AHSAA Basketball at Jim Boyd Gymnasium:
East Lawrence 5 17 18 18 - 58 (9 & 14)
West Point 20 9 17 15 - 61 (20 & 7)
WP: Jaxson Shelton 22, Kade Vincent 9, Graph Byram 9, Maddox Chapman 9, Nolan Franklin 7, Teagan Heaton 2, Sawyer Harris 2.
E Lawrence: Bryce Young 26, Jay Davis 17, Cayne McClure 10.
GDW Analysis:
In their first game after winning the Cullman County championship January 23, West Point had a good start in building a double digit lead through 8:00 with East Lawrence.
However, the game changed as the Warriors got sloppy on committing fouls and not hitting shots.
East Lawrence would draw within 29 to 22 at the half and in the 3rd moved into the lead thanks to a 10 to 0 run, making the score 36 to 35.
Mason Voce's Warriors stayed calm with Shelton hitting three treys in the 3rd and two by Byram that allowed them to regain the advantage.
With 1:22 to play, the Warriors were up 60 to 51. West Point could not get comfortable thanks to three miscues that allowed East Lawrence to score 7 in a row and narrow the deficit to 60 to 58.
Bryam made 1 FT in sending the score to 61 to 58 with 0:10 remaining.
Shelton had the game saving play by intercepting a pass in the final seconds to prevent the Eagles from going for a chance to tie the game and force overtime.
West Point has accomplished a feat for the first time in hoops history with three consecutive 20 win seasons.
The Warriors were 24 & 9 in 2023/24, 22 & 8 last season and now 20 & 7 with two games left on the schedule before the playoffs begin.
That has Voce and the Warriors at 66 & 24 in this span.
The win Thursday evening did offset unfortunate news earlier in the day.
West Point lost a coin toss to Lawrence County with the 5A Area 15 tournament to be played in Moulton next weekend.
The Warriors conclude the January schedule Friday evening with a trip to Priceville at 6:30 p.m.
Photo of West Point Warriors Graph Byram (14), Kade Vincent (1) and Jaxson Shelton in the Cullman County semifinals vs. Vinemont January 21 at Wallace State CC.
Photo courtesy of Cathy McSwain.
