Fairview's Morgan Lindsay (20) blocks a shot during the Lady Aggies' 67-54 win over West Point Thursday night. (Martha Needham for The Cullman Tribune)
FAIRVIEW – Thursday night was senior night at Fairview High School and both the Aggies and Lady Aggies were able to celebrate with victories on the court. The Lady Aggies avenged their loss to the Lady Warriors in the county tournament finals and the Aggies were able to hold off a late push from West Point to capture a win as well. In between the two varsity matchups, Fairview’s seniors were recognized in front of the home crowd, including Luke Yarbrough who was recognized for scoring his 1,000th career point earlier this season.
Fairview 67 – West Point 54 (varsity girls)
West Point actually appeared to be in control of this game most of the way but a huge fourth-quarter run from the Lady Aggies lifted them to an impressive win over the Lady Warriors. A 3-pointer from Molly Pendley in the final seconds of the opening quarter gave West Point a 22-11 advantage going into the second and the lead grew to 31-17 a few minutes before the half. Both teams exchanged baskets in the final couple minutes of the second quarter and the Lady Warriors maintained a 35-20 lead at the break.
Fairview started fast in the second half and trimmed the lead to 41-35 by the midway point of the third quarter after a 3-pointer from Molly McKelvy. West Point was able to respond on the other end of the floor, but a three Morgan Lindsay in the final seconds of the third cut the lead to 49-41 at the start of the final period.
The fourth quarter was a complete rout by the Lady Aggies. Back-to-back baskets from Lindsay cut the lead to 52-50 early in the fourth and a three from Dasiy Manasco put them in front 53-52 by the midway point of the period. The Lady Warriors were held to just one more basket for the rest of the fourth and Fairview pulled away to win it 67-54. West Point was outscored 26-5 in the fourth quarter.
Several players finished in double figures for Fairview, led by Manasco with 18. Lindsay finished behind her with 14, followed by Maddie Yeager with 10 and Isabella McGukin with nine. Pendley led the Lady Warriors with 20 points, followed by Sheridan Bowers with 13 and Ryleigh Jones with 10.
The Lady Aggies will look to keep the momentum rolling when they face Good Hope in the Class 4A, Area 12 tournament Monday night at 7:30. West Point will look to bounce back when it hosts Holly Pond Friday night.
Fairview 67 – West Point 63 (varsity boys)
Neither team was able to create much separation for most of the game, but a late run from the Aggies allowed them to hold onto a big win in front of their home crowd. A layup from Devin Gibson put Fairview ahead 12-6 midway through the opening quarter and Sawyer Daniel added a jumper at the buzzer to give the Aggies a 19-11 lead at the end of the first.
Back-to-back buckets from Kobe Bowers cut the Fairview lead to 26-23 with just over two minutes to play in the half, but the Warriors weren’t able to get out ahead. Rylan Jones tipped in a missed free throw with just over a second to play in the quarter to cut the Aggies' lead to 33-28 at the half.
A pair of layups from Kolton Sapp trimmed the lead to 33-32 early in the third quarter and he added two free throws to put West Point in front by one. Fairview responded in the latter half of the period, and a three from Dow Nichols put the Aggies ahead 45-39. Fairview carried a 49-43 lead into the final period.
A 3-pointer from Bowers cut the lead to 54-51 early in the fourth and a pair of free throws from Tyler Thompson put the Warriors in front 57-56 midway through the period. After that, the Aggies were able to create points off of turnovers, and a layup from Daniel put Fairview on top 65-57 with less than two minutes to play. The Aggies held on to win it 67-63.
Ten different players scored for the Aggies in the win, led by Nichols with 12, Austin Turner with 11 and Daniel with 10. Sapp and Bowers each posted 18 points for West Point.
Fairview will try to stay hot when the Aggies travel to Oneonta to play Good Hope in the Class 4A, Area Tournament Tuesday night, and the Warriors will look to put this one behind them when they host Holly Pond Friday night.
GOOD HOPE – The Raiders celebrated senior night on Thursday as well and like Fairview, they also collected a pair of wins to celebrate. The Lady Raiders edged out Vinemont 40-39 and the Raiders cruised past the Eagles 68-31. Along with honoring this year’s senior class, Cole Maddox was also recognized for scoring his 1,000th career point for the Raiders in the county championship game last week.
Good Hope 40 – Vinemont 39 (varsity girls)
The varsity girls' matchup was a tight one throughout. After the first quarter, the Lady Eagles held a slim 11-8 lead and took a 21-20 lead into the locker room at the half. It would come down to which team wanted it the most after both teams went into the final period tied up at 30. Big shots kept the score close, but in the end, big free throws from Savanna Derrick and a pair of big shots by Ivey Maddox helped Good Hope take the game in a nail-biter, 40-39.
Savanna Derrick, Maddox, Heather Tetro and Rudi Derrick each finished with seven points to lead the way for the Lady Raiders. Cayleigh Garmon and Desire' Odachowski each added six. Good Hope will look to go into its area tournament with some added momentum when it travels to Cleveland on Friday night.
Sadie Stanley finished with 19 points for Vinemont, and Madysen Hacker added nine points. The Lady Eagles will travel on Holly Pond to take on the Lady Broncos in the Class 3A, Area 13 tournament Tuesday night at 7.
Good Hope 68 – Vinemont 31 (varsity boys)
Good Hope didn't waste any time getting off to a quick start as five different Raiders found the scoring column in the opening period, led by Cole Maddox, who ended up with nine in the quarter. The Raiders led 17-9 after one and widened the lead to 37-21 by the half. Good Hope wasn’t challenged again after that, rolling to a 68-31 victory in its final regular season home game.
Every Good Hope player found the scoring sheet, led by Cole Maddox who finished with 22 points. Drew Maddox and Noah Fendley each added 11 points. The Raiders will look to end the regular season strong when they travel to Cleveland on Friday night.
For Vinemont, Teague Whatley led the way with 16 points. The Eagles will travel to Holly Pond to take on the Broncos in the area tournament next Tuesday night at 8:30.
Other Thursday night scores:
Holly Pond 47 – Randolph 25 (varsity girls)
Randolph 53 – Holly Pond 42 (varsity boys)
Locust Fork 56 – Hanceville 31 (varsity girls)
Hanceville 53 – Locust Fork 46 (varsity boys)
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