L-R, Micah Oldacre, Makenzie Carter, Olivia Ball, Brooke Brownfield with coach John Welborn
HARTSELLE – June is here, which means training camps for basketball teams in the Alabama High School Athletic Association (AHSAA).
On Thursday, the West Point Lady Warriors got some valuable training, playing Class 6A state finalist Hazel Green in its second assignment of the Hartselle play-day series.
West Point is a young, but experienced team. However, the Lady Warriors dealt with a ball club rich with athleticism, depth and a winning reputation. Hazel Green controlled the contest in a span of nine minutes with a 24-0 run, going on to defeat the Lady Warriors 75-51.
For the summer, coach John Welborn's Lady Warriors will not be at full strength. All-County guard Miriam Oldacre is recovering from an ankle injury she suffered in the postseason in February. Newcomer Kyler Hembree is not eligible after transferring from Good Hope to West Point, but she will be when the new school year begins in August. Hembree can only watch from the sidelines during the summer.
Speaking of young, not one player on the 2017-18 West Point team has her driver's license. Olivia Ball is entering her junior year, but has not quite turned 16. She is a two-year starter for the Lady Warriors.
Micah Oldacre, Miriam's twin sister, is going into her sophomore season, along with Brooke Brownfield and Makenzie Carter. Carter started in the low post as a freshman while Brownfield was coming off the bench in the backcourt.
Lexi Shadix will be a freshman. Shadix was very valuable to the success of the Lady Warriors last season with 22 wins, including a berth to the sub-regional playoffs.
Shadix held her own, especially in the second half of the game with Hazel Green. West Point jumped ahead with a 10-0 run and led 10-6 with 14:00 to play in the half. Hazel Green utilized its strength and scored the next 24 points in a span of 9:00 and led 30-10 before Shadix ended the drought from the foul line with 5:00 to go in the stanza.
West Point trailed 33-17 at the break. Hazel Green poured it on aggressively, gaining a 30-point cushion at 65-35 with less than 8:00 to go.
But one thing Welborn can take from this game: his team never showed Hazel Green any signs of surrendering. With Shadix ripping the cords for eight second-half field goals, West Point finished a 16-4 spurt when Micah Oldacre scored a 3-pointer with 2:00 to play, making it 71-51. Hazel Green got a couple of baskets in the paint afterward, completing a 42-point second-half assault.
Before playing Hazel Green, West Point took on West Morgan. The Lady Warriors got baskets from Ball, Brownfield, Micah Oldcare and Shadix in the opening moments to build a 9-3 lead.
West Morgan charged back and tied the game at 18-18. The Lady Rebels used seven shots from three-point range to keep them in contention in the opening half.
It was time for West Point to get back into form on the offensive side, with Carter delivering. A long 2-pointer boosted the margin to 29-20. Then after West Morgan scored twice from hitting treys, Carter ripped from long distance inside the 2:00 mark and West Point led 32-26.
The first half ended on a big three by Riley Jones, an eighth grader. Jones divided her time, playing for the varsity and junior varsity. Her trey before the half closed pushed the margin to 35-26 at the break.
A basket by Ball off an assist from Brownfield lifted the Lady Warriors to a 47-31 cushion, midway in the final half. West Morgan answered by scoring 12 straight points, knocking down a couple of long baskets, and closed to 47-43.
Carter drained another trey, and moments later, hit a shot inside the paint that pushed the advantage to 56-46, with time becoming a factor.
Shadix padded the advantage to 58-46 with 1:19 left on a layup and the scoring ended when Micah Oldacre converted a trey from the left wing with 50 seconds remaining.
West Point held West Morgan to three points in the final 8:00, getting breathing room behind the scoring from Shadix, Carter and Micah Oldacare.
The Lady Warriors will be in a play-day Monday at Falkville High School. West Point gets Danville at 10 a.m. and takes on a strong Colbert County team at 11:50 a.m.
Good Hope will also be in this event. The Lady Raiders meet Colbert County at 10:30 a.m. and Whitesburg Christian at 1:40 p.m.
On Tuesday, West Point has a play-day at Jim Boyd Gymnasium, beginning at 5 p.m. The opposition that evening will be the Cold Springs Lady Eagles and the defending 3A state champion, Locust Fork Lady Hornets.
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