jackson Williams added nine.

Vincent 69, Woodland 25: Blake Allums led four Vincent players in double figures with 12 points, and Vincent (7-2) advanced to the winners' bracket in running fashion.

Tray Youngblood and Keetlyn Pelmed scored 11 points apiece, and Skyler McCrimon scored 10.

Christian Beam, Woodland's 7-foot-1 center, led the Bobcats with 12 points, all in the first half.

"We knew they had the big kid, and we didn't want the game to be halfcourt," Vincent coach John Hadder said. "We wanted to really turn it into uptempo. We just wanted to make sure we made that big kid run.

"We did a pretty good job in the pressure and the full court and got out and ran."

Girls

Cleburne County 56, Vincent 43: Led by Faith Brown, the lone returning starter from last season, Cleburne County scored its first home victory of the season in the opener of the Tigers' holiday tournament.

Brown scored 41 points, 25 points in the second half, as Cleburne County earned a semifinal berth against Alexandria, a rematch of last year's final.

"We beat them in the championship game here last year, so they're going to want a little revenge," Cleburne County coach Todd Gable said. "They're really good, so it's going to be good for us. We need it."

Cleburne County also got 12 points from Hannah Turley.

The Tigers lost five seniors from 2021-22, including Jacksonville State signee Brooklyn McDaniel. Another player transferred to Alexandria, and two seniors didn't come back out for basketball.

"We've got a young team, so each game is something new," Gable said. "We learn something new about this team every game and every practice.

"I'm glad we battled back when we were down and fought hard, so it was a good win for us."

Ja'Kalynn McGinnis scored 16 points to pace Vincent, and Trenay Lane hit three 3-pointers en route to 14 points.

Alexandria 60, Woodland 23: Life after Ashley Phillips keeps looking brighter for Alexandria's girls.

Freshman Charlee Parris led the Valley Cubs with 12 points. Cassidy Hartsfield and Sumira Duncan added 10 apiece as Alexandria improved to 6-7.

Jordyn Walker, Alexandria's leading scorer on the season at 17 points a game, added eight.

The Valley Cubs are looking for points after losing Phillips, who graduated and has gone on to play softball for Jacksonville State University. She averaged 17.6 points and finished her career with more than 1,600.

"We're getting there," Alexandria coach Craig Kiker said. "We're trying to find some scorers.

"Jordyn has led us up to this point. She's doing a good job, but we're still trying to gain some leadership from the others and scoring from the others."

Juliana Lovvorn led Woodland with eight points.

Ohatchee 71, Ranburne 50: Reigning Anniston Star Class 1A-3A Calhoun County player of the year Jorda Crook dominated, scoring 43 points to lead Ohatchee (11-2). She scored 26 points in the second half.

Kiana Garber and Lindsey Zurchin added nine apiece. Zurchin hit three 3-pointers, and Garber hit two.

The game was tied 14-14 after the first quarter, and Ohatchee led 32-24 at the half.

"Jorda is just a handful," Ohatchee coach Bryant Ginn said. "She played well today, despite us getting off to maybe a slower start.

"The biggest thing for us today is we had under 10 turnovers, so that's huge."

Briley Merrill paced Ranburne with 21 points. Jadie Phillips added 14 and Aubree Anglin 10.

Hiram (Ga.) 77, Clay Central 29: Ramsey Paker led Clay Central with 10 points, and Maleah Lindsey added six.

Hiram got a game-high 30 points from Taylor Crawford. Hadiya Kennerly added 15 points and Janaya Evans 14.

The Anniston Star Holiday Hoops Classic

Tuesday-Thursday

At Cleburne County High School

Tuesday's results

Girls

Ohatchee 71, Ranburne 50

Hiram (Ga.) 77, Clay Central 29

Alexandria 60, Woodland 23

Cleburne County 56, Vincent 43

Boys

Ohatchee 64, Ranburne 62, 3 OT

Clay Central 69, Faith Christian 35

Vincent 69, Woodland 25

Cleburne County 42, Weaver 38

Wednesday's games

Girls

Ranburne vs. Clay Central, 9 a.m.

Vincent vs. Woodland, noon

Ohatchee vs. Hiram (Ga.), 3 p.m.

Alexandria vs. Cleburne County, 6 p.m.

Boys

Ranburne vs. Faith Christian, 10:30 a.m.

Woodland vs. Weaver, 1:30 p.m.

Ohatchee vs. Clay Central, 4:30 p.m.

Vincent vs. Cleburne County, 7:30 p.m.

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