The Reset: Lions football advances, basketball underway

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.

FOOTBALL

The Briarwood football team went down to Jackson and came away with a 24-14 victory in the second round of the Class 5A playoffs. Click here for a recap of the game.

This Friday, the Lions host unbeaten Bibb County in the quarterfinals.

BASKETBALL

Chelsea

The Chelsea basketball teams began play last week on Tuesday, as the Hornets hosted Clay-Chalkville. The Lady Hornets took care of the Cougars in a 39-23 victory. The game got off to a bit of a slow start and was tied at 6-6 after a quarter of play, but Chelsea took control in the second quarter and held a 22-13 lead at the half. In the third quarter, Chelsea’s defense surrendered just two points to Clay-Chalkville. Jordan Parker led all scorers with 14 points, with Sydney Schwallie adding nine points and Mary Henley Carney knocking down a pair of 3-pointers for six points. Aukeivah Tellis and Cheyenne Pearson scored six points each for Clay.

In the boys game, Clay-Chalkville came out on top with a 58-40 victory. The Cougars shot the ball well in their season opener, draining 10 3s on the night. Clay-Chalkville opened up a 30-19 lead at halftime and never allowed the game to get tight in the second half. Daniel Beachem led the Cougars with 17 points. Isiah Daniel followed with 16 points, as he knocked down four 3-pointers. Jake McDaniel buried four triples as well to score 12 points. Jacob Tierney led Chelsea with 11 points.

On Thursday, both Chelsea teams fell to Vestavia Hills. The Lady Hornets suffered their first loss in a 55-45 defeat to the Lady Rebels. Parker led all scorers with 16 points, with teammate Ellen Fleming adding 11. Emma Smith led Vestavia Hills with 15 points, five rebounds and four assists. Ally Smith and Alison Stubbs each scored 13 points. The boys dropped a 65-58 decision. Andrew Messier led all scorers with 21 points and four assists for the Hornets and Tierney added 13 points. Vestavia’s Jude Cleary led the Rebels with 20 points, while Coleman Barranco had 13 points and six rebounds. 

Chelsea hosted Wenonah on Friday night, with the girls picking up a hard-fought 63-50 win. Pressley Rains and Fleming each scored 17 for the Lady Hornets in the victory. The boys suffered a 58-42 loss to the Dragons. Messier led the way for Chelsea with 19 points and Tierney added 13.

The boys played their fourth game of the week on Saturday, as the Hornets took down Scottsboro 43-40 at the Ramsay Tip-Off Classic. Chelsea’s Caleb Moore scored an and-1 basket with seven seconds to play to put the Hornets ahead, and Messier blocked a shot at the final buzzer to preserve the victory. Bryant Royster led the Hornets with 13 points. 

The Chelsea girls are now 3-1 on the season and the boys are 2-3. This week, the Hornets travel to Homewood on Tuesday and host Tuscaloosa County on Thursday. The boys begin play in Spain Park’s Thanksgiving tournament on Saturday.

Westminster-Oak Mountain

The Westminster-Oak Mountain girls basketball team picked up its second straight win to start the season last Tuesday with a 53-26 win over Holy Spirit. The Lady Knights were led by their three seniors in the victory. Morgan White led the way with 19 points, four rebounds, four assists and five steals; Megan Gache finished with eight points, 10 rebounds, four assists, three steals and three blocks; and Virginia Welch had eight points, two rebounds and two steals.

The Lady Knights remained unbeaten with a convincing 54-22 win over Montevallo on Friday. The trio of seniors led the way once again. White contributed 13 points, five rebounds and three steals; Welch filled the stat sheet with 13 points, eight boards, two assists and five steals; and Gache had 10 points, six rebounds and five assists. 

Westminster suffered its first loss of the season on Saturday with a 53-49 defeat at the hands of Prattville Christian. White led the way with 17 points, five rebounds, six assists and four blocks. Welch notched a double-double of 11 points, 10 rebounds, five steals and a block. Gache tallied four points, six rebounds, one steal and three blocks.

The Lady Knights are now 3-1 on the season. This week, they play Danville on Thursday and Altamont on Friday.

Oak Mountain

The Oak Mountain girls basketball team opened its season last Tuesday with a solid 50-38 win over Mountain Brook. Hannah Edwards put forth a monster effort, going for 16 points, 15 rebounds and three blocks. Abi Brown was a big contributor as well, as she scored 16 points and knocked down 4-of-6 shots from beyond the arc. Taniyah Smith pulled down nine rebounds for the Lady Eagles as well. For Mountain Brook, Ann Vandevelde led the way with 15 points and Helen Dorough added nine points.

Homewood’s girls remained perfect with a 47-46 victory on Thursday night at Oak Mountain, as Anna Harbin’s basket with a second remaining in the ball game clinched the victory. Kassidy Schnoer managed 13 points. Anna Grace Gibbons also scored 10 for Homewood. Brown led the Lady Eagles with 15 points, followed by Edwards’ 10.

The Lady Eagles hosted Midfield on Saturday and fell 52-48. After falling behind by as many as 16 in the first half, Oak Mountain rallied to tie things up midway through the fourth quarter before Midfield prevailed. Edwards led Oak Mountain in scoring with 24 points, with Julia Tucker scoring seven and Brown adding six. Without point guards Riley Sullivan and Kathleen Matuszak, coach Beth Parmer credited Anna Fleming and Savannah Garrett for coming off the bench and sparking the comeback effort.

The Lady Eagles are now 1-2 on the season and the boys will begin play this week. Oak Mountain will travel to Helena on Tuesday and host Hewitt-Trussville on Friday. On Saturday, the girls begin play in the Encore Rehab Thanksgiving Classic at Hartselle and the boys start in Spain Park’s Thanksgiving tournament.

Also this week, the Briarwood basketball teams begin their seasons. On Tuesday, the Lions host Trinity Presbyterian and travel to Moody on Thursday.

BOWLING

The Oak Mountain boys bowling team picked up a par of area wins on Thursday, knocking off Fayetteville and Winterboro. The Eagles bowled a school record 1,459 in the victory and improved to 3-0 overall, 2-0 in area. The Oak Mountain girls also beat Fayetteville and Winterboro to improve to 2-0 in area play.

— What else would you like to see mentioned? For any suggestions, feel free to email sports editor Kyle Parmley at kparmley@starnespublishing.com.