Photo by Erin Nelson. Starnes Media
Briarwood’s Jolee Giadrosich (2) sets the ball in a match against Mountain Brook held at Spartan Arena on Tuesday, Aug. 31, 2021. Photo by Erin Nelson.
Here's a look back at the last week in Briarwood, Chelsea and Oak Mountain high school sports.
FOOTBALL
The Briarwood football team knocked off local rival Oak Mountain 34-14 last Friday night. Click here for the story of the game.
Chelsea fell in heartbreaking fashion to Pelham on Friday as well. Click here for the recap.
This week, Briarwood hosts Helena, Chelsea heads to Vestavia Hill and Oak Mountain hosts Hoover, as all three teams return to region action.
VOLLEYBALL
Last week, the Chelsea volleyball team split two area matches before competing in the HeffStrong Tournament at the Finley Center. Chelsea fell to Spain Park on Tuesday before beating Hewitt-Trussville on Thursday.
At the tournament over the weekend, Chelsea picked up wins over Pelham and Donoho, with losses to Bob Jones, Collierville (Tenn.) and Daphne.
Stat leaders from the week:
- Lauren Buchanan: 72 kills, 6 aces, 32 digs
- Madison Moore: 9 aces, 131 assists
- Emma Pohlmann: 48 kills, 58 digs, 5 aces
Chelsea is now 24-10 on the season. This week, the Hornets host Calera, travel to Oak Mountain and play at Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa.
Oak Mountain picked up three regular season wins last week, knocking off Hewitt-Trussville, Helena and Daphne. The Eagles also competed in the HeffStrong Tournament over the weekend. At the tourney, Oak Mountain beat Thompson, Bayshore Christian and Gardendale. The losses came to Houston (Tenn.) and Enterprise.
Stat leaders from the week:
- Mabrey Whitehead: 11 aces, 55 kills, 2 blocks, 4 assists, 45 digs
- Lauren Schuessler: 19 aces, 34 kills, 7 blocks, 82 assists, 46 digs
- Makayla Ragland: 9 aces, 2.00 passing average, 18 assists, 80 digs
Oak Mountain is now 18-13 on the season. This week, the Eagles host Chelsea in an area match Thursday.
Briarwood crossed the 30-win threshold last week, despite a challenging week of action. The Lions beat John Carroll, Grissom, Ramsay and Calera, but fell to Pelham, Enterprise and Houston (Tenn.) across regular season play and at the HeffStrong Tournament.
Stat leaders from the week:
- Stella Helms: 66 kills, 4 aces, 62 digs, 2 blocks
- Bradford Latta: 26 kills, 2 aces, 5 blocks, 14 digs
- Jolee Giadrosich: 127 assists, 45 digs, 2 aces
- Caroline Jones: 75 digs, 3 aces
- Lindsey Butler: 22 kills, 8 blocks
Giadrosich passed 1,000 assists last week and now holds the program record for most in a career.
The Lions are now 31-9 on the season. This week, Briarwood heads to Helena on Tuesday, plays Gardendale and Clay-Chalkville in a tri-match on Thursday and plays in Priceville’s tournament over the weekend.
CROSS-COUNTRY
The local cross-country teams competed in the Shelby County Championship last Saturday at Thompson.
For Briarwood, the girls team was the focal point. Mary Grace Parker led the way with a fourth-place finish, as she ran her 5k in 19:14. Bela Doss joined her in the top 10 by finishing eighth, while Luci Williams finished 11th.
On the boys side, Brandon Dixon was 12th, Ford Thornton was 13th and Whit Thornton finished 16th.
Chelsea’s Cady McPhail was impressive as usual, winning the girls race with a time of 18:14. She was directly followed by teammate and eighth-grader Mia Dunavant, who ran second in 18:37. Ty Cason, Juliette Edwards and Tyndal Ann Griffith were fifth through seventh to lead a strong performance.
Chelsea’s boys placed three in the top 10, as Parker Campbell ran second in 16:09. Hudson Williams finished fourth and Camden Thomas placed eighth.
For Oak Mountain, Matthew Womack won the boys race, finishing his race in 16:04. John Shoemaker was seventh, while Ryan Cox (11th), Bennett Phillips (18th) and Cecil Fields (20th) also posted top 20 runs.
On the girls side, Lauren Cole and Faith Scardino rounded out the top 10 with ninth- and 10th-place runs. Catarina Williams (12th), Brighton Bell (16th) and Hayley Datema (20th) also placed in the top 20.
Want to see something else mentioned? Feel free to email sports editor Kyle Parmley at kparmley@starnesmedia.com.
