By Stephen Dawkins

VERBENA — Jemison on Dec. 18 defeated Fayetteville, 60-56, in a game that probably shouldn’t have been as close.
Fayetteville broke Jemison’s press and forced the Panthers (4-3) into mistakes, but Jemison did itself no favors, turning the ball over 23 times and making only five of 11 free throw attempts in the second half.
The game was the second of the first day of Verbena’s Christmas Classic boys basketball tournament. The Panthers were also scheduled to play Westminster at 2:30 p.m. Dec. 19 and Montgomery-Catholic at 5:30 p.m. Monday.
Jemison held a 6-point lead at halftime, but Fayetteville led, 43-38, after three periods.
Jemison took the lead back with 3:28 remaining when Cornelius Strong drove through the defense and then dumped the basketball off to Jeremiah Gates.
Trey Bryant stole the ball on the ensuing Fayetteville possession and laid it in for a 3-point lead, but Fayetteville (2-9) tied the game with Jeremy Melton’s 3-pointer with 46 seconds left to play.
Jemison got two free throws by both Strong and Bryant and a crucial defensive rebound by Scottie Hall to preserve the win.
Bryant scored a game-high 24 points for Jemison to go along with eight steals, six rebounds and four assists.
Hall had 10 points and 13 rebounds.
Cameron Martin and Morrell McKinney led Fayetteville with 12 points each.
Jemison played much better in a 73-41 win over Thorsby on Dec. 15.
The Panthers held Thorsby without a field goal for the first five minutes of the game—before Andrew Farris’ 3-pointer fell through the net, the hosts had a 14-1 lead—and played what might have been their best game of the season.
“The difference tonight was that we maintained,” first-year Jemison coach Stacy McGehee said about his team’s tendency to start fast but then fade.
The Panthers set the tone early, forcing Thorsby (2-4) into long jump shots—which were too often missed—dominating the boards both offensively and defensively, and sharing the ball on offense (Jemison had 19 assists as a team).
Jemison effectively mixed full-court and half-court pressure defenses, and the Rebels never looked comfortable.
“We’re getting them to believe in themselves and be aggressive,” McGehee said.
Thorsby didn’t help itself, as the Rebels missed 16 of their 26 free throw attempts.
Jemison led 18-5 after one period, 39-19 at halftime and 65-32 after the third. The Panthers made four 3-pointers in the quarter, including two by Zak Kaylor.
Jemison’s Scottie Hall posted his sixth double-double in as many games, scoring a team-high 17 points and pulling down 11 rebounds.
Trey Bryant scored 15 points, and Cornelius Strong (11 points) and Kaylor (10) also scored in double figures.
Aaron Thornton led Thorsby with nine points.

By Stephen Dawkins

A first-year senior is making life a little easier for Jemison’s first-year boys basketball coach.
Scottie Hall, who has never before played varsity basketball, has posted a double-double in each game this season, leading Stacy McGehee’s first Jemison team to a 2-3 record and hopes for continued improvement as the season progresses.
“Scottie has been a pleasant surprise,” McGehee said. “He’s real active on the boards.”
Hall has played much bigger than his slim 6’2” frame, averaging 13 points and more than 14 rebounds per game in McGehee’s fast-paced attack.
Last week, Hall had 13 points and 14 rebounds in a 62-30 win over Isabella on Dec. 11, and he had 20 points and 17 rebounds in a 73-67 loss at Chilton County.
In that game, the Panthers cut their rivals’ lead from 24 to seven points in the fourth quarter.
CCHS attacked the offensive glass and used half-court pressure, in the first quarter, and full-court pressure, in the second, to build a 41-30 halftime advantage.
The lead grew to 19, at 59-38, when senior guard Taylor Hughes drained a wide open 3-pointer with 2:19 remaining in the third quarter.
The Tigers (3-2) led by as much as 24 points in the fourth quarter before Jemison used its own full-court press to speed up the tempo and cut the lead.
Jemison’s Javae Swindle scored seven of his 12 points in the final period in an effort to close the gap, and Cornelius Strong scored eight of his 12 in the frame.
Against Isabella, Zak Kaylor recorded 13 points, six assists and four steals. Cornelius Strong had 12 points, and Trey Bryant had 10 points.
Jemison had 18 team steals.
“We’ve got a group that’s playing hard, trying to learn how to win a little bit,” McGehee said. “We’re getting there.”

Thorsby drops two area games
Thorsby last week fell to 0-3 in Class 2A, Area 9 play with losses to Fultondale (65-47 and Shades Mountain Christian (60-12).
The Rebels (2-3) trailed Fultondale (2-4, 1-1 area) 47-38 entering the fourth period on Dec. 7 but was then outscored 18-9.
Evan Bryan led the Rebels with 13 points. Marcus Bray posted eight points and 13 rebounds.
Jace Maddox also scored eight points for the Rebels, and Jeremiah Good had seven points.
Against Shades Mountain (10-1, 2-0) on Dec. 11, Bray was Thorsby’s leading scorer with eight points. He also pulled down eight rebounds.
Andrew Farris had seven rebounds in the game.

By Stephen Dawkins

Only half of the players on Jemison’s basketball roster have varsity experience.
That doesn’t matter to first-year coach Stacy McGehee, though.
“For me, everybody is new because they are all learning a new system,” McGehee said.
Junior forward Isa Bentley, senior forward Brandon Jones, junior guard Zac Kaylor, junior forward David King and senior point guard Cornelius Strong are the Panthers with varsity experience. They’ll be joined by four players off last year’s B-team—sophomore Trey Bryant, sophomore Chase McCary, junior Demtrich Strong and sophomore Javae Swindle—and one newcomer to the program, senior forward Scottie Hall.
Hall has already earned a starting position, McGehee said, and will need to play well for Jemison to overcome its lack of size down low.
After the 6’5” Jones, no Panther is taller than 6’3”.
“We don’t have a lot of size, but I know from football that we have some speed,” McGehee said. “We’re probably going to play a more up-tempo game than they are used to.”