The varsity basketball season started on Thursday as Alabama Christian hosted Lee-Scott Academy. The games were a late addition to the schedule as both the boys and girls teams were looking to gain valuable floor time for new and inexperienced players. Both teams will look drastically different this season. For the girls, all five starters were seniors and accounted for 80% of the offense and rebounding last season. Although not all five starters were seniors for the boys, there were eight total seniors and one player who moved away that accounted for 75% of the scoring and rebounds. Only two players are back from last year’s boys team. Learning roles and trying to figure out where the offense will come from will be major themes for each coach in the early season.
The girls game was riddled with fouls and turnovers which affected the flow of the game. Both teams combined for 47 turnovers and 37 fouls which resulted in 45 free throw attempts. Adalyn Newkirk scored the first point of the year with a first quarter free throw and Campbell Hammett made the first shot from the field as she hit a three in the first to cut the Warrior lead to four points, 8-12. After the Hammett make, Lee-Scott finished the period with a 6-0 run to take a ten point lead after a quarter. A Piper Powers bucket cut the lead to seven late in the second, but that was as close as the Eagles would get. An 8-0 Warrior run to end the half made the halftime score 29-14. Lee-Scott pulled away in the second half and went on to win by a score of 58-32.
Campbell Hammett led the team in scoring with 10 points and added three rebounds. Adalyn Newkirk scored nine points and pulled down a team high 12 rebounds. Piper Powers was a spark off the bench as she scored five points and had four rebounds. Peri Laine Holley recorded a team best three steals.
The boys game was also plagued by fouls as both teams combined for 45 fouls. Both offenses struggled early as the teams missed their first nine combined shots. The first score of the night was made by Lee-Scott with 3:52 left in the first. Levi Summers scored the first basket for ACA as he put back a Cam Sutton miss. The visitors hit a three at the buzzer to take a 12-6 lead after one. The Eagles opened the second by committing four fouls in the first 43 seconds of the quarter. The Warriors shot free throws after any foul for the last 5:45 of the half. With just over three minutes in the half, Noah Shack hit two free throws to bring the deficit back to single digits. However, that was as close as the team would get. ACA trailed by fourteen at the half, 16-30. Lee-Scott consistently increased the lead throughout the second half. The Warriors led by 23 after three quarters and broke the 30-point barrier with 3:47 left in the game which constituted a running clock for the remainder of the game. Lee-Scott would win by a final score of 72-38.
Christian Snipes led the team in scoring with 14 points and five rebounds. Noah Shack finished with nine points while Ethan Capps added six of his own.