No. 24 Austin Dubberly at the line in the West Point-Decatur Heritage game / Johnny Thornton
HARTSELLE – Winning leaves a smile on the face and warmth in the heart. After starting Thursday's assignment with consecutive losses to Decatur and Athens, West Point said goodbye to the Hartselle High School gymnasium with a solid 49-44 comeback over Decatur Heritage.
West Point played hard in narrow setbacks of 56-44 to Decatur and 70-57 with Athens. Having to go from one gymnasium to the auxiliary and tangle with a stout 1A program in Decatur Heritage, the Warriors reached deep down in crunch time to overcome an 11-point deficit in the second half.
With less than 7:00 to play, coach Randy Jones put his starters, Rylan Jones, Kolton Sapp, Colby Sullins, Noah Allison and Austin Dubberly back on the floor. Having a few minutes to rest was what the doctor ordered for the Warriors to not leave Hartselle winless in three tries.
Sapp scored on consecutive possessions and the Warriors were down 40-37. West Point stopped Decatur Heritage from scoring for a five minute stretch that got them back in the game.
Sullins, who shot well on the day in three-point attempts, drained a three from the wing to tie the game at 42-42 with 3:27 to go. Dubberly gave the Warriors the lead on free throws at 2:21 before the Eagles evened the game at 44-44 with 1:14 left from the foul line.
Jones set up a play he wanted after a timeout. The Warriors got Sullins open at the top and he swished home another trey, and with a minute left, West Point led 47-44.
Decatur Heritage could not get a three to tie and free throws from Jones with 15 seconds left sealed the comeback victory. The Warriors outscored Decatur Heritage 29-18 in the final half, going on a 12-2 run in the final 4:40.
Opening the schedule vs. Decatur, the Warriors had an 18-17 lead with 4:00 showing in the half on a three-point play by Sapp, off an assist from Noah Gammon.
But Decatur finished with a 6-0 run and took a 23-18 advantage into intermission.
Decatur's defense held West Point scoreless for several minutes, allowing the Red Raiders to build a lead. Decatur was ahead 46-29 with less than 9:00 to play and the Warriors were unable to overcome the double-digit disadvantage.
West Point jumped ahead of Athens 19-17 at the 13:00 mark thanks to a basket in the paint by center Tyler Thompson. Athens caught fire and closed the period on an 18-6 run and held a 35-25 cushion at the half.
With 11:00 to play, Athens was ahead 55-39. The Warriors closed out with a strong surge to keep the game respectable with Sullins finishing with 15 points on five treys, Thompson scoring eight and Dubberly and Sapp netting seven apiece.
The Warriors conclude the final week of play day with a tripleheader Friday in Falkville. West Point meets Falkville, John Carroll from Birmingham and Lincoln County, Tennessee. The Warriors are 6-3 for the week.
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