THURSDAY PREPS: LAMP sweeps Beulah; Sweet Water wins 1A football title

COMBINED REPORTS

BOYS BASKTBALL

LAMP 55, Beulah 43

The LAMP Golden Tigers picked up their first win of the season on Thursday night, defeating Beulah 55-43 as freshman Ezekiel Griffin had 14 points and 15 rebounds.

Nick Harris scored 13 points and Jezreel Fishoe added 10 points for the Golden Tigers (1-8), who play Reeltown on Friday.   

Edgewood Academy 56, Fort Dale Academy 41

ELMORE -- Austin Champion scored 21 points, including eight in the fourth quarter, to help the Wildcats snap a four-game losing skid and defeat the Eagles on Thursday night.

Cooper Hall added 12 points and seven rebounds, Brody Whitt had nine points, six rebounds and four assists and Walker Hall had nine points for the Wildcats (2-4), who play host to Lowndes on Friday.

Ethan Alford led Fort Dale with 21 points.

GIRLS

LAMP 47, Beulah 32

Arianna Cannida led all scorers with 18 points as the Golden Tigers defeated Beulah 47-32 on Thursday night in the LAMP gym.

Mackenzie Lewis added 14 points, Serenity Griffin had five points and six rebounds and Ainsley Klein added three blocks. 

Brandy Phillips, Katie Morris and Ty Williams each had eight points for Beulah. 

The Lady Tigers (4-3) host Reeltown on Friday.

Edgewood Academy 51, Fort Dale Academy 48

ELMORE -- Lindsey Brown scored 28 points, including 18 in the first half, as the Wildcats built a comfortable lead, then had to hang on late to defeat the Eagles on Thursday.

Kennedy Mensch added 14 points for Edgewood, followed by Jaylyn Strength with eight.

Avery Royal led Fort Dale with 14 points, followed by Anna Claire Thomas with 10, Maire Scott with eight and Eden Skipper with eight.

Edgewood (3-3) plays host to Lowndes on Friday.

Stanhope Elmore 57, Elmore County 33

MILLBROOK -- Kelbi Johnson scored 24 points as the Stanhope Elmore girls defeated the Panthers 57-33 on Thursday night.

Kyasia Brown led Elmore County with 15.

FOOTBALL

Sweet Water wins Class 1A title

BIRMINGHAM – Sweet Water High School used a simple game plan to win the school’s 11th state football championship: Run, run and run some more. Then mix in big plays with the rare pass.
It worked to perfection.
Running backs Christian Dunning and Jaland Lewis Horton rushed for more than 150 yards apiece, and quarterback Walker Thompson threw two long touchdown passes as the Bulldogs (14-0) earned a 34-16 victory over Wadley (13-2) in Thursday’s AHSAA Super 7 Class 1A State Football Championship game at  Protective Stadium.
“Our goal was to win state,” Sweet Water coach Pat Thompson said. “This means the world to our community.”
The victory caps an undefeated season for Sweet Water (14-0), which has now won seven state titles since 2006 and 11 in school history, equaling the AHSAA small-school record of 11 football titles by Hazlewood, which is now closed after merging with Courtland to form R.A. Hubbard High School. 

Wadley (13-2) fell one win shy of winning its first state football championship. The Bulldogs led 20-16 at halftime, but the Sweet Water defense pitched a shutout in the second half. Wadley managed just 42 yards after intermission.
“We didn’t execute some things, but we played hard and played hard for four quarters,” Wadley coach Shenan Motley said. “We just came up a little bit short.”
Sweet Water pushed its lead to 27-16 on Dunning’s 8-yard TD run with 9:43 to play in the third quarter, and Horton capped a five-play, 73-yard drive with his 1-yard plunge with 8:20 remaining. Dunning’s 35-yard touchdown run capped the scoring with 2:45 remaining.
Buchanan led Wadley with 72 yards rushing on just two carries. He left the game in the first half with an injury, but he returned to spend most of his time on defense in the second half. Sweet Water limited Wadley to only 196 yards of total offense while also recovering a fumble and intercepting a pass.
In addition to Wilkes’ 12 tackles, Joseph Freeman had eight stops for Wadley, which rebounded from a 3-8 record in 2020 to win 13 games for the first time since the Bulldogs went 13-1 three straight years in 2003, 2004 and 2005.
Trace Luker had 10 tackles, to lead Sweet Water’s defense. Thompson and Jamarlin Albert had seven tackles each. Lashon Young also had an interception.
Finishing the season undefeated on the way to Sweet Water’s 11th state title was icing on the cake, said Thompson. “I couldn’t be more proud of these guys. … Going 14-0 is the greatest thing these guys could accomplish.”