CULLMAN COUNTY TOURNEY (9TH-GRADE BOYS): Fairview, West Point earn semifinal wins
Published 10:47 pm Wednesday, January 25, 2017
- West Point's Levi Farley hauls in a deep pass en route to a layup.
HANCEVILLE — Fairview’s ninth-grade boys used a stellar fourth quarter to turn back Good Hope 40-28 in the semifinals of the Cullman County Tournament on Wednesday night.
The Aggies led by only four points at halftime, but coach Cliff Bailey’s team turned on the pressure down the stretch at Tom Drake Coliseum to set up a championship showdown with West Point Saturday at 1 p.m.
“Defensively, we started playing a little tighter and put in a press in the fourth quarter,” Bailey said. “We hit some shots from that. We were able to push the ball off those turnovers into some easy baskets.”
Dow Nichols (10 points), Ethan Satterfield (eight), Landon Talley (seven) and Sawyer Daniel (six) all had solid games for the Purple and Gold.
Good Hope, which held the lead just once, was paced by Eli Phares’ 15 points. Zach Watson added 10.
Fairview will try to defend its county crown against the Warriors, who have defeated Bailey and Co. twice this season.
“They’ve got some big guys that cause trouble down low,” he said. “We’ve got to figure out a way to stop them. We’ll see what we can do.”
% West Point 48, Vinemont 22: The Warriors jumped on the Eagles from the start, storming out to a 19-6 first-quarter lead en route to a runaway semifinal victory.
Vinemont did cut its deficit to single digits in the second half, but the Maroon and White closed the final 10 minutes or so on a 21-7 run to nab their spot in the championship game on Saturday.
Whitt Laney (15 points), Tyler Thompson (13) and Tyler White (nine) provided the majority of the offense for West Point, which improved to 20-0 on the season.
“They came out, hustled and played hard,” coach Jimmy Harbison said. “It’s an adjustment for freshmen to shoot in a gym like this. And credit to Vinemont. They got after us and made us play. It’s a win. We’ll take it. Hopefully, we’ll play well Saturday and get another one.”
The Warriors are looking for their third ninth-grade county championship in the last four seasons.
Vinemont was paced by Clay Rodgers (11 points) and Dakota McGraw (seven).
