The Reset: Eagles win area tournament
Over the course of the year, 280 Living will keep you up to date on the various local high school athletic teams. For previous weekly updates, click here.
BASKETBALL
Briarwood
Last week, the Briarwood basketball teams competed in the Class 5A, Area 8 tournaments. The boys saw their season come to an end on Thursday evening in a 53-44 loss to Woodlawn. The Lions finished the year with a 15-10 record.
The Lady Lions knocked off John Carroll 46-33 on Tuesday to keep their season alive. Maddie Vaughn and Kate Saunders each scored 13 points in the victory. On Friday, the girls fell to Ramsay 69-22.
Briarwood’s girls are 16-9 overall and travel to Sylacauga on Monday evening for the 5A sub-regional round. The winner of the game moves on to the regional tournament later in the week.
Chelsea
The Chelsea basketball teams played in the Class 6A, Area 8 tournaments last week. The boys’ season ended on Wednesday in a 52-46 loss to Calera. In the game, Caleb Moore had 13 points and seven rebounds, while Andrew Messier and Jordan Thomas each scored eight points. The Hornets finished the year with a 12-18 record.
The Lady Hornets won the area tournament, starting with a 57-35 win over Calera on Tuesday. In the game, Jordan Parker led the way with 26 points, while Pressley Rains added 10 points. On Thursday, they won the tournament with a 39-37 triumph over Pelham.
Chelsea’s girls now boast a 25-5 record. They host Russell County on Monday evening in the 6A sub-regional round, looking to advance to regionals for the second straight year.
Oak Mountain
The Oak Mountain basketball teams kept their seasons alive with wins in the Class 7A, Area 5 tournament last week.
On Tuesday, the Lady Eagles pulled out a come-from-behind 44-38 win over Thompson to clinch the program’s first regional tournament berth in several years. Oak Mountain trailed for much of the first three quarters, but Abi Brown’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer at the end of the third quarter tied the game and the Lady Eagles prevailed in the final period. For the contest, Taniyah Smith led the way with 14 points. Abby Gordon scored 12 and Brown chipped in 10. On Thursday, Hoover beat Oak Mountain 88-52 in the final.
The Oak Mountain boys routed Tuscaloosa County 71-38 on Thursday, behind 24 points from Zane Nelson. Noah Young and Wilder Evers each scored 10 in the victory. On Friday night, Oak Mountain held off a pesky Hoover team to win 52-44 in overtime to win the area tournament.
The Oak Mountain girls are 10-17 overall and the boys are 20-8. This week, both teams will play in the Class 7A Northeast Regional semifinals at Jacksonville State on Thursday. The girls play Gadsden City at 9 a.m. and the boys play Huntsville at 10:30 a.m.
Westminster-Oak Mountain
The Westminster-Oak Mountain basketball teams competed in the Class 1A, Area 8 tournaments last week, with both advancing to the next round of the postseason. The boys beat Appalachian 76-72 on Tuesday. Houston Likens led the Knights with 33 points and Sam Bradford added 20 points. On Thursday, the Knights fell to Cornerstone 78-66 in the final.
The girls won the area tournament with a pair of wins. The Lady Knights defeated Cornerstone 48-26 on Monday night, as Virginia Welch led the way with 12 points and 15 rebounds. Morgan White had 11 points and Megan Gache posted eight points and 10 rebounds. On Thursday, they knocked off Appalachian 46-31 to win the title. White had 16 points and five steals, while Welch had 12 points, eight rebounds and six steals.
Both teams will play in the 1A sub-regional round. The Lady Knights host Lanett on Monday and the boys team travels to Lanett on Tuesday.
TRACK AND FIELD
The local track and field teams finished their indoor seasons this past weekend at the state meet at the Birmingham CrossPlex.
For Briarwood, Jake Nunn won the 400-meter dash in 48.56 seconds and placed second in the 800. Riley Margene was the other Lions’ podium finisher, as he was third in the pole vault event.
Teanna Cason was Chelsea’s lone podium finisher, as she placed third in the 3,200.
Oak Mountain’s Evie Bell had a great state meet, placing third in the 3,200, fifth in the 1,600 and sixth in the 800. Walker Cole was second in the 3,200 and third in the 1,600. Harrison Dimick won the shot put event with a throw of 56 feet, 7 inches.
WRESTLING
Oak Mountain’s wrestling team placed third as a team in the Class 7A South Super Section tournament over the weekend. Chelsea wrestled in the Class 6A South Super Section and finished fifth as a team.
SOCCER
Briarwood
The Briarwood boys soccer team went 2-1 at the Southern Shootout in Foley last week. Briarwood shut out Murphy 4-0 and Baldwin County 8-0. The Lions dropped their contest against Fairhope 3-1 to finish out the tournament.
Chelsea
Chelsea boys soccer won the Pinson Valley Invitational Tournament over the weekend. The Hornets started the tournament with a 3-0 win over Springville on Thursday. Chelsea grabbed a 2-1 victory over Oneonta before wrapping up the tournament as champions with a 3-2 win over Pinson Valley.
The Chelsea girls began their quest back to the state finals with a close, 4-3 win over Hewitt-Trussville on Friday.
Oak Mountain
Oak Mountain’s girls team earned a 3-0 win over Auburn, a 2-0 win over Enterprise and a 7-0 win over Foley during the Southern Shootout in Foley. Oak Mountain left Foley outscoring opponents 12-0 during the tournament.
The boys team went 1-1-1 during the Southern Shootout, playing some tough matches. Enterprise got the upper hand over Oak Mountain with a 2-1 win. Oak Mountain progressed in the next match, but ended up tying with McGill-Toolen 3-3 to close out the first day of competition. After being down 1-0, the Eagles stormed back to ultimately win 2-1 over Davidson to finish the tournament the following day.
— What else would you like to see mentioned? For any suggestions, feel free to email sports editor Kyle Parmley at kparmley@starnespublishing.com.