WEST POINT, Ala. – West Point High School is hosting its annual Christmas Tournament at Jim Boyd Gymnasium this week and both the Warriors and Broncos are competing in this year’s field. Both teams played their first matchups Thursday night, starting with the West Point Warriors taking on East Lawrence. The Warriors trailed 30-26 at halftime but outscored the Eagles 21-12 in the third quarter on their way to a 65-57 win. In Thursday’s nightcap, Holly Pond and Corner played a tight first half but the Yellow Jackets were able to pull away in the second half to defeat the Broncos 76-60.
West Point 65 – East Lawrence 57 (Varsity Boys)
Jay Lamar put in a pair of quick layups to give West Point an early 4-0 lead. A rebound and putback by Maddox Chapman and a pair of free throws by Lamar gave the Warriors an 8-4 lead. Jaxon Shelton put in a basket in the paint to make it 10-6, but it would be all East Lawrence after that. The Eagles finished the quarter on a 13-2 run, as that gave them a 19-12 lead going into the second quarter.
Lamar got fouled while shooting a three and ended up hitting all three free throws to cut it to 19-15. A pair of rebounds and putbacks by Shelton and Chapman tied the game up at 19. That would be the start of a big second quarter by Chapman, as he ended up scoring the final nine points of the half for West Point, and that gave them a 26-25 lead late in the second quarter. East Lawrence scored the final five points of the half to give them the lead right back at 30-26 at the half.
The third quarter started out perfectly for the Warriors. Chapman added two more baskets in the paint to tie the game up at 30. A driving layup by Chapman and five straight points by Lamar gave West Point a 37-32 lead. Shelton knocked down a basket down low, Cade Welborn buried a trey from the left wing, and another rebound and putback by Chapman stretched the Warrior lead to 44-32 late in the third quarter. Once again, though, East Lawrence went on a big run to end the quarter, as a 10-3 run by the Eagles cut it to 47-42 going into the fourth quarter.
Shelton put in a pair of quick baskets in the paint, and Lamar drained a pair of free throws to increase West Point’s lead to double digits at 53-42 early in the fourth. East Lawrence scored the next six points to make it a 53-48 game. Two more quick baskets by Shelton made it 57-48, and Lamar drilled a three from the left corner to keep it at a nine-point game at 60-51 with a little over three minutes to go in the game. The Eagles trimmed it to 62-57 with a little over a minute to go in the contest, but Lamar buried a trio of free throws to help seal the 65-57 win for West Point (13-4).
Lamar led the way for the Warriors with 23 points. Chapman finished just behind him with 21 points and Shelton posted 16 points.
West Point will be back in action against Corner Friday at 7:30 p.m.
Corner 76 – Holly Pond 60 (Varsity Boys)
The Broncos fell behind 7-2 early in the opening period but Carson Ryan laid one in for two points and Asher Thrift split a pair of free throws to cut the lead to 9-5. Another basket from Ryan and a three-pointer from Ty Dunn made it an 11-10 game later in the first quarter. A 5-0 run gave Corner a 16-12 lead, but Sawyer Olinger sank a pair of free throws and Fox Westall knocked down a three to make it a 16-15 game. The Yellow Jackets continued to hit shots to stay in front of Holly Pond, but Ryan scored inside and Olinger laid one in just before the end of the first to trim the lead to 23-19 at the start of the second.
Thrift drove to the basket and scored to make it a 2-point game at the start of the second quarter and Olinger buried a three to give the Broncos their first lead since the game’s first basket at 26-25. Holly Pond and Corner proceeded to trade the lead back and forth for most of the period until the Yellow Jackets managed to pull ahead 39-31. Westall laid one in with 20 seconds remaining in the second to cut into the deficit, but the Broncos went into the locker room trailing 41-35 at halftime.
Ryan drilled a three to make it a 41-38 game early in the third quarter but an 8-0 run from Corner made it 49-38 midway through the period. Westall laid one in to trim the lead to 49-40 and with just over a minute remaining in the third, Allbright hit a pair of free throws to make it 51-42. Holly Pond went into the final frame trailing 54-42.
Dunn knocked down a three and Allbright scored inside to make it a 58-47 game early in the fourth quarter. Baskets by Olinger and Allbright held the lead at 11 midway through the fourth and after another Allbright basket, Olinger laid one in to bring the lead down to 64-55 with just over three minutes left to play. Unfortunately, the Broncos were unable to close the gap any further and Corner went on to collect a 76-70 win over Holly Pond.
Olinger led the Broncos with 16 points in the loss. Ryan and Allbright each added 11, Westall finished with nine and Dunn posted eight.
Holly Pond will be back on the court Friday at 4:30 p.m. to face East Lawrence.
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