WEEKEND PREPS (UPDATED): LAMP boys, girls win in hoops; Andalusia wins 4A football title
BASKETBALL
BOYS
LAMP 57, Beulah 44
The Golden Tigers celebrated homecoming with a 57-44 win over Beulah as junior Ethan Russell led all scorers with 20 points and 11 rebounds.
Sophomore Ezekial Griffin scored 15 points to go along with 16 rebounds. Senior Chance Cook chipped in 10 points and five rebounds coming off the bench for the Tigers.
LAMP (2-4) will travel to Montgomery Academy on Tuesday.
Trinity 58, Beauregard 28
BEAUREGARD -- Cal Bennett scored 13 of his 17 points in the first half to give Trinity a comfortable lead as the Wildcats cruised to a 58-28 win in the Beauregard gym on Thursday night.
Trinity led 14-5 at the end of the first quarter and 26-10 at the half, holding the Hornets to a Logan Ballew field goal in the first quarter and a ZJ Grady field goal in the second. Grady finished with a team-high nine points.
Jackson Taylor added nine points for the Wildcats, who return home and played Catholic on Friday.
Chilton County 71, Montgomery Academy 64
Chilton County extended a six-point halftime lead with an 18-8 run in the third quarter to defeat Montgomery Academy 71-64 at Joe Mooty Court on Thursday night.
Montgomery Academy stormed back in the fourth quarter, scoring 34 points to trim the deficit to four points at one point before the 6A Tigers held off the Eagles by hitting 4 of 5 free throws down the stretch.
Skyler Stovall led Montgomery Academy with 21 points, seven rebounds, four assists and three steals, followed by Cole Caddell with 15 points and six rebounds and DJ Vinson with 10 points, 11 rebounds and three blocked shots. Brewer Welch chipped in seven points and had four assists, while JaShawn Cooper had five points, 12 rebounds and five steals.
Montgomery Academy (4-2) travels to Marbury on Monday before returning home to play LAMP on Tuesday.
Macon East Academy 42, Evangel Christian Academy 29
Jacob Wilson had 13 points, four assists and five steals to lead the Knights to a 42-29 win over the Lions in the Evangel Christian gym on Saturday afternoon.
Brandon Wilkens added 10 points and five rebounds for the Knights, followed by Gunner Justice with nine points and four steals.
Macon East Academy (4-1) travels to Prattville to play Autauga Academy on Monday and to Auburn to play Lee-Scott in a region game on Tuesday.
Evangel Christian travels to Chambers Academy on Monday and then to Selma on Friday for a tournament at Morgan Academy.
Glenwood School 63, Autauga Academy 58
PRATTVILLE -- Dezmen Dickerson scored 17 points to lead the Generals in a hard-fought loss to the Gators on Thursday night in the Autauga Academy gym.
Cameron Wright added 15 points for Autauga, followed by Evan Peak with 14 and Damien Dickerson with 10.
Autauga (1-2) will play host to Macon East Academy on Monday.
GIRLS
St. James 58, Pike Road 35
Ava Card scored 23 points to lead the Trojans to a 58-35 win over the 6A Patriots in the St. James gym on Friday night.
KK Hall added 15 points for St. James, followed by KK Corley with nine.
Jazz Johnson and KJ Fencher each had 11 points to lead the Patriots.
St. James (6-3) will travel to Catholic on Monday, a matchup that will feature the boys’ team for the first time this season, before returning home on Friday to play host to 7A Auburn.
Catholic 66, BTW Magnet 15
Hannah Smith had 22 points, 11 rebounds and three steals to lead the Knights to an easy 66-15 win over BTW Magnet in the Catholic gym on Saturday.
The Knights scored 31 points in the first quarter to take a 24-point lead and led 45-12 at the half.
Allyse Rudolph added 11 points, five steals and three rebounds for the Knights, while Heaven Bailey had 10 points, 15 steals, seven rebounds and seven assists and Andy Aiken had eight points and four steals.
Catholic (8-3) will play host to St. James on Monday.
Pike Road 46, Greenville 33
GREENVILLE -- Jazz Johnson scored 12 points to lead the Patriots to a 46-33 win in the Greenville gym on Saturday.
KJ Fencher added 11 points and Samone Patterson had eight as Pike Road (5-5) returns home to play host to Autaugaville on Monday.
LAMP 58, Beulah 46
Arianna Cannida scored 21 points, pulled down seven rebounds and handed out four assists to lead the Golden Tigers to a 58-46 homecoming win over Beulah in the LAMP gym on Friday night.
Grayson Dickert added 12 points, followed by Serenity Griffin with eight points and nine rebounds.
Brandy Phillips led Beulah with 25 points, followed by Savanna Clements with 14.
LAMP (6-4) travels to Montgomery Academy on Tuesday before returning home to play host to Alabama Christian Academy on Friday.
Fort Dale Academy 43, Hooper Academy 39
HOPE HULL -- The Colts battled back from a 14-point deficit, pulling with a basket on three separate occasions but could not overtake Fort Dale in a 43-39 loss on Thursday night at Darrell Self Gym.
Grace Seale led Hooper with 11 points, followed by Ashbee Norman with 10 points and five assists and Kaylee Midkiff with eight points and six rebounds. KG Taylor added five assists, while Victoria Hagemann had six rebounds.
Anna Claire Thomas led Fort Dale with 17 points, followed by Lilly Van Dyke with nine.
“Fort Dale is a very sound basketball team and we put ourselves in a tough spot with a poorly played first half,” Hooper coach Buzz Phillips said. “We missed eight free throws and three open layups in the first half. The second half was completely different but we could not pull ahead.”
Hooper plays host to Cornerstone Christian on Monday.
Trinity 75, Beauregard 24
BEAUREGARD -- Emma Kate Smith scored 25 points to go along with five assists and four steals as the undefeated Wildcats cruised to a 51-point win in the Beauregard gym on Thursday night.
Francie Morris added 16 points, six assists, five steals and five rebounds for Trinity, followed by Maddie Smith with 14 points, eight assists and six steals and Mya Moskowitz with nine points and six rebounds.
Trinity (9-0) returned home to play Catholic on Friday.
LAMP 44, Reeltown 40
REELTOWN -- Ariana Cannida scored 19 points and had four steals to help the Golden Tigers rally in the final minutes to defeat the Rebels 44-40 on Thursday night in the Reeltown gym.
Serenity Griffin added 10 points, 12 rebounds and five steals for LAMP.
WRESTLING
PCA loses tiebreaker to Elmore County, defeats Holtville in opener
PRATTVILLE -- The Prattville Christian Academy wrestling team opened their season at home on Thursday against Elmore County and Holtville, beating the Bulldogs for their first dual meet win of the season.
In the first dual, Elmore County and PCA tied at 42-42 with Elmore County winning on criteria. In the second dual, PCA beat Holtville 54-21. The Panthers had a number of undefeated wrestlers on the night with Logan Post, Matthew Post, Brody Pugh, Jacob Sabir and David Tubbs-Hill. Cole Young and Carter Copeland picked up big wins on the night for the Panthers.
The PCA wrestlers travel to Brewton on Saturday for the Murder Creek Melee (junior varsity and varsity) Tournament. Wrestling will start at 9 a.m.
Super 7 Championships
Saraland wins 6A title
AUBURN - Ryan Williams scored four first-half touchdowns – a 61-yard run, 24-yard reception, 58-yard run and 1-yard run on the final play before halftime – and Saraland earned a 38-17 victory over Mountain Brook in Friday’s Class 6A championship game at Jordan-Hare Stadium. He was named the MVP.
Only 15 years old, Williams rolled up 230 of Saraland’s 301 yards in the first half. He finished with 15 carries for 188 yards, seven catches for 84 yards and two kick returns for another 20 yards.
“He’s a unique player,” Mountain Brook coach Chris Yeager said. “I have been at Mountain Brook now 24 years, and I think the three best players I have seen are probably Chad Jackson, George Pickens and then him. I have been coaching for 40 years, and he is no doubt one of the top three or four players I have seen. They have gotten quite a few players, but he is really, really special.”
Saraland (14-1) won its first state championship, having finished 6A runner-up in 2014 and 2018. Kelly also finished as 4A runner-up as the head coach at Jackson in 2009.
Fyffe wins 6th title
AUBURN – A chaotic first half ended with Fyffe holding a double-digit lead over B.B. Comer in Thursday’s 27th Super 7 Class 2A state football championship game at Jordan-Hare Stadium. The Fyffe Red Devils, leading 26-16 at intermission, went back to the basics in the second half and clinched their sixth state championship with a 40-28 victory over B.B. Comer.
Fyffe (15-0) took the second-half kickoff and drove 63 yards in 11 clock-sapping plays, including 10 runs, and Brodie Hicks scored his fourth touchdown of the night on a 1-yard run. Hicks finished with 45 carries for 235 yards and five touchdowns and won the game’s MVP award. The five TDs in a 2A final broke the old record (4) set by Michael Lindsey of Elba in 2011 and tied by Justus McDaniel of Mars Hill Bible in 2020.
“We knew we were going to have to run it between the tackles,” Fyffe coach Paul Benefield said. “That’s Brodie’s strong point. … We just mainly ran two of three plays in the second half.”
The Red Devils have earned all six state titles since 2014. B.B. Comer (12-3) was in its first state championship game since 1995.
Andalusia takes home 4A title
AUBURN - Andalusia High School head football coach Trent Taylor played for the Bulldogs in their 7-0 victory over Walter Welborn in the 1977 Class 3A state championship game.
It took Andalusia 45 years to get back to the mountaintop, and Taylor led the way.
Running back Dorian Crittenden ran 31 times for 246 yards and two touchdowns to earn MVP honors as the Bulldogs (14-1) downed Cherokee County (12-3) in the AHSAA Super 7 Class 4A championship game 28-7 Friday at Jordan-Hare Stadium. The championship win came exactly 45 years to the day after the 1977 championship.
“It’s an unbelievable experience,” Taylor said.
It is the first state title as a head coach for Taylor, who has won 267 games in 35 years as a head coach at Kinston, Straughn and Andalusia. His career record is 267-146 overall and 84-25 in eight seasons at his alma mater.
Andalusia played without junior running back J’Marion Burnette, a highly regarded prospect, who left the quarterfinal playoff victory over Anniston with an injury and didn’t play the rest of the season.
The Bulldogs didn’t miss a beat with Crittenden, a 6-foot, 205-pound senior, in the lineup, as he ran for 215 yards in the semifinal victory over Montgomery Catholic and added 246 yards in the championship game.
“It was a big role I seen I had to take,” Crittenden said. “I stood up and did what I had to do.”
Andalusia built a 14-7 halftime lead, as Kaden Denson turned a screen pass into a 34-yard touchdown and Zerrick Jones scored on a 7-yard run. Cherokee County’s Jacob Cornejo scored on a 1-yard run in the second quarter.
The Warriors’ Haden Wheeler appeared to intercept a pass deep in Andalusia territory with 10:29 to go in the third quarter, but the Warriors struggled to get the offense on the field and called timeout.
Andalusia then challenged the call, and instant replay showed Wheeler didn’t complete the catch while going to the ground. Andalusia kept the ball and punted it away.
Crittenden added scoring runs of 1 and 2 yards, as the Bulldogs seized control with its ground game. Andalusia finished with 261 yards on 40 rush attempts.
“I felt like they were making first contact on both sides of the ball,” Cherokee County coach Jacob Kelley said. “We didn’t make enough plays to stay in the thing, especially in the second half.”
Cherokee County’s Jeb Crane left the field on a stretcher in the first half after suffering a leg injury. His teammates rallied, however, and marched to its only touchdown.
Cornejo led Cherokee County with 87 yards on 18 carries, and quarterback Cade Hopper completed 6-of-13 passes for 101 yards. Tristan Brown led the Warriors with 11 tackles.