PREP UPDATE: Autaugaville, Billingsley knocked out of AHSAA regionals

COMBINED REPORTS

Keith 68, Autaugaville 52

BIRMINGHAM -- Autaugaville took a 21-19 lead into the second quarter, but the Eagles were outscored 19-3 over the next eight minutes and never recovered in a 68-52 loss in the Central Regional at Bill Harris Arena on Wednesday afternoon. 

Keith (17-9) will face Calhoun for the 1A Central Regional championship on Monday at 3 p.m., with the winner advancing to the state tournament against the Belgreen-Marion County winner in Legacy Arena on Feb. 26 at 9 a.m.

Makasiah Burns led Autaugaville (12-12) with 33 points, 10 rebounds and three blocked shots, shooting 9 of 18 from the field and 15 of 24 at the free-throw line.

Shania Moore led Keith with 17 points and five steals, followed by Adasia Atkins with 15 points and five steals, Aniyah Richardson with 12 points and 12 rebounds and Ja’Kayla Moore with 11 points, five assists and five steals.

Calhoun 45, Billingsley 34

BIRMINGHAM -- Billingsley, bidding for the first regional win in program history, watched it all unravel in a nightmarish fourth quarter as Calhoun outscored the Bears 15-5 to take a 45-34 victory in the Central Regional at Bill Harris Arena on Wednesday night.

Since the regional format was adopted in 1994, Billingsley has just two area championships and one previous trip to the regionals in 2004, but a win over A.L. Johnson in a sub-regional game had the Bears matched up with Calhoun in the regional semifinals and the game tied at 30-30 early in the fourth quarter. 

Other than a Calhoun free throw, the quarter remained scoreless for more than three minutes before Alivia Mason knocked down a 3-pointer to make it 34-30 with 4:43 remaining. Nearly two minutes later, Mason connected on another 3-pointer for a 39-30 lead to send the Tigers into the regional final.

Calhoun (13-13) will play Keith for the 1A Central Regional championship on Monday at 3 p.m., with the winner advancing to the state tournament against the Belgreen-Marion County winner in Legacy Arena on Feb. 26 at 9 a.m.

Derrica Motley led Billingsley (16-7) with 14 points, five rebounds and three assists. Alana Jones added 10 points, seven rebounds and three steals.

Mason led Calhoun with 19 points, followed by Layla Gary with 13 points, seven rebounds, five assists and four steals. 

BOYS TENNIS

Montgomery Academy 8, Dothan 1

DOTHAN -- Montgomery Academy opened the season with a convincing 8-1 victory over Class 7A section opponent Dothan on Wednesday. 

Singles winners for MA were Jackson Brown, Edwin Wu, Ford Morano, Duncan McInnes, Ron Sharma and Liam Baker. 

Doubles winners for MA were the teams of Sharma-Morano and McInnes-Baker. 

The Eagles (1-0) continue section play on Thursday with a match against Prattville High at Lagoon Park Tennis Center.

GIRLS TENNIS

St. James 5, LAMP 4

The Trojans split the singles competition with the Golden Tigers on Wednesday, then secured the victory by winning two out of three doubles matches.

In singles, Reilly Taylor defeated LAMP’s Reena Chen in a hard-fought match at No. 1, Karly Bailey defeated Dabeen Choi at No. 4 and Davis Wilsford beat Choeun Kim at No. 6.

For LAMP, Hannah Lee won a tight battle with Stella Sponseller at No. 2, Grace Liu beat Bailey Woods at No. 3 and McKenzie Kim defeated Helen Johnston at No. 5.

In doubles, the Trojans won two matches, with Taylor and Addison Seale beating Lee and Liu at No. 1 and Sponseller and Bailey beating Chen and Kim at No. 2. At No. 3, LAMP’s Hannah Baik and Choi defeated Johnston and Wilsford.