HS sports recap: Fall sports underway
High school sports are officially underway, and here's a look at what's going with the fall teams at Briarwood, Chelsea and Oak Mountain.
FOOTBALL
The Briarwood, Chelsea and Oak Mountain football teams are off and rolling this fall.
In Week 0, Oak Mountain picked up a win over Northridge, Briarwood fell to defending Class 6A state champion Clay-Chalkville and Chelsea lost to Helena.
Last Friday, Briarwood won a thriller over Spain Park, scoring the game-winning touchdown on the final play; Chelsea suffered a heartbreaking defeat to Calera; and Oak Mountain edged Pelham to start 2-0.
This week, those three teams begin region play in their respective regions. Briarwood hosts Chilton County, Chelsea hosts Tuscaloosa County in the first game on the Hornets’ new turf and Oak Mountain heads to Hewitt-Trussville.
VOLLEYBALL
The local volleyball teams have played a week-and-a-half worth of matches so far, as they dig into the new year.
Briarwood is off to a hot start, posting an 11-4 record so far. In regular season action last week, the Lions played a pair of tri-matches, splitting both. In one, they fell to Northridge 2-0 and beat Paul Bryant 2-0. In the second, they defeated Tuscaloosa County 2-0 but lost to Chelsea 2-1.
The Lions won the West Morgan Tournament over the weekend, sweeping every match without dropping a set. Briarwood notched victories over Wilson, John Paul II, Lawrence County, Lexington, West Morgan and Lawrence County again for the title.
This week, Briarwood hosts Calera and Leeds on Tuesday for a tri-match. On Thursday, they head to Moody for a tri-match with the Blue Devils and Ashville. Over the weekend, the Lions head to Montgomery Academy for the Mac Attack Tournament.
Chelsea is off to a strong start as well, posting an 11-3 record so far. The Hornets dropped a regular season match to Pelham last Tuesday, before sweeping a tri-match against Tuscaloosa County and Briarwood on Thursday.
Over the weekend, Chelsea went undefeated and won the Vestavia Hills Classic. The Hornets earned wins over Fairhope, Arab, Springville, Oxford and Helena.
During the week, Madison Moore notched 202 assists and 12 aces, eclipsing 1,000 career assists. Emma Pohlmann had 71 kills, 79 digs, 11 aces and 7 blocks, while Lauren Buchanan posted 93 kills, 44 digs, 19 aces and 10 blocks.
This Thursday, Chelsea plays its first Class 7A, Area 6 contest at Hewitt-Trussville.
Oak Mountain is 5-3 on the year now. Last week, the Eagles lost to Hoover on Tuesday and beat Homewood on Thursday in regular season action. Over the weekend, Oak Mountain overcame some early struggles to win the silver bracket in the Vestavia Hills Classic.
The Eagles suffered losses to Arab and Jasper, with wins over Shades Valley, Sylacauga and Fort Payne.
Stat leaders from the week:
- Mabrey Whitehead: 45 kills, 5 blocks, 65 digs, 11 aces.
- Ava Heath: 37 kills, 2 blocks, 56 digs, 7 aces.
- Lauren Schuessler: 22 kills, 1 block, 70 assists, 45 digs, 9 aces.
This week, Oak Mountain heads to John Carroll on Tuesday, hosts Hoover on Thursday and plays in the Tournament of Champions in Guntersville over the weekend.
CROSS-COUNTRY
The Oak Mountain cross-country team began the season at the Waffle House Yellow Jacket Invitational last Saturday in Oxford.
The Eagles had two boys finish in the top five, with Matthew Womack and John Shoemaker crossing the finish line back to back, in fourth and fifth. Womack completed the race in 17:49, while Shoemaker finished in 17:59.
Cecil Fields (11th), Ryan Cox (13th), Colin Gilley (16th), Whitt Kilgore (18th) and Tripp Corrie (20th) all placed in the top 20. Bennett Phillips, Angel Soto-Ceballos and Cooper Jeffcoat also ran for Oak Mountain.
On the girls side, Oak Mountain had four top-10 finishers. Faith Scardino led the way with a third-place finish, running the 5k in 21:22. Lauren Cole was fifth with a time of 21:48. Katie Wright placed seventh in 22:10, while Brighton Bell was 10th with a time of 22:54.
Catarina Williams (13th) and Hayley Datema (18th) also had finishes in the top 20. Selah Whitley, Sophia Swanson, Lyda Marriner and Campbell Robb also ran.
Want to see something else mentioned? Feel free to email sports editor Kyle Parmley at kparmley@starnesmedia.com