Charles Henderson’s defense appeared to be mid-season form Monday night against Barbour County.
The Trojan defense constantly distributed the Jaguar offense, earning 23 steals and forcing countless other turnovers to spark a dominating 62-28 win during Dothan Turkey Classic action on Coach Johnny Oppert Court at the Dothan Civic Center.
Charles Henderson advanced to a Tuesday morning semifinal at 10 a.m. against G.W. Long, which took a 45-32 win over Houston County, a late tournament replacement for Cottonwood, which dropped out of the event after its football team advanced to this week’s state quarterfinals.
Florala and Wilcox Central play in the other tournament semifinal at noon. Florala edged Daleville 50-48 on Dalton Jackson’s putback with 3.3 seconds left, while Wilcox Central routed Emmanuel Christian 75-46 on Monday.
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The two semifinal winners meet in the championship later in the day at 3 p.m.
The tournament winner gains a berth into the annual Downtown Dothan Hoops Classic, which starts the day after Christmas.
Charles Henderson 62, Barbour County 28: The Trojans led from start to finish in beating the Jaguars, staying in control behind defense.
“This was the first game that we were able to get up and play press,” said Charles Henderson head coach Timothy Fayson, whose team improved to 1-2 on the young season. “I was pretty pleased with it (the defense). The guys picked it up pretty quick.”
In addition to forcing a bunch of turnovers, the Trojans allowed Barbour County only nine made field goals over four quarters.
Charles Henderson got a boost from six football players who were playing in their first game after a state quarterfinal loss to Gulf Shores on Friday night. The group had only one practice prior to Monday’s game.
“All things considered, it was pretty good,” Fayson said of the performance. “The football guys coming back, just trying to get their legs back, so we tried to ease them in.”
Bradley Prescott had 15 points and Jywon Boyd, one of the football players, followed with 14 to lead Charles Henderson, which had 10 players score.
Lennox Myers led Barbour County (0-3) with 15 points and Michael Blackmon Jr. added nine points.
Charles Henderson held a modest 15-11 lead at the quarter break before pulling out to a 20-11 margin midway in the second period on a 3-pointer by Prescott.
An old-fashion three-point play off a drive and free throw by Prescott and two 3-point shots by Boyd pushed the Trojans to a 29-14 lead with 1:31 left in the half.
CHHS extended the margin to 31-15 at halftime.
Charles Henderson turned up even more pressure in the third quarter as the Jaguars, who had only seven players dressed out, began to tire. Ten of the Trojans 23 steals came in the period and CHHS capitalized to build a 54-21 advantage after three periods.
The final quarter featured a running clock with the margin above 30 points.
Florala 50, Daleville 48: Dalton Jackson’s putback with 3.3 seconds gave the Wildcats the victory over the Warhawks.
Jackson’s game-winner came after Wildcat guard Rayshon Coleman drove the middle of the lane and had his shot bounce off the rim.
Daleville tied the game on the possession before with a Moses McDowell layup off an inbounds pass with 35 seconds left.
The Warhawks overcame a 10-point deficit late in the third quarter behind a 14-2 run to take a 44-42 lead with 5:16 left. Bryan Glawson had eight points, including a go-ahead 3-pointer, and McDowell had four points to spark the run.
Two baskets by Florala’s Elijah McMeans put the Wildcats back in front and Coleman scored on a drive with 2:53 left to extend the lead to 48-44.
McDowell scored on a putback with 1:27 left to close the gap to two.
After two missed shots by Florala, both teams turned the ball over before McDowell’s layup with 35 seconds left tied the game, setting up the stage for Jackson’s game-winning putback.
Daleville dominated most of the first half and led by 11 points midway in the second quarter when the Wildcats surged behind two 3-pointers from Coleman and one by Noah Bryan to pull within one in the final minute of the second quarter.
Florala had a chance take the lead before the halftime buzzer but Coleman missed a 3-pointer in the final seconds.
The Wildcats opened the third quarter with 11 straight points to go up 37-28, while the Warhawks went cold without a point in the first six minutes.
Florala moved the margin to 10 on a Bryan jumper with 1:28 to go in the third, but the Warhawks went on their 14-2 run to go in front early in the fourth quarter.
Coleman paced Florala (1-1) with 22 points. Jackson had 10 points and McMeans nine points.
McDowell finished with 21 points and Glawson with 10 for Daleville (2-2).
G.W. Long 45, Houston County 32: The Rebels led at every quarter break in taking the win over the Lions.
G.W. Long (2-1) led 11-4 after the first quarter before the Lions made a run, closing the gap to 22-18 at halftime. The Rebels pulled out to a 34-24 advantage after three and led by 19 late before settling for the 45-32 win.
Preston Williams paced G.W. Long with 15 points and Cameron Richards followed with 10. Daylon Henderson added nine points and Jeremiah Hairston chipped in seven.
Rashawn Mitchell led Houston County with eight points. David Myhand followed with five points.
Wilcox Central 75, Emmanuel Christian 46: After Emmanuel Christian cut the margin to 3-2 early in the game, Wilcox Central scored 20 points to take command.
The Jaguars led 25-9 at the quarter break, 49-18 at halftime and 65-26 after three periods.
Wilcox Central had all 12 players score, led by Kenyon Williams with 11 points and RJ Harris with 10 points. Tyler Moton added nine points and Lamarcus Agee had eight.
Logan McNiel and Grayson Ellison led Emmanuel Christian with 12 points each. All of McNiel’s points came off four 3-pointers. Hank Johnson followed with eight points and Tristan Culp had six points.
