HANCEVILLE, Ala. – After a dominant performance against Ardmore in the Sub-Regional, the West Point Lady Warriors were back in action Thursday morning, taking on Arab in the Sweet 16. The Knights got off to a fast start in the first half, but West Point battled back to take the lead in the second half. The Warriors led by 5 at one point in the final period but couldn’t fend off Arab in the final two minutes, bringing their season to an end with a 51-50 loss.
West Point Head Coach John Welborn was proud of his team for rallying after falling behind early but the Warriors couldn’t make the plays they needed down the stretch to secure the win.
“We got down early and battled all game to get back in it and went up by 5 and then we come down and lose somebody in transition and leave them wide open for a three to cut it to 2. Then you just have to make foul shots at the end. I preach it every game; foul shots win or lose ball games. And kids don’t realize it. When we’re practicing shooting foul shots and they’re talking about somebody’s Instagram or somebody’s Snapchat, they’re not focused on foul shots. I preach it all the time that foul shots win or lose ball games and foul shots lost the ball game for us today because we couldn’t make them,” Welborn said. “I knew it was going to be a battle. I knew they were really physical. We were trying to box out and we were getting shoved all the way under the net a lot of times. I’m proud of the way they fought, they battled hard. We didn’t shoot the ball very well from the three-point line and that’s been another one of our Achilles heels all season. In the first quarter we didn’t shoot it well at all and if we make two or three of those in the first quarter, it’s a different ball game.”
Lily Livingston traded baskets with Camryn Faulkner to start the game and after Laklin Shadix split a pair of free throws, Jaelyn Faulkner drilled a three to give West Point a 6-2 lead. Livingston responded with a basket and a pair of free throws to tie things up at 6 and Hailey Price hit a pair from the line to give Arab an 8-6 lead. Price and Livingston both scored inside to make it a 12-8 game later in the first and after Price knocked down a three, Julie Stapler tacked on a free throw to put the Knights in front 16-8 going into the second.
Jaelyn Faulker laid one in to trim the lead to 16-10 at the start of the second quarter but after McKennah Tidmore split a pair of free throws, Lexi Mann knocked down a three to maintain a 20-10 lead for Arab. Baskets by Shadix and Kealie Harbison cut the lead to 23-14 later in the period and Livingston exchanged three-pointers with Jaelyn Faulkner to make it a 26-17 game.
Shadix scored in the paint with two minutes to play in the second to bring the lead down to 27-19 and she knocked down a three on the next possession to make it 29-22 with one minute on the clock. After a pair of Bennett Elrod free throws, Simmons hit a free throw, Harbison finished an and-one play at the line and Jaelyn Faulkner drove to the rim for a basket to cut the lead to 31-28 going into the halftime break. West Point scored six points in the final 37 seconds of the half.
Chastain laid one in and Mann hit a pair of free throws to stretch Arab’s lead to 35-28 early in the third quarter. Caitlee Simmons drained a three to trim the lead to 36-31 later in the period and Jaelyn Faulkner drove to the rim for a basket to make it a 38-33 game with just under three minutes to play in the third. Elrod scored to give the Knights a 7-point lead, but Jaelyn Faulkner knocked down a three to cut the lead to 40-36 and just before the end of the quarter, Shadix drained a jumper to make it 40-38 going into the final frame.
Simmons drilled another three to put West Point in front 41-40 at the start of the fourth quarter. With the game tied at 42 later in the period, Jaelyn Faulkner’s big game continued with another three-pointer that put the Warriors ahead 45-42 with five minutes to play. Price scored off a turnover to trim the lead to 45-44 but Jaelyn answered with a basket on the other end to maintain a 47-44 lead for West Point. Harbison laid one in to give the Warriors a 5-point lead with just under two minutes remaining, but the Knights wouldn’t go away. Chastain drilled a three to cut the lead to 49-47 with one minute on the clock but after Harbison came up with a steal on an inbound pass, Jaelyn Faulkner split a pair of free throws to keep West Point up by 3 with 34 seconds to play. Chastain drew a foul and sank both of her foul shots to make it a 1-point game with 25 seconds on the clock and after the Warriors missed a pair of free throws on the other end, Livingston scored with five seconds remaining to put Arab on top 51-50. West Point was unable to answer the late basket as the final seconds ticked away and the Knights took a thriller over the Warriors 51-50 to advance to the Elite Eight.
Jaelyn Faulkner led West Point with 22 points in the loss and added six rebounds. Shadix put together a double-double performance with 12 points and 13 boards. Harbison finished with seven points and seven rebounds and Simmons added seven points as well.
Arab was led by Livingston with 17 points in the win. Price and Chastain each added nine points and Mann posted five points and 10 rebounds.
The Knights will be back on the court Monday at 4 p.m. to face either Scottsboro or Priceville in the Northwest Regional finals.
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