PREP BASKETBALL: St. Bernard Saints, Lady Saints split home opener against Meek

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Meek’s Reagan Aaron shoots over a defender during the Lady Tigers’ 41-20 win at St. Bernard Thursday night. (Nick Griffin for The Cullman Tribune)

CULLMAN, Ala. – The Meek Tigers made their way to St. Bernard Thursday night for their first games of the season and for the Saints and Lady Saints, this was the first home matchup of the year. Both games were lopsided with the Lady Tigers knocking off St. Bernard 41-20 and the Saints putting away Meek 44-28.

Meek 41 – St. Bernard 20 (varsity girls)

The Lady Tigers got off to a fast start in this one, taking a 15-3 lead by the end of the opening quarter. Meek didn’t slow down and extended its lead to 25-8 by the halftime break.

The Lady Saints managed to make it a 27-12 game midway through the third quarter but an 8-2 run by the Lady Tigers made it 35-14 going into the final frame. Meek pulled away 39-18 early in the fourth and that score held for most of the period. St. Bernard got a late bucket but when the buzzer sounded, the Lady Tigers were on top 41-20.

Abby Phillips led Meek with 14 points in the win, 11 of which came in the first quarter. Madison Smith and Hannah Taylor each added nine points, Savannah Smith posted six and Reagan Aaron finished the night with three points.

Claire Sanders led the Lady Saints with 10 points in the loss and Emma Tafazoli finished next with four. Claudia Fallin, Jackelyn Arteaga and Amelia Tafazoli each added two points for St. Bernard.

St. Bernard 44 – Meek 28 (varsity boys)

The Saints flipped the script in the boys’ game. St. Bernard quickly jumped out to 5-1 lead in the opening quarter had a 12-3 advantage by the start of the second. Back to back three-point baskets by Alex Shoaff stretched the lead to 20-5 early in the second and the Saints continued to pour it on.

Shoaff knocked down his fifth three of the opening half late in the second quarter to make it 26-7 and St. Bernard went to the locker room with a big, 28-8 lead at the half. The Saints opened the third quarter on an 8-0 run to pull ahead 36-8 midway through the period but the Tigers managed to cut it to 39-12 by the start of the fourth quarter.

Meek began to create some turnovers in the final frame and trimmed the lead down inside of 20 at one point but it was too little, too late and St. Bernard pulled away to collect a 44-28 win on its home floor.

Shoaff led all scorers with 21 points and knocked down six shots from three-point range for the Saints in the win. Caleb Guthery finished behind Shoaff with nine points, Nikolas Borths posted five, Jose Zatarain added three and William Tang and Kole Gentry each scored two for St. Bernard.

Stuart Waldrep led the Tigers with 19 points in the loss, Braxton Dickerson chipped in with four, David Tidwell and Robert Ehlman eached added two and Jarrett Benson finished with a point for Meek.

St. Bernard and Meek will both be back in action tomorrow when they travel to take on Winston County and Brilliant, respectively.

Other Thursday scores:

Madison Academy 53 – Cullman 28 (varsity girls)

West Point 86 – Vinemont 21 (varsity girls)

Madison Academy 73 – Cullman 61 (varsity boys)

West Point 81 – Vinemont 52 (varsity boys)

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