SAND ROCK – The Sand Rock Wildcats had the Piedmont Bulldogs on the ropes in their basketball game Tuesday night. They built as much as a 10-point lead late in the third quarter.

But then junior shooting sensation Alex Odam began to find his rhythm.

Odam scored eight of his game-high 36 points in the final 2:13 of the third quarter to tie the game heading into the fourth. He continued his hot shooting in the final quarter, scoring 14 more points in the Bulldogs’ 59-49 comeback win to spoil the Wildcats’ senior night.

“It was a pretty close game the whole time, but then the fourth quarter came and we knew we had to pick up the energy a little bit,” he said. “We had to get downhill more, get to the goal. We really got going there.”

“We came out flat, but we chipped away, chipped away, chipped away,” Piedmont coach JoJo Odam said. “Once we tied it, we felt like we were back in it, and then he had a good fourth quarter.”

It helped that the Wildcats (12-12) turned cold on the offensive end as well. They scored their last basket of the third quarter on a rebound and putback by Kaden Justice at the 3:37 mark when they took a 40-30 advantage.

Sand Rock didn’t score again until a 3-pointer by Ace Ashley around the two-minute mark of the fourth quarter. At that point, Piedmont (13-7) was ahead 52-43.

“We were up 40-30 and I think we had seven or eight minutes there we had more turnovers than we did points,” Sand Rock coach John Blackwell said. “They were playing hard and playing good defense, but a lot of those turnovers were unforced. We were on a fast break and instead of pulling the ball out, we just tried to make something happen and it didn’t happen. That’s where we’ve got to get better. We’ve got to have better coaching and do something different. You can’t keep saying we’re a young team because this is nearly February. We’ve got to fix some of those things.

“I thought the first half was well played by both sides, but they came out in the second half and they executed better than we did. We’ve got to find a way to finish a game. Piedmont’s a real good team and we had them on the ropes. We just didn’t finish. We had a chance to come back and beat Centre the other day (in the Cherokee County Tournament). We had a chance to beat Gadsden City. We’ve got to find a way to finish these games.”

Coach Odam credited Piedmont’s defense during the stretch run.

“(Sand Rock) is a solid basketball team. They all shoot it. They have all the pieces. They do all the little things right,” he said. “We knew we’d have to play good defense to have a chance. Cash (Cassius Fairs) was unbelievable defensively on (Jacob) StClair. Once we got Sand Rock on the schedule, I said ‘You’re playing against the best shooter in the state of Alabama.’ After he hit those first two deep ones, I think it sunk into them. We started playing a little better.”

StClair led Sand Rock with 18 points, including four treys. Gunner Cox came away with nine points. Kaden Justice finished with seven points.

Coleman Reid added 10 points for Piedmont. Omarion Foster finished with five points.

Girls

Sand Rock 82, Piedmont 45

SAND ROCK – How bad did Sand Rock want to send its six seniors out with a bang?

The Lady Wildcats came out firing against Piedmont. Their first six made shots were 3-pointers. They finished with 16 treys in the game in an 82-45 rout.

Along the way, senior guard Haley Grace Lisenbee set a new school record for assists with 14. The old record was 12 set by Amy Crane. Lisenbee also had four points, seven rebounds, five steals and a pair of blocks. Senior guard/forward Lanie Henderson scored a career-high 31 points, including six 3-pointers, to go along with 11 rebounds, four steals and an assist. Senior point guard Caley Garrett sank seven treys and finished with 24 points, five boards, four assists and a steal.

“We came out pretty hot,” Sand Rock coach Lisa Bates said. “Caley was on fire tonight. Lanie was on fire, and Haley Grace set a school record with assists. That’s been one of her goals, to beat that. She deserves it because she’s such a really good passer for us.

“This is going to be a tough group to lose. I’ve had some of these girls on varsity since they were babies. They’ve put a lot of time into this and they really love this. They’ve got a lot of talent and a lot of spunk to them. They’re good kids. They’re coachable. They’re team players. They’re goofy and they’re fun. I just love them. I know they’re going to be successful in life because they’re good people. They’re driven, and that’s what makes them special.”

Sand Rock (21-4) jumped out to an 18-1 advantage and led 25-9 at the end of the first quarter. The Lady Wildcats held a 46-20 edge at halftime and a 55-33 lead after three quarters.

Katelyn StClair added nine points for the Lady Wildcats. Chloe Stephens finished with five points.

LeLe Ridley led Piedmont with 14 points, including three 3-pointers. Z’hayla Walker added 13 points. Ava Pope posted 12 points, including three treys. Emily Farmer finished with six points on a pair of treys.