THURSDAY PREPS: Autaugaville boys, Brew Tech girls advance to State Finals; LAMP walks off Beulah in baseball
COMBINED REPORTS
BOYS BASKETBALL
Autaugaville 48, Loachapoka 31
Tyler Smith scored eight of his 10 points midway through the fourth quarter as part of an 18-5 run by Autaugaville as the Eagles made program history with their third consecutive trip to the state tournament in a 48-31 win over the Indians in the Central Regional final played at Garrett Coliseum.
Autaugaville (21-6) will play Oakwood Academy (26-8) on Monday in Legacy Arena at 1:30 p.m., the eighth trip to the state tournament for the Eagles since 1980 but the first time ever the program has made three consecutive trips.
The Eagles erased a three-point deficit at the end of the first quarter with a 9-4 run as seven different players scored for Autaugaville. Tournament Most Valuable Player Jaden Nixon scored seven of his 13 points in the third quarter as the Eagles built a 30-26 lead before Smith took over in the fourth quarter.
Jaseveion Moore led Loachapoka (24-10) with 19 points and 14 rebounds.
Joining Nixon on the all-tournament team are Autaugaville’s Nashaun Palmer, Moore and Zay Shaw of Loachapoka, Samuel Brown of R.C. Hatch and Tommy Tisdale of Keith.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Brew Tech 41, Marbury 39
BIRMINGHAM -- Kenneddi McGhee’s three-point play with six seconds left rallied the Rams from a one-point deficit and gave them the Central Regional championship with a 41-39 win over Marbury on Thursday at Bill Harris Arena.
Brew Tech (13-7) will face Arab (21-12) in the semifinals of the state tournament on Wednesday in Legacy Arena at 6 p.m. Marbury ends the season at 22-4.
The Bulldogs forged ahead early in the second quarter and led for most of the final three quarters, including a 10-point lead midway through the third quarter. Brew Tech went on a 7-0 run to get back in the game, but Marbury still led by four points with a minute left.
Erin Martin took a pass from McGhee and hit a 3-pointer with 54 seconds left to trim the deficit to a point, setting the stage for McGhee’s last second game winner.
McGhee and Jillian Baine each had 16 points to lead Brew Tech, while Dalyce Sanders led Marbury with 15 points.
McGhee was the tournament Most Valuable Player and was joined on the all-tournament team by Martin and Baine of Brew Tech, Gabrielle Brown and Sanders of Marbury and Sylacauga’s Journey Smith.
BOYS TENNIS
Montgomery Academy 9, Houston Academy 0
DOTHAN -- Whit Davis led the Eagles to a 9-0 win over Houston Academy with a 6-0, 6-2 win over Houston Academy’s Mitchell Piedra at No. 1 singles. Davis teamed with Charlie Hill to win at No. 1 doubles as well.
Montgomery Academy (5-1) won its fourth consecutive match with wins at No. 2 singles by Hill, No. 3 singles by John Alford, No. 4 singles by Jackson Brown, No. 5 singles by Ford Morano and No. 6 singles by Edwin Wu.
Alford and Brown won at No. 2 doubles and Ron Sharma teamed with Morano to win at No.3.
Montgomery Academy returns to action on Wednesday against Dothan in a 7A Section 2 match at Lagoon Park Tennis Center.
SOFTBALL
Macon East Academy 8, Lowndes Academy 1
ELMORE -- Kylee Smith allowed just four hits and one unearned run in beating the Rebels 8-1 in the Edgewood Tournament on Thursday afternoon.
Lathan Johnson, Kaiden Byrom and Casey Stengell led the Knights with two hits each.
Macon East Academy (7-1) returns to action on Saturday in the single-elimination bracket of the tournament.
Edgewood Academy 4, Macon East Academy 3
ELMORE -- Macon East lost its first game of the season on Thursday in the opening game of the Edgewood Tournament despite hitting a pair of home runs.
Both Jamya Powell and Miya Tatum had home runs in the third inning but the Wildcats were able to secure the victory. Powell, Tatum, Kylee Smith, Kaiden Byrom, Lathan Johnson and Abigail Hardy all had one hit for the Knights.
Macon East Academy (6-1) returned to action later in the day against Lowndes Academy.
BASEBALL
LAMP 4, Beulah 3
Grayson Hall had two hits with the second a seventh-inning walk-off single to plate the winning run for LAMP, which stayed perfect on the season at 4-0.
The Golden Tigers return to action Friday against Montgomery Academy.