Are local teams ready to claim AHSAA hoops titles on Tuesday?:
Vinemont, Cold Springs play at home, Cullman & WP go on the road:
GDW Analysis:
Championship play with four local teams from the Gameday Weekly coverage area are ready to seek the quest of being the best in their respective area.
The varsity grabs the spotlight for February 10 as two schools hope home court advantage serves them well.
Two others will seek victory in a challenging manner of winning an area title on the road.
Locust Fork at Vinemont 3A Area 11:
6:00 p.m. from the Pinnacle
Locust Fork 16 & 9
Vinemont 18 & 11
Locust Fork defeated Holly Pond 61 to 43 in the semifinal, Vinemont was a 58 to 49 winner over Hanceville in the 2nd semifinal.
Vinemont defeated Locust Fork 69 to 64 at home and 61 to 56 on the road in the regular season.
The Eagles have earned the most victories in a single season since they accounted for 17 in 2014/15 with Todd Johnson.
James Brown's first season with the Eagles has seen a team display balance and maturity all season.
Vinemont is 9 & 4 at the Pinnacle, dealing with challenges by the opposition like on Saturday in beating Hanceville for the 4th time this season.
The Eagles utilize the team play of Bryson Bush, Colton Gillis, Gavin Parr, Cheston Wilhite, Sam Marsh, Tucker Mauter, EJ Sharpe, Gee Flores, Will Conquest from various locations on the floor.
Class 3A Area 11 crosses over with Area 10. The Area 10 title game is Oakman at Winfield.
West Point at Lawrence Co 5A Area 15:
6:00 p.m. from Lawrence County Gymnasium
West Point 23 & 7
Lawrence Co 17 & 11
West Point defeated Russellville 63 to 45 in the semifinal on Saturday. Lawrence Co had a bye.
West Point and Lawrence Co split in the regular season. The Warriors won at home 68 to 59 on January 9.
Lawrence Co claimed a 50 to 43 victory in OT a week later in Moulton.
Mason Voce's Warriors have gone on an 8 game winning streak since the loss to the Red Devils.
The Warriors have been solid all season by the frontline tandem of Maddox Chapman and Jaxson Shelton.
Giving them strength from the outside in the current winning streak has been the play of Nolan Franklin from the wing, plus PG Kade Vincent and WS Graph Byram.
Voce goes into the bench for certain situations with Ayden Ennis, Asa Sutter, JJ Minck, Colton Thrower delivering. Having Brier Taylor back from an early season injury is very positive at this time of the season.
Last year West Point won the area title in Russellville. The Warriors go for the glory in their hotly contested encounter for the 3rd time Tuesday evening.
Class 5A Area 15 crosses out with Area 13 for the sub regional. The semifinals in Area 13 were to be played Monday with the championship set on Wednesday.
Falkville at Cold Springs 2A Area 11:
7:00 p.m. from the new Cold Springs Gymnasium
Cold Springs 26 & 4
Falkville 19 & 10
Falkville defeated Winston Co 55 to 49 in the semifinal round. Cold Springs had a bye.
Both split in the regular season with a coin toss needed to determine the playoff host. Cold Springs won the coin toss.
Drew Adams' first season with Eagles has been tremendous for going 12 & 0 on the home floor and having 26 victories out of 30 decisions.
Providing this squad plenty of weapons at various positions, the Eagles have been blessed by the overall season play from Breydon Hallman and Lindan Hill in the post, Ayden Black at PG, Cash Dickerson from the WF and Ethan Day at SG.
Bench play has been positive by Wyatt Barker, Tyson Kilgo, Cooper Johnson and McCain Smith.
Falkville is coached by Cold Springs' native Greg Tomlin. The Blue Devils are out to continue momentum that has resulted in 4 victories in their last 5 games.
Class 2A Area 11 crosses over in the sub regional with Area 10. Lamar County is at Red Bay for the area championship.
Cullman at Jasper 6A Area 13:
7:00 p.m. from Carl Cannon Coliseum
Cullman 22 & 5
Jasper 21 & 5
Cullman defeated Mortimer Jordan 82 to 44 in the semifinal on Saturday.
Jasper had a bye.
Jasper went 2 & 0 against Cullman by final scores of 43 to 40 in Jasper and 56 to 54 at Bearcat Arena on January 22.
Cullman was in its essence in the semifinal with Mortimer Jordan of creating tempo.
Hitting for 25 points in the 2nd and 3rd period pleased coach Stu Stuedeman.
The 'Cats fare better in these type of games instead of battling teams that operate with a deliberate style of play.
Cullman got 4 in double figures vs. Mortimer Jordan with Brooks Loftin powering his way for 12 points that included three dunks.
Sam Dorough pulled the trigger to score 18 while Emory Bonds and Owen Graves collected 12 apiece in good shooting from long range.
Jasper has gone 6 & 0 from the home floor since January. The Vikings are capable of getting into a scoring spree with 73 coming in a home win over Mortimer Jordan, 75 against Buckhorn at home and 62 recently in defeating the Cold Springs Eagles.
Two programs that have excelled in combing for 43 victories out of 53 assignments sets the tone for great hoops to be going on in Walker County Tuesday evening.
The game will be carried live on cullmanbearcats.com
Photo of Vinemont PG Gavin Parr moving the ball up the floor while teammate Colton Gillis (24) looks on in a game at Appalachian February 2.
Photo courtesy of Cathy McSwain.
