Selma Saints take on former principal's team in Bessemer

Thursday afternoon found the Selma High School Saints on the highway to play their former principal, Stoney Pritchett, and he had something to say about the Saints’ visit and clean sweep of his new school. 

“The past and the present collided in Bessemer City as the  Mighty Saints faced the Purple Tigers. It was great seeing my former students, coaches, family, and friends.  A trophy carries dust, memories last forever. Great game! Go Purple Tigers!” 

Then, he nestled himself inside a phone camera photo shoot with the cheer teams from both schools, and socialized during halftime with his former scholars, co-workers and employees. He called them “family.”

After winning the A game, Varsity Head Coach Rembert and his wife also had a few words to say. “It’s great. We got a chance to get back on the winning side tonight after a tough loss [vs Wilcox] on Tuesday. I’m really proud of the guys, they came out with great effort and energy. And yeah, it does feel good to come up here and win against my former boss,” he smiled. “We had a lot of fun, and we enjoyed it.” Mrs. Rembert who is court-side at very game, added (with a cheerleader type  demonstration), “Go Selma!”

Out of the norm, the main attraction was up first in the three-game battle. Varsity. The teams matched up pretty well physically, so the fans buckled up for the mental game. Unlike the free throw show at Wilcox Central just two days before, this first game came with very few whistleblowers. Instead, it was a showcase of skill, stamina and great coaching. Saints Nation prevailed on all fronts and the game would end at 53-37, with a Saints fan, Keith Merchant, shouting out, “I think ‘Big Nick’ Nicholas Cowan should be tonight’s MVP—he came to play!” 

A-Team notables: 

Top scorer-DeShawn Flannigan (Power Foward, Center)—22pts 11 rebounds 2 blocks 1 steal • Tashod Ruffin (Shooting Guard, Point Guard)—12 pts 3 assists 2 steals • Trisitn Blocton (Shooting Guard, Point Guard)—8 pts 2 rebounds 5 assists 2 steals.   

In pranced the undefeated Lady Saints and their challenger, the Lady Tigers, for round two. Ding! The Saints came out banging hard and real heavy. 6-0 right off the rock. Then, swish, there goes another one and another one. The crowd is in a frenzy. Cheer teams are battling for the most noise. And, wouldn’t you know it—the comic relief of the day—Safiya White #12 hits a literal unintended split on the floor during a play. She had to laugh at her own self. Her opponent wondered, “Where did she go?” Down there, out of sight. No whistle, no foul—keep it moving! 

The Saints train just kept on rolling. And, it’s a good thing stealing on the hardwood is not a crime because Jy’Kerra Oliver has been doing a lot of it lately in each game. She took four of the Tigers’ balls effortlessly. Let’s call her “Snatched.” Now let’s talk about those twins—no, those quadruplets on the team—Za Za (8 rebounds), Scrappy (6 rebounds), JJ (4 rebounds) and Jy (4 rebounds). Let’s call them The Skywalker IV because when that rock went up in the air they come down with it in their palms 22 times total in their Gomer Pyle voice like “Surprise, surprise, surprise!” 

Rebounds converted to points. Steals converted to points. The Lady Saints stacked points on points like they were racks on racks. Money! 

By end of third, the score moved 39-9. The Tigers just couldn’t make it to double digits and with just one quarter left, they were down to a downtrodden purr. Then finally, there it is—a basket! Cheerleaders go: A whaaat? A bas-ket! The Tigers took what they could get and the storm ended at 44-17, with the Lady Saints adding another dub to the tally at 7-0. 

Lady Saints notables: 

Top scorer-Zariah “Za Za” McCall (Power Forward)—14 points, 8 rebounds. Jy’kierra “Jy” Oliver (Shooting Guard)—12 points, 4 rebounds, 4 steals. Jamiriaa “JJ” Jackson (Small Forward)—6 points, 4 rebounds. Maraisha “Ray-Ray” Rivers (Point Guard)—6 points. Safiya “Scrappy” White (Small Forward)—5 points, 6 rebounds. 

Would Junior Varsity continue the sweep? You already know. It got a bit fiery on this one with all of the whistleblowing and confusion sometimes as to “who done it”? But, that didn’t bother players with nicknames like “Powo”,  “Mari” and “Big.” Unbothered. And, the young people have a saying when they’re talking about the best part of a player that goes, “The big one, not the li’l one.” But wait. That just doesn’t fly when there’s a two pack at Saints Nation (varsity and Junior varsity) that played hard with the same name. It’s not Santa Clause but they do go by “Nick”—The Big One AND the Li’l One. They too, were unbothered, and kept rocking it. 

Junior varsity closed the sweep with the final W at 39-30.