From Staff Reports

Chilton County’s girls went into enemy territory on Dec. 2 and earned a 26-21 win.

Lopez scored a game-high 13 points but was countered by 11 points from Keona DeJarnett and nine points from Chynna Davis.

From Staff Reports

Jemison’s boys team won its first game of the season, 82-42, on Monday at Holtville.

Eddie Hubbard led the effort with 18 points, and Randy Satterfield (11 points) and Jeremiah Gates (10 points) also scored in double digits.

Tre Bryant recorded nine points and four assists, and both Ben Howard and Chase McCary had eight points.

From Staff Reports

Jemison’s girls lost their first game, 39-36, also at Holtville on Monday.

Shelby Lopez scored 16 points, including making all four attempts from the free throw line, and also had six rebounds.

Shayna Robinson posted six points and seven rebounds, and Shelby Griffin had four points and four rebounds.

Morgan Lucas also had four points.

Denten Ellison chipped in two points and three rebounds.

By Stephen Dawkins | Assistant Managing Editor

Thorsby moved up to Class 3A in the newest football and basketball classifications released by the Alabama High School Athletic Association.

Classifications are studied and set every two years, based on number students in grades 10-12, and then on proximity to other schools.

Jemison stayed in Class 4A, though its region and area foes changed somewhat.

Thorsby football coach and athletic director Billy Jackson said school officials were aware the Rebels might move up.

“We said, ‘We will either be one of the biggest 2As in the state or one of the smallest 3As,’” Jackson said. “It was that close.”

Jackson said the reclassification will challenge all Rebels athletic programs because several new region foes—including Midfield, Montevallo and Tarrant—have been 4A schools within the past several years.

Basketball and football groupings for each local program are listed below:

Basketball

Class 4A, Area 7

Bibb County, Calera, Dallas County, Jemison

Class 3A, Area 5

B.B. Comer, Central Coosa, Thorsby, Trinity Presbyterian

Football

Class 4A, Region 4

Bibb County, Calera, Corner, Dallas County, Dora, Jemison, Oak Grove, West Blocton

Class 3A, Region 4

B.B. Comer, Central Coosa, Leeds, Midfield, Montevallo, Tarrant, Thorsby, Trinity Presbyterian

By Stephen Dawkins | Assistant Managing Editor

If the Jemison basketball team isn’t successful this season, it can’t be blamed on lack of effort.

The Panthers this week continued a busy summer with a two-day camp.

“We treat it a lot like spring training in football,” coach Stacy McGehee said. “We go over the offense again, keep it fresh in their minds so we don’t have to spend as much time on it in the fall.”

Day 1 of the camp, on Monday, focused on defense, however, as McGehee brought in former Moody and Irwin Coach Greg Moore to teach the Panthers how to be stingier.

The camp wrapped up Tuesday at Alton Cobb Gymnasium.

Jemison hosted American Christian, Victory Christian and Beauregard for a play date last week.

During summer exhibition games, McGehee takes the unusual step of substituting in and out five players at once every three minutes so they can find a rhythm playing together.

“I don’t put the priority on wins and losses but getting better as a team,” he said.

JHS will also visit Birmingham-Southern College for a team camp Wednesday and Thursday.

The Panthers will play Rogers, Battle Ground and New Hope on Wednesday; and Kossuth and Ardmore on Thursday.

By Stephen Dawkins | Assistant Managing Editor

Turning around a basketball program in one season is remarkable.

Stacy McGehee turned around two basketball programs in two years.

The Clanton Advertiser’s basketball coach of the year led Jemison’s boys basketball team from a winless season in 2008-09 to seven wins in McGehee’s first year, in 2009-10, and a winning record, 14-13, in 2010-11.

McGehee said he has been told by people close to the program that it was Jemison’s boys first winning season since the mid-1980s.

McGehee took control of the girls team this season, leading that set of Panthers to an 11-13 record one year after posting only four wins.

The Jemison coach said the boys’ success gave him credibility with the girls.

“I think it made it a little bit easier for them to buy into the system,” McGehee said.

But the system turned out to be different for the girls.

For two years now, McGehee’s boys have effectively employed an uptempo style, featuring fastbreaks on offense and a full-court pressure defense.

That’s the kind of game McGehee likes to coach, but he realized before the season began that the JHS girls weren’t suited to that type of game.

So, McGehee substituted a halfcourt style with a slower pace.

“We weren’t deep enough to do that; we needed to keep them fresh,” McGehee said.

The coach said having a slower paced game first—girls and boys games are played back-to-back—was helpful because he didn’t have to undergo an adrenaline rush for a boys game and then try to scale back his emotions.

McGehee’s willingness to adapt to his players is a significant reason behind the re-emergence of Jemison basketball, but another is the players McGehee has to work with.

He cited attitude as the players’ best attribute.

The boys, for example, found themselves down 41-17 against Dora in a tournament at Holtville on Dec. 29, 2010, and came back to win, 65-58.

The girls were behind by five points with about 2 minutes remaining while Isabella on Jan. 4 and won, 41-35.

“They both had a ‘don’t-give-up-attitude,’” McGehee said.

McGehee recalls a conversation he had soon after taking a coaching position at Jemison.

“Can I win there?” McGehee asked.

“They have some athletes,” was the reply, meaning the players had potential but had not proven themselves.

“Well,” McGehee said Wednesday, “they’re becoming basketball players.”

By Chris Wasson | Special to the Advertiser

Dallas County High School started slowly to begin both halves, but gathered strength when the game went on in route to a 52-30 win over Jemison Thursday in the Class 4A, Area 6 girls basketball tournament at Southside-Selma High School.

Both Thorsby teams also lost Thursday, playing in their respective Class 2A, Area 7 tournaments at Francis Marion High School.

The THS girls lost, 53-31, to Marion despite Sharonda Cooper’s 11 points and Amanda Hubbard’s nine points; and the Thorsby boys lost, 72-30, to R.C. Hatch.

In the Jemison game, the two teams started pretty evenly matched, and the Panthers even jumped out to a 10-4 lead before Dallas County came back to end the quarter tied at 12.

It was in the second quarter that the Hornets got going and pulled out to a 24-15 lead on the strength of their press defense, which forced turnovers leading to easy points.

“We just weren’t able to answer in the second quarter,” Jemison coach Stacy McGehee said. “Between that and missed opportunities in the third quarter, we fell behind and their team speed took over from there.”

McGehee said it was the Hornets’ aggressive defense that seemed to cause his squad problems but was proud of how his side fought back.

“We just couldn’t keep up with them,” McGehee said. “But we had a great season. I’m proud of the work this team put in this year, especially my seniors. They had a great run, it’s just sad to see it end.”

–Assistant managing editor Stephen Dawkins contributed to this report.

From Staff Reports

The varsity basketball games involving Chilton County teams scheduled for Thursday have been canceled because of dangerous driving conditions caused by freezing rain.

Verbena’s girls and boys teams were supposed to play at Jemison on Thursday, and Fayetteville was to visit Thorsby.

The Verbena-Jemison games could not be rescheduled because there was not a date available for both schools before next week’s area tournaments.

Fayetteville and Thorsby will make up their games beginning at 5:30 p.m. Friday.

By Stephen Dawkins | Assistant Managing Editor

Chilton County defeated Jemison by 16 points in the county boys basketball tournament on Jan. 14, but Jemison has won both meetings since then to claim the season series over its rivals.

The Panthers won at CCHS on Tuesday, 76-74.

The game featured wild momentum swings. Jemison led by as many as 11 points early in the second period, but the hosts claimed the lead with about 3 minutes still remaining before halftime.

Jemison fought back and built a seven-point edge at the end of the third period, but Chilton tied the game at 63 about midway through the fourth when Nelson Williams assisted on a Quincy Underwood basket.

But Trey Bryant answered with a 3-pointer, and the visitors never trailed again.

Jeremiah Gates iced the win with two free throws with 26 seconds remaining.

Bryant scored a team-high 21 points, and Gates had 19 points.

Chilton County’s Grantland Karn scored a game-high 28 points.

Panthers girls run away from rivals

Chilton County’s girls kept their game against Jemison close early—the score was 10-6 JHS after one period—but Kelsey Mims opened the second period with a 3-pointer and Jemison ran away with the game.

The Panthers led 35-15 at halftime and 48-25 after the third period.

Mims led all scorers with 17 points, while Renee Lewis dropped in 15 points for CCHS.

By Stephen Dawkins

Jemison’s girls team overcame a sluggish first half Monday and almost pulled out a win.

Holtville won, 20-17.

The game was tied at 2 after one period of play, and Holtville took a commanding 12-3 lead into the locker room at halftime.

The visiting Bulldogs led 16-7 going into the final quarter, but the JHS offense awoke.

Shelby Griffin sank two free throws with 2:47 remaining in the game to give Jemison (9-11, 2-4) its first lead, 17-16.

Holtville took the lead right back, though, and then the teams traded nine consecutive turnovers until Caroline Currey banked one in with 15 seconds left on the clock to give the visitors the win.

Jemison got off a 3-pointer that would have tied the game, but it was off the mark.

Griffin led Jemison with eight points, and Shelby Lopez had five points.