West Morgan boys, Priceville women take house championship trophies

Jan. 22—DANVILLE — Championship Saturday on the Morgan County Match was an evening of extremes.

The West Morgan boys gained their first championship since 2015 in a nail-bitter over Priceville, 46-44.

The Priceville women gained their second straight county match in blowout vogue. Priceville beat Falkville, 79-24.

The West Morgan win provides head coach Sam Brown his eleventh Morgan County Match championship. He gained eight at Brewer and now has three at West Morgan.

“None (of the earlier 10) was any tougher to win than this recreation,” Brown stated. “We gained two video games on this match every by two factors. Hopefully that ought to give us some confidence going ahead.”

The Priceville women got here out on hearth. The Bulldogs jumped on Falkville for a 23-3 lead within the first quarter. It was 51-16 at halftime. That is this system’s second county championship all-time.

“Profitable that first one final yr was particular and this one is simply as particular,” Priceville coach Terrie Nelson stated.

Priceville beat Danville, 65-27, in Thursday’s semifinals. The Bulldogs gained their two match video games by a mixed margin of 93 factors. That got here after a house loss to space rival Good Hope on Jan. 13.

“We stepped up our recreation in an enormous means this week,” Nelson stated. “Our depth on protection improved. I noticed plenty of good issues on offense.”

West Morgan senior Carson Muse was named the boys MVP after scoring 9 factors and blocking a shot within the remaining seconds to assist safe the victory.

“It took plenty of exhausting work to get to this evening,” Muse stated. “It is a nice win that is going to assist us quite a bit the remainder of the season.”

Priceville sophomore Leslie Hames was named the women MVP after scoring 25 factors within the championship recreation. She hit 5 3-point area targets. Her sister, senior Lauren Hames, scored 19 factors.

“I actually thought she was going to be the MVP,” Leslie stated. “It is thrilling to win this match and have our group enjoying like this.”

West Morgan boys 46, Priceville 44: The sport was tied 44-44 with 2:24 to play. The ultimate 144 seconds had been frantic with missed scoring alternatives for either side. West Morgan missed eight straight free throws.

The successful basket got here on a Muse dunk with 1:59 to play.

Priceville had two possessions within the remaining 17 seconds left with the chance to tie the sport or take the lead. Muse’s block compelled the ball out of bounds with 02.8 seconds to play. A Priceville area aim on the buzzer missed.

Isaac Ward led West Morgan with 12 factors. Jalen Fletcher scored 11.

Priceville had 16 factors from Sammy Holmes, 10 from Cole Lindeman, 8 from Caleb Lawrence and seven from Jake Langlois.

Priceville and West Morgan are Class 4A, Space 13 rivals. This was the third assembly this season. Priceville gained at West Morgan, 63-45. West Morgan gained at Priceville, 50-31.

West Morgan misplaced to Priceville in final yr’s county match semifinals, 55-54.

Brown’s 11 championships have him knocking on the door of historical past. Former Brewer women coach Ricky Allen has essentially the most with 17. Former Austin coach Joe Jones has 16.

Priceville women 79, Falkville 24: Taking part in within the finals has grow to be outdated hat for the Priceville women. This was their fourth time within the finals within the final 5 years. The Bulldogs beat Falkville final yr, misplaced to Brewer in 2019 and Hartselle in 2020. There was no match in 2021 on account of COVID.

It did not take lengthy after Saturday’s win for the discuss of three-peat to be heard among the many gamers and followers.

“Since we now have simply two seniors on this group we hope to play within the finals once more subsequent yr,” Nelson stated. “We’ve plenty of women with expertise and expertise returning.”

The seniors are Lauren Hames and Zoey Benson, who was final yr’s match MVP. Benson scored 10 factors. Freshman Abby Langlois scored 11 factors and grabbed 12 rebounds. Priceville hit eight 3s.

Falkville was led by junior Ellie Cate Hill with 11 factors.

Friday’s outcomes

Falkville women 46, West Morgan 41: Hill led Falkville with 18 factors, together with three 3-point baskets. She additionally had eight rebounds. Ella Wallace had 10 factors. Abby Grace Tomlin added seven.

Chasity Rikard’s 12 factors led West Morgan. The Rebels received seven factors every from Brooklyn Hunt, Brandy Hernandez and Shaylee Terry.

Priceville boys 72, Danville 29: The Bulldogs placed on a tremendous efficiency proper from the beginning. They led 15-3 with 2:44 left within the first quarter. The lead was 62-23 after three quarters.

Holmes topped the Priceville scoring with 18 factors. Proper behind him was Lindeman with 17. Tyler Case scored 14 and Langolis had seven. Gage Taylor had 12 for Danville.

— [email protected] or 256-340-2395. Twitter @DD_DavidElwell.