12/12/22
By Kevin Taylor
Alma Schools
Thursday
Greene County Tech 69, Shiloh Christian 47 (B)
GTC 52, Shiloh Christian 22 (G)
Mena 43, Alma 22 (G)
Alma 56, Mena 42 (B)
Friday
Shiloh Christian 64, Mena 31 (B)
Mena 44, Shiloh Christian 35 (G)
GTC 54, Alma 26 (B)
GTC 44, Alma 26 (G)
Saturday
GCT 47, Mena 19 (G)
GCT 86, Mena 33 (B)
Shiloh Christian 54, Alma 52 (G)
Alma 69, Shiloh Christian 52 (B)
Curd, Airedales top Saints
Camden Curd was happy to carry the torch during Saturday’s 69-52 win over Shiloh Christian.
He knows someone else may do the same for him and his teammates the next time they hit the floor. The Alma sophomore found himself in one of those zones shooters live for in the final round of the Charles B. Dyer Classic Saturday night...
His teammates quickly picked up on it, too.
Curd scored 19 of his career-high 24 points in the first half as Alma erased an early deficit with a monster 32-8 first-half scoring run.
“I was hot and my teammates kept looking for me,” Curd said. “Izzy (Israel Towns-Robinson) had the ball in the post and they were screening and throwing the ball out to me because they knew I was hot and wanted the ball.”
Curd’s biggest bucket in the final game, on a nice feed from fellow sophomore Miles Kendrick, put the finishing touches on a clinching 19-5 run that helped Alma finish the Dyer Classic with two wins in three games.
Towns-Robinson added 18 points and pulled down 11 rebounds as Alma, down 13-3 early, then up by as many as 17 (42-25), withstood one final punch in the gut.
The Saints whittled Alma’s lead to three (50-47) on the strength of Duke Bowman’s 3-pointer.
But Alma reached back one final time.
“It meant a lot to see what we could do,” Curd said of Alma’s late run. “We just locked in and did what we needed to. We shouldn’t have ever let it get that close; we should have done our job the whole time instead of relaxing.”
“We’ve shown that we can respond and today we did it again,” Alma coach Dominic Lincoln said. “The good thing about today is we ended up winning. We responded and made enough plays down the stretch and we made enough stops down the stretch, and we ended up winning.
“These kids are growing up right in front of us at the moment.”
Shiloh Christian led 13-3 before Alma knew what hit them. But Matthew Schlegel’s 3-pointer from the top of the circle put Alma ahead 14-13. The Airedales led 18-15 after one quarter, then sped to a 32-16 lead midway through the second quarter.
Alma held a 35-21 halftime lead and pushed the lead to 17 in the third quarter when, thanks to some sloppy offensive sets, the Saints rallied to within three on Bowman’s third 3-pointer of the half.
“In the second half, it started opening up more opportunities for other people to start scoring,” Curd said. “All around, it was a great team effort. The shots were falling for me today, and tomorrow it will be someone else.”
Towns-Robinson’s breakaway layup led to an old-fashioned three-point play, and freshman Easton Boggs followed with a 3-pointer to give Alma a comfortable 66-51 with 1:23 left to play.
Shiloh Christian 54, Alma 52
GIRLS - Shiloh Christian led for all but about 10 seconds in Saturday’s hard-fought 54-52 win over the Alma Lady Airedales.
Every time Alma rallied, the Lady Saints seemed to have an answer.
Shiloh Christian’s Kayleigh Randall hit three second-half 3-pointers and Shiloh Christian, up seven with two minutes left, held on for its second victory of the season.
Alma’s Presli Taylor led all scorers with 19 points on 6-of-12 shooting from the field. Taylor had three of the Lady Airedales’ six 3-pointers. Teammates Jaden Gramlich and Daimya Parker finished with eight points or the Lady Airedales (1-6).
Alma led briefly (17-16) in the first half before the Saints scored on the ensuing possession to reclaim the lead.
Alma 7th Gold 32, Elkins 3
GIRLS - Alma’s seventh-grade Gold squad defeated Elkins, 32-3.
Khloe Dunn and Raelynn Avey finished with 11 and 10 points, respectively, for the winners. Alma’s Juliet Hargis added six points.
Camryn Waters and Faylyn Holt had two points each, and Kadee Wise added one.
Alma 7th Green 33, Elkins 9
BOYS - Alma’s Havyn Baxter scored eight points and Mallory Taylor and Chloe Kovalck finished with six points each in the Lady Airedales’ seventh Green squad’s 33-9 win over Elkins.
Madelyn House and Kali Wasson finished with five and three points, respectively, for the winners. Ellyse Wright and Grayce Routt had two points each, and Jaeli Morris added one point.