WEST POINT, Ala. — The West Point Warriors hosted the Cold Springs Eagles for a pair of varsity matchups Tuesday night and both teams split the county games. The Lady Eagles took care of business on the road, defeating the Lady Warriors 60-42 while in the varsity boys’ game, the Warriors held off the Eagles to earn a 52-47 win. Before the boys’ game tipped off, a moment of silence was held for former Warriors Head Coach Randy Jones who passed away just two days ago following a long battle with cancer.
Cold Springs 60 – West Point 42 (Varsity Girls)
Laklin Shadix got West Point on the scoreboard first on a pair of free throws. Ciara Calvert knocked down a three to give the Lady Eagles an early 3-2 lead, then later on, a trey each by Maci Brown and Ella Dickerson pushed the Cold Springs lead to 9-4. Jaelyn Faulkner hit a free throw to cut it to 9-5, but another Brown three made it 12-5 with 2:40 left to go in the opening period. A Laklin Shadix made basket made it a 12-7 game, but Malaya Taylor hit a basket down low, Dickerson drilled a long-range shot, and Calvert added a basket down low as well and the Lady Eagles would take a 19-9 lead into the locker room.
Brown hit her third long-range shot of the first half to make it 22-9, but another made shot by Laklin Shadix cut it to 23-11. Ella Minck hit a long-range shot and Liberty Shadix hit a short jumper to make it a 24-16 game with a little over four minutes to go in the first half. After missing on her second free throw attempt, Laklin Shadix grabbed the rebound and put it back in to cut the deficit to just six at 25-19 with 2:44 to go until halftime. The Lady Eagles finished the first half strong as a Dickerson three jump-started a 13-0 run for Cold Springs as Brown, Calvert, Taylor, and Graves all hit at least one basket to end the first half. Cold Springs would take a 38-19 lead into the locker room.
The Lady Eagles fed the ball down low to Taylor and she ended up hitting three straight shots as their lead grew to 44-21. Ella Bruer’s first trey of the night gave Cold Springs a 47-23, but West Point slowly started to trim into the deficit to end the third quarter. Jaelyn Faulkner hit a shot down low and then, converted on her and-one opportunity; Laklin Shadix hit a layup before the third period came to an end and the Lady Eagles took a 47-30 lead into the final period.
The final quarter saw the Lady Warriors score on second-chance opportunities as a pair of baskets by Liberty Shadix and one by Caitlee Simmons made it a 47-36 game. A driving layup by Ella Dickerson made it a 49-36 contest, then later on, an and-one by Taylor pushed the Cold Springs lead to 52-38. West Point wouldn’t get closer than 11 the rest of the way as the Lady Eagles pulled away in the end to win the game, 60-42.
Brown led the way for Cold Springs (5-0) with 16 points. Taylor added 14 points. Dickerson ended up with 12 points and Calvert finished with 11. For West Point (3-3), Liberty Shadix led the way with 15 points. Laklin Shadix added 10 points and Jaelyn Faulkner ended up with eight points.
West Point 52 – Cold Springs 47 (Varsity Boys)
Cameron Nunn hit a tough jumper to put Cold Springs on the scoreboard first, then John Mark Smith knocked down a long-range shot to give the Eagles an early 5-0 lead. Jay Lamar hit a pair of free throws to put West Point on the scoreboard. After that, it seemed like each team was matching each other basket-for-basket, point-for-point. After a Smith trey gave Cold Springs a 10-7 lead, Ashton Rodgers converted his and-one opportunity to tie the game up at 10. Smith’s third three of the first quarter gave the Eagles a 15-12 lead. Lamar hit a basket down low, then completed his and-one opportunity, and Presley Burtis hit a shot down low to give the Warriors a 19-15 lead. Smith hit a shot down low and West Point held a slim 19-17 lead after one period.
The second period saw both defenses started to stiffen up. Back-to-back baskets by Nic Fallin and Cole Bales gave Cold Springs a 25-23 lead, but West Point got the lead right back behind baskets down low by J.D. Cochran and Lamar. A Seth Ingram basket down low tied the game up at 27 and that would be the score going into the half.
A driving layup by Kanaan Sutter broke the tie and gave the Warriors a 29-27 lead, then Lamar continued his red-hot shooting as he hit another three to push their lead to 32-27. Cold Springs went cold for almost 4 1/2 minutes to start out the third period until a reverse layup by Fallin got them in the scoring column and that made it 32-29. A Burtis made basket pushed the Warrior lead to 36-31 late in the third period, but a three-point play by Bales made it 36-34. A big three from Rodgers not too long after that saw the Warriors take a 39-34 lead into the final period.
A basket down low by Cochran made it 41-34 and two free throws by Lamar increased the Warrior lead to 43-36. An Ingram made basket cut it to 43-38, but a basket each by Lamar and Cochran gave West Point a 47-38 lead. Three free throws by Bales made it a 47-41 game with 4:30 left to go in the contest, but a Lamar trey made it 50-41 with less than three minutes to go in the game. The Eagles made things interesting late as Fallin and Smith each hit a long-range shot to trim the deficit to just three at 50-47 with a little over a minute to go in the game. West Point, though, sealed the deal with 20 seconds left on a pair of Lamar free throws and they ended up winning the game, 52-47.
Lamar finished with a game-high 32 points for West Point (3-4), while Cochran and Rodgers each added six points. For Cold Springs (2-4), Smith led the way with 16 points. Bales added 11 points. Fallin ended up with seven points, while Nunn and Ingram each added six.
West Point will stay at home Thursday night to take on Fairview, while Cold Springs travels to take on Meek that same night.
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