WEST POINT – Victory at Jim Boyd Gymnasium returned to the West Point Warriors after they ended the regular season last week with consecutive losses.
The Warriors took care of Fairview Wednesday evening 61-40 in the 5A, Area 14 Tournament. Next up for the Warriors is the championship game on Friday at 7 p.m. vs. the Russellville Golden Tigers.
Russellville got past Lawrence County 55-42 in game one of the semis, producing a 16-6 advantage in the fourth quarter to put away a very competitive game with the Red Devils.
West Point is looking to repeat as champions of Area 14. The Warriors know the road to the top of the throne will be a challenge after they have edged Russellville twice in the regular season to get the No. 1 seed going into the playoffs.
In trying to regain their identity after they were edged by Cold Springs and Cullman on the home court last week, the Warriors utilized a balanced attack that kept Fairview from just focusing on West Point’s primary weapon, senior Tanner Rusk.
The Warriors had five others join Rusk in the scoring column just eight minutes into the game. A 3-pointer from reserve guard Brandon Farley was a spark to send West Point to the second period with a 19-11 lead.
Then center Seth Parker stepped into the spotlight. He tallied the next seven points and the Warriors moved the advantage to 26-13 near the 4:00 mark and kept it at double figures for the rest of the quarter.
The half ended with the Warriors on top 32-19 as Andrew Shaw’s eight points in a reserve role guided Randy Jones’ squad.
In the third period, the Warriors’ starters got control of the offense and maintained a double-digit spread. Cameron Moore, Parker, Rusk and Kobe Smith all contributed from the field or at the foul line and the Warriors’ lead continued to grow. The score stood at 45-28 at the end of the third.
Solid foul shooting capped off the final period for the Warriors’ 15th win on the season. They made their last 10 free throws with Parker getting two and Rusk and Shaw four apiece. The largest lead of the game came with 2:05 remaining on free throws from Rusk and West Point led 59-37.
Rusk and Shaw had 14 each in the victory and combined for 15 of the 29 points in the second half. Parker tallied 11 with Smith and Moore scoring seven and Talley six.
Leading Fairview in its last game of the season for rookie coach Eddie Groves was senior Austin Fletcher with 20 points. Tyler Ball was next with eight followed by Austin Scott with four. The Aggies end the season at 6-22.
Russellville outscored Lawrence County 14-0 in the final 3:55 to overcome a good challenge and move from the semifinal round to the championship game.
The Golden Tigers were up 12-6 following the first, then got into a tight second quarter with the lead swapping sides on the scoreboard seven times before Russellville grabbed it and left the floor in front 27-25. The game was nip and tuck during the third with the Golden Tigers up by the score of 39-36.
The champion of Area 14 will host a sub-regional game next Tuesday with the runner-up having to play on the road in the quest to qualify for the Northwest Regional at Wallace State Feb.18-24.
