WEST POINT, Ala. – The postseason has arrived and officially got underway Monday night with the opening round of area tournaments across the state. The West Point Lady Warriors were one of several local teams hosting area tournament matchups tonight and they made short work of Russellville on their home floor. The Lady Warriors led the way 53-21 at the half and pulled away to eliminate the Lady Golden Tigers 81-42, earning a spot in Thursday’s area tournament title game at Lawrence County.
A Lexi Shadix jumper gave the Lady Warriors an 2-0 start to the game and a three-pointer by Braelee Quinn made it 5-2 with just a minute gone in the opening period. Ryleigh Jones laid one in to keep West Point in front 7-4 and Quinn converted an and-one play at the line to pull ahead 10-4 early. A pair of Russellville free throws trimmed the lead to four, but Quinn drilled her second three of the quarter to put the Lady Warriors up 13-6. Summer Mendoza drove to the basket and scored through a foul to add to the lead and Quinn knocked down another three-pointer to make it an 18-8 game with three minutes remaining in the first.
A pair of Mendoza free throws stretched the lead to 12 and Shadix turned a nice steal into two more free throws to put West Point on top 22-8. Shadix scored inside to keep the run going for the Lady Warriors and she buried a three from the top of the key on their next possession to make it 27-8 with just over a minute to play in the first. Two more Mendoza free throws built the lead to 21 and in the final seconds of the period, Shadix hit Mendoza in stride with a half-court pass for an easy layup that made gave West Point a 31-8 lead going into the second quarter. The Lady Warriors ended the opening period on a 16-0 run.
Each team split a pair of free throws to start the second and a corner three from Mendoza kept the Lady Warriors in front 36-9 early in the period. Mendoza laced two more from the free throw line to make it 38-9 and Quinn buried her fourth trey of the night to stretch the lead to 41-9. Shadix hit two more at the line to add to the lead and a corner three from Mendoza made it a 46-9 game with four minutes remaining in the half. Kaylee Faulkner knocked down a three to give the Lady Warriors a 49-15 advantage with just over two minutes to play in the second quarter. Quinn laid one in and Shadix scored with 25 seconds on the clock to give West Point a commanding, 53-21 lead going into the halftime break.
Mendoza netted two more free throws to get the second half started for the Lady Warriors and Shadix drained a mid-range jumper to make it a 57-23 game. Quinn hit another deep three-pointer to continue adding to the lead and Mendoza added drilled another three of her own to put West Point in front 63-25 midway through the third. Shadix scored a pair of free throws and a basket to stretch the lead to 70-28 with a minute to play in the period and after Kylie Quinn tacked on two more makes from the line in the final moments of the quarter, the Lady Warriors went into the final frame leading Russellville 72-30.
Hallie Wheeler hit a corner three midway through the fourth to give West Point a 75-38 lead and Alexis Kimbril followed it with a three-pointer of her own on the next possession. Another Kimbril bucket extended the lead to 80-38 with just over two minutes to play and Liberty Shadix split a pair of free throws to make it 81-38. The Lady Warriors went on to win it 81-42.
Shadix led the way for West Point with a game-high 23 points, followed closely by Mendoza with 22 and Braelee Quinn with 20.
West Point has earned a spot in the sub-regional round with the win over Russellville and will advance to take on Lawrence County for the area championship at Lawrence County Thursday at 6 p.m.
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