Calhoun Tallassee

Calhoun's JD Davison and Tallassee's Jamicah Humphery embrace after Thursday's game. 

There may have been a limited crowd in Tallassee’s gym Thursday night but that did not slow down any of the hype as the Tigers hosted reigning Class 2A state champion Calhoun featuring Alabama signee and the state’s top recruit JD Davison.

The fans may not have gotten the show they expected from Davison as he was limited to just 19 points but Calhoun still proved to be too much, putting together a team effort to down the Tigers 70-55. The visitors had three different players reach double figures including forward Joshua Curtis who finished with a game-high 21 points to go along with 12 rebounds.

“We played pretty good defense tonight and I was really proud of that,” Tallassee coach Keiven Mixson said. “JD is scoring 45 on average so we played some incredible defense. They hurt us on the boards and that really killed us. They are more than just one guy though. They shot the ball extremely well.”

Tallassee (3-4) held Davison in check for the most part but even when he wasn’t doing damage with his own scoring, he was providing plenty of opportunities for his teammates. Davison finished with eight assists to go along with six rebounds and a pair of blocks.

“We focused so much on JD but he is a very unselfish player and that’s what makes him so good,” Mixson said. “He effects the game in so many ways and he makes all of the other players better.”

While his scoring may not have been close to his season average, Davison still made some highlight plays along the way with one changing the course of the game. After a missed layup by Tallassee, Davison grabbed the rebound and went the length of the court in five seconds before throwing down a dunk just before the halftime buzzer, pushing Calhoun’s lead into double digits. The Tigers never got the lead back to single digits in the second half.

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“I don’t know if one play did it but that definitely hurt,” Mixson said. “That was a bit of a momentum kill for us.”

Tallassee had an answer of its own on offense for most of the first half as Tae Collins scored 14 of his team-high 20 points in the opening two quarters. He finished with five made 3-pointers and added seven rebounds.

“I thought he played extremely well and he played with a lot of confidence,” Mixson said. “Tae is the kind of kid when the lights are on and it’s a big stage, he wants the spotlight. He doesn’t back down and he showed that tonight. If any college coach was in here tonight, I don’t know what else you’re looking for. He made some tough shots and he looked really good tonight.”

Jamicah Humphery took the reins on offense in the second half, scoring 15 of his 17 in the game’s final 12 minutes. Jalyn Daniels, who took the defensive assignment on Davison for most of the night, added 10 points to go with two steals and two assists.

The Tigers will have a quick turnaround after the defeat as they are scheduled to play Pike Road for the area opener on Friday night. Tallassee is sitting below .500 at the start of area play for the first time in four years but with tough competition filling the slate so far to this point, Mixson believes it can only help the Tigers moving forward.

“All of these games help and that’s what it’s designed for,” Mixson said. “We want these games to prepare us for area play and for the end of the season. We had a tough game tonight and now we have to turn around and play another tough game tomorrow… We can’t sit around and worry about our record. We just have to play for the next game. We’re 0-0 now because we start area play.”

Caleb Turrentine is a sports writer for Tallapoosa Publishers Inc.