By Johnny Sanders, Sports Editor
MOODY – With one game left to play in the regular season, the red-hot Moody Blue Devil basketball team looked to keep their momentum moving in the right direction in a Thursday-night game against the Vincent Yellow Jackets. Shut-down defense and big nights from Caden Helms and Davion Dozier pulled Moody through despite Vincent’s best efforts leading to the 4-point win for the Blue Devils.
In the first quarter, Moody held the Yellow Jackets to just 8 points. On the offensive side of the ball, Moody was just one point better with 9 points. Dozier started his big night off with 4 points combined with a three-pointer by Kolby Seymour to lead the Blue Devils’ scoring.
The Moody defense would hold Vincent to another 8-point quarter, shutting down the Yellow Jacket offense. Caden Helms would score a whopping 12 points in the second period and Dozier would add 6 to make it an 18-point effort for the Blue Devils in the second period. Moody would go into the half with a 27-16 lead.
It was almost like déjà vu in the third as Moody’s defensive effort would once again hold the Yellow Jackets to 8 points for the quarter. Moody would score 11 on the offensive side of the ball with Helms scoring 5 points with 3 other Blue Devils getting 2 each to close out the period. Moody would head into the fourth quarter with a comfortable 38-24 lead over Vincent.
Vincent would find their greatest success in the final stanza of the game, gut-punching the Moody defense and scoring 17 points. But it would not be enough. Moody would score 7 points to close out the game, just enough to seal the win for the Blue Devils. Dozier would score 3 in the quarter followed by Helms and Chase Jackson with 2 each.
Caden Helms had a spectacular night, scoring 19 points. Davion Dozier was right behind him with 15 of his own.
Moody coach Chad Bates said, “Glad to get a win on Senior Night for my 5 seniors. They have all bee in the program since 7th grade. It’s been fun to watch them grow physically and skill-wise.
Bates continued, “Vincent has a good team. They won their area in the regular season. Coach Hader always has them ready to play. We did enough offensively and played really well defensively for 3 quarters.”
Moody will play Pell City Friday night before participating in the area tournament next week at Springville High School.