WEST POINT, Ala. – After defeating East Lawrence and Corner on Thursday and Friday, West Point was back on the court to play Decatur Heritage in its Christmas Tournament finals Saturday afternoon. The Warriors trailed by 3 at halftime but outscored the Eagles 27-8 in the third quarter to come from behind and collect a 68-52 win.
Both teams traded scores for most of the first quarter. Decatur Heritage held a slim 8-6 lead, but Cade Welborn buried a trey from the left wing to give West Point a 9-8 lead. Maddox Chapman and Kaden Vincent followed that up with treys of their own, as the Warriors stretched their lead to 15-11 with a little over three minutes to go in the opening period. Five straight points by the Eagles gave them the lead right back at 16-15. Vincent drained another three to give the Warriors an 18-16 lead, but Decatur Heritage scored the final five points of the quarter, as that made it a 21-18 game going into the second.
The Eagles increased their lead to 25-20 early in the second quarter, but later in the period, baskets in the paint by Jaxon Shelton and Jay Lamar cut it to 29-25. Decatur Heritage quickly pushed their lead to 34-25, but the Warriors finished the first half out strong. Shelton drained a trey from the left wing to make it a 34-28 game, then a pair of short jumpers by Lamar and Chapman trimmed it to just a three-point deficit at 36-33 at the half.
A trey from the Eagles gave them a 39-35 lead early in the third, but Lamar drilled a pair of threes to give West Point a 41-39 lead. Five straight points by Decatur Heritage gave them the lead right back at 44-41. That’s when the Warriors completely took over the ball game. Lamar started things off with a short jumper, then Nolan Franklin knocked down a driving layup to give West Point a 45-44 lead. Chapman drilled a jumper from the free throw line, then Lamar added a layup, and Shelton put in a short jumper of his own to make it 52-44. Franklin collected a steal and put it up and in, then Lamar knocked down a three and later added a pair of technical free throws. The Warriors ended up outscoring the Eagles 27-8 and they took a 60-44 lead into the final period.
Shelton added two more baskets in the paint, as the lead widened to 64-47. Chapman added a layup, then another steal and layup by Franklin helped seal the 68-52 win for the Warriors and the championship.
Lamar led West Point (15-4) with 21 points in the win. Shelton added 19 points and Chapman posted 12.
Both of West Point’s varsity teams will be back in action against Clements at Wallace State on Jan. 2.
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