Scottsboro pulls away from Ider in matchup of top-ranked teams
Story By Jason Bowen
Scottsboro varsity girls basketball head coach Brandon Childers says his team’s offense is still looking to find its rhythm two games into the season.
But fortunately for the Wildcats, their ball-hawking defensive ways are reflecting those of the previous two seasons.
Defending Class 5A state champion and No. 1-ranked Scottsboro forced 10 first-quarter Ider turnovers to build a lead and ultimately held the visiting Class 1A No. 1 Hornets to a season-low point total during a 65-35 win Tuesday night at Hambrick Hall.
“I thought we did a good job defensively (in the half court) when we weren’t making shots to get to press like we like,” Childers said. “(Ider’s Makinley) Traylor is one of the best guards in Northeast Alabama, and their backcourt in general is tough to contain and keep out of the lane, and you’ve still got to close out on them (on the perimeter) because they shoot it so well. They made it tough on us offensively. They swapped everything, got us stagnant and slowed us down. Finally in the second half, we finally made two or three shots in a row and got things going and got to pressing like we like. I felt like we wore them down a little at the end. It was two really good teams — two really good defensive teams — playing.”
Scottsboro (2-0) has held state-title contenders 2A North Sand Mountain and 1A Ider to 36 and 35 points respectively.
Ider (2-4), coached by NSM alum, former Section and North Jackson varsity boys head coach and Jackson County Sports Hall of Famer Jamie Pruett, scored the game’s first basket, but Scottsboro countered with a 12-0 scoring run that included buckets two 2-point baskets from Izzy Nelson and one from Caroline Dawson followed by one 3-pointer each from Tatum Shelton and Ella White to build an early double-digit lead. Ider pulled to within 15-10 early in the second quarter after holding Scottsboro scoreless the final 2:38 of the first quarter and the first 1:23 of the second, and the teams traded hard-to-come-by baskets the rest of the half before Dawson’s putback with 13 seconds left sent the Wildcats to halftime leading 26-16.
Scottsboro’s lead grew to 15 points early in the third quarter before Ider pulled back within 10 midway through the frame, but baskets from Nelson and Abigail Shelton and 3-pointers from Mia Martin,Tatum Shelton and Abigail Shelton put the Wildcats in front 48-31 after three quarters. Scottsboro then opened the fourth quarter with a 14-1 run to push the lead to as much as 31.
Eight different Wildcats scored, led by Nelson’s game-high 21 points. Dawson finished with 12 points and Abigail Shelton and Tatum Shelton netted eight each for Scottsboro, which also got six from Mia Martin, five from Ella White, three from Grace White and two from Ava Grace Long.
Traylor, a Faulkner signee, scored 11 points for the Hornets while Addisyn Heard pitched in seven, Kennzie Smith added six and Cambree Chapman had five.
