West Point's Ryleigh Jones chases after a loose ball in the Lady Warriors' 65-27 win over Jasper Monday night. (Nick Griffin for the Cullman Tribune)
WEST POINT – All of the Warriors’ squads came away with victories on their home floor against Jasper Monday night but some wins were tougher to come by than others. The ninth-grade boys got things started with a 48-36 win over the Vikings and the Lady Warriors followed that up with a dominant 65-27 performance in the first varsity matchup. The varsity boys finished the night with a nail-biter that saw the Warriors edge past the Vikings 55-53.
West Point 65 – Jasper 27 (varsity girls)
The Lady Vikings actually jumped out to an early 4-0 lead to start this game, but West Point quickly took over after that, tearing off a 16-2 run to end the first quarter on top by 10. Mackenzie Carter scored 10 points for the Lady Warriors in the opening frame.
West Point continued to add to its lead, taking advantage of 16 Jasper turnovers and a bevy of offensive rebounds to stretch its lead to 33-6 by halftime, shutting out the Lady Vikings in the second period.
The Lady Warriors continued to create turnovers and dominate the glass in the third quarter to put together their highest-scoring quarter of the game and take a 59-21 lead into the fourth quarter. The hot clock kicked in during the final frame and West Point put Jasper away 65-27.
Carter led all scorers with 17 points while Miriam Oldacre came in just behind her with 12. Lexi Shadix and Micah Oldacre each added eight points in the win for the Lady Warriors. West Point will look to stay in the win column when the Lady Warriors host Hamilton for their first area matchup of the season this Friday.
West Point 55 – Jasper 53 (varsity boys)
The final matchup of the evening was much closer than the girls' game that preceded it. It was a one-point game late in the opening quarter when Kolton Sapp knocked down a shot from 3-point range and laid one in as he was fouled to help put the Warriors ahead 19-10 going into the second frame. Sapp scored 12 points in the first quarter.
Sapp was not done shooting in the first half. The senior guard hit two more shots from beyond the arc and added nine more points to bring his total to 21 at the half and help West Point take a 36-22 lead into the locker room.
The third quarter was a little slow as both teams struggled to put points on the board, but a late run from the Vikings cut the Warriors’ lead to 46-38 headed into the final frame. Aubrey Cleghorn was the go-to guy for West Point in the fourth quarter. Cleghorn scored nine straight points midway through the fourth to put the Warriors up 55-46, but the Vikings would not go away.
Jasper hit a three at the 1:30 mark to make it 55-51 and then knocked down two free throws to cut it to a one-possession game with 1:00 to play. With West Point up 55-53, the Vikings came up with a steal but couldn’t capitalize and were forced to start sending the Warriors to the free-throw line. A pair of missed free throws gave Jasper life with a few seconds remaining but the Vikings couldn’t get a game-tying layup to fall as time expired and the Warriors held on to win it 55-53.
Sapp finished with a game-high 26 points thanks in large part to five makes from the t3-point range. Cleghorn finished as the second-leading scorer for West Point with 10 points, nine of which came in the fourth quarter.
The Warriors will look to pick up another big win this Friday when they host Hamilton for their first area matchup of the season.
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