Basketball
Aliceville Yellow Jackets Celebrate First Ever 2A Basketball State Championship!
Aliceville Yellow Jackets
By Thomas Wilkins
Sports Correspondent
Lady Waves rally in 4th, fall to Holt 47-29
Gordo’s Taylor Clegg hits a layup during the first quarter against Holt.
GORDO - The Gordo Lady wave took on Holt Thursday night, in a battle of winless teams, unless you count Aliceville's recent forfeit against Gordo as a win. It would be Holt that came out on top with their first win of the season, a 47-29 win.
The Lady Wave got on the board first on an Emily Bryant layup for a 2-0 lead. Holt would then tie the game at 2-2 on a Williams layup.
Neither team scored for almost three minutes until Williams broke a 2-2 tie with a layup with 3:39. Gordo's Taylor Clegg would answer shortly after with a steal and layup to tie the game at 4-4.
Tornadoes win Area 9 regular season title with win over Holy Spirit
Pickens County’s Jacoris Barnes hits a layup in a 74-41 win over Berry
The Pickens County Tornadoes, ranked sixth in Class 1A, captured the regular season Area 9 championship on January 14, by defeating the Holy Spirit Saints 67-63.
It was Senior night at Pickens County and all varsity basketball seniors were honored between the boys and girls games.
The Seniors honored were Kelcei Phillips, Jacoris Barnes, Ladesmon Brown, K.J. Byrd, Jaylon Jones, Xavier King and Xerrance Washington.
Tough week for Lady Tornadoes
The Pickens County Lady Tornadoes had a tough week of play, dropping to 1-9 on the season. On Saturday, January 9, the Lady Tornadoes played the Sipsey Valley Lady Bears and lost a heartbreaker 49-47 in overtime. Sipsey Valley led 9-6 after one period and then held a one-point lead at halftime, 19-18. Pickens County took the lead after three quarters, 28-25, but the Lady Bears came back in the fourth to tie the game at 45-45 at the end of regulation. The Lady Tornadoes could score only two points in overtime and Sipsey Valley came away with a 49-47 victory.
Top-ranked tornadoes blow away Lions
Pickens County’s Xavier King puts up a shot against Hubbertville.
BY BARRY AMBROSE
Sports Correspondent
The #1-ranked team in Class 1A, the Pickens County Tornadoes upped their record to 5-1 (4-0 in the Area) with an easy 77-27 win over the Hubbertville Lions.
Pickens County went on a 7-0 run to start the game, and had a 17-11 lead at the end of the first quarter.
To begin the second quarter, Pickens County went on a run again, this time 12-0, to open up a 29-11 lead.
Lady Pirates pick up area win over Heritage Christian
Pickens Academy’s Britney Fitch (15) looks to pass to a teammate during PA’s 47-21 win.
BY BRIAN HAMILTON
Managing Editor
brian@pcherald.com
PA Boys fall to Eagles 57-34
PA’s Chandler Box (10) goes for a layup while Heritage Christian’s Ty Stoutermire defends.
BY BRIAN HAMILTON
Managing Editor
brian@pcherald.com
Heritage Christian started fast and finished fast, as the Eagles cruised to a 57-34 region win Monday night.
The Eagles jumped out to a quick 9-0 lead, as Tobias Stoutermire nailed two corner threes, followed by a three by Ty Stoutermire.
Pickens Academy got on the board with a jumper by Rafe Brown, cutting the lead to 9-2. A layup by Aidan Johnson would make the score 9-4 with 2:52 left in the first quarter, as Heritage went on a scoring drought.
Lady Pirates suffer heartbreaking Elite Eight loss to Lowndes
Pickens Academy coach Wade Goodman goes over strategy with his team during a timeout.
By BRIAN HAMILTON, Editor
The Lady Pirates fought back from a four-point deficit with just over a minute left to take a one-point lead, however, Lowndes Academy would score with 25 seconds left in the game to win 31-30.
“It’s a tough loss and it needs to hurt,” Pickens Academy head coach Wade Goodman said. “When they hurt like that and we’ve got four juniors and a couple sophomores coming back, that should make them get in that gym and get better. We didn’t do that this year. It needs to hurt so bad that it gets them in the gym.”
Pickens County downs Meek to advance to regional semifinal
Pickens County’s Jawan Petty (10) and Meek’s Caleb Aaron (3) battle for the opening tip in the Tornadoes’ 85-60 subregional win over the Tigers.
By BRIAN HAMILTON, Editor
Pickens County was able to withstand a scoring barrage by Meek due Payton Key and Caleb Aaron last Tuesday night to win 85-60 in the subregional playoff and advance to the northwest regional semifinals in Hanceville. Key finished the game with 35 points, while Aaron added 18, as the two career 1,000-point accounted for 53 of Meek’s 60 points. The Tornadoes would use a stingy full-court press, however, to pull away and win comfortably.