FRIDAY PREPS: Tallassee wins second-straight 1A-4A Duals championship; Catholic boys top LAMP in hoops

Tallassee’s Brady Adams pins Oak Grove’s Brantley Thomas in the 159-pound match in the Class 1A-4A duals championship at the Bill Harris Arena on Friday. (Courtesy AHSAA)

COMBINED REPORTS

BIRMINGHAM – Tallassee High School (38-1) repeated as AHSAA Class 1A-4A duals wrestling champion Friday at Bill Harris Arena at the Birmingham CrossPlex, beating Oak Grove in the finals for the second straight season.
     Tallassee coach John Mask earned his 700th career duals victory in the 34-30 semifinal victory over Alexandria and celebrated the milestone after the 42-30 championship victory over Oak Grove (31-5).
     “I look back to the wrestlers we’ve had, all the way back to 2000,” said Mask, who is in his 26th year at Tallassee and 24th as head wrestling coach. “They’ve always worked really hard and believed in what we are doing. I give the credit to the wrestlers.”
     Tallassee improved to 38-1 in duals action this season, undefeated against in-state opponents with the lone loss to Wakula (FL). Tallassee finished 43-0 in dual-meet competition last season, meaning the Tigers have won 81 of their last 82 dual matches.
    “I’m a lucky man,” Mask said. “All of the credit goes to the kids and their hard work.”
    In the semifinals against Alexandria, Tallassee won eight of the first nine matches with Adairiuin Henry wining by pin at 217 pounds, and Thomas Patterson winning pin at 115 pounds. Tallassee held on as Alexandria won the match’s final five matches.
     In the final, Tallassee’s Brady Adams opened the action winning a fall at 159 pounds, followed by pins from Grayson Cole at 287 pounds and Patterson at 115 pounds. Tallassee’s Aiden Bridgman beat Oak Grove’s Skyler Mobley 13-12 at 140 pounds, securing three critical points in a battle that went to the final seconds.
     “Oak Grove is going to be a force at the state tournament in Huntsville,” said Mask, referring to next month’s AHSAA traditional Wrestling Championships. “We knew they were really good. They have a phenomenal team.”
     Oak Grove defeated Deshler 53-24 in the semifinals. In the 2024 duals final, Tallassee defeated Oak Grove 69-11.

In Class 5A, Elmore County finished in third place, winning the consolation match over Beauregard. The Panthers lost in the semifinals to Hayden.

BOYS BASKETBALL
Catholic 69, LAMP 19

Mylez Gourdine had 21 points, six assists, five steals and five rebounds to lead the Knights to their seventh consecutive win in a 69-19 romp over LAMP in a 4A Area 5 game in the Catholic gym on Friday night.

MJ Belser added 17 points, three assists, three steals and five rebounds for the Knights, followed by Matt Gourdine with 13 points and seven steals and Devin Hampton with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Catholic remains atop the Area 5 race with a 6-1 record, followed by Booker T. Washington (5-1), Tallassee (2-3), Trinity (2-3) and LAMP (0-7).

The Knights (12-9) were scheduled to play Montgomery Academy on Tuesday, but inclement weather forced MA to reschedule a Monday game to Tuesday. Catholic will play at Trinity on Friday.

Montgomery Academy 66, Thorsby 46

THORSBY -- The Eagles played without top scorer Braden Gordon and battled through foul trouble for most of the evening, doing just enough to wrap up first place in 3A Area 5 with a 66-46 win over the Rebels in the Thorsby gym on Friday night.

Mason Ellis had 21 points, six rebounds, five assists, four steals and a pair of blocked shots as the Eagles won their 11th consecutive game with some transition dunks and 11 3-pointers against the Thorsby zone defense.

Jarrett Friendly added 18 points, 10 rebounds, three blocked shots, three assists and a pair of steals, followed by JayJay Jackson with seven points, three steals, three assists and three rebounds. Chapman Baker added six points.

Montgomery Academy improved to 7-0 in Area 5 play and clinched homecourt advantage in the upcoming area tournament. Dallas County is in second place at 5-2, followed by Thorsby (3-4), St. James (3-4) and Alabama Christian (0-8).

Montgomery Academy (19-5) will return to action on Tuesday at Dallas County, a game that was originally scheduled for Monday but was pushed back a day because of wintry weather.

St James 36, Alabama Christian 30

St. James set up a winner-take-all battle for third place in the area standings with a 36-30 win over Alabama Christian in the ACA gym on Friday night.

Jordan Williams and Caleb Ellis each scored 12 points, hitting a pair of 3-pointers to lead the Trojans. Dylan Hines and Andrew Shalayda both had nine rebounds.

Montgomery Academy leads the 3A Area 5 race at 7-0, followed by Dallas County (5-2), Thorsby (3-4), St. James (3-4) and Alabama Christian (0-8). The fourth and fifth place teams in the area will play each other for the right to play defending 3A state champion Montgomery Academy in the semifinals.

St. James will travel to Thorsby to decide third place on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. in a game pushed back from Monday because of inclement weather. The winner will grab third place in the area and will play Dallas County in the area tournament semifinals.

Ethan Capps led Alabama Christian with nine points, followed by Christian Snipes with eight points and six rebounds and Cole Jordan with six points and six rebounds

ACA (6-15) is scheduled to play Loachapoka on Monday, weather permitting, before playing host to LAMP on Tuesday.  

Evangel Christian 53, Lowndes Academy 49

LOWNDESBORO -- D’John Wright scored 21 points for Evangel in a tough road win over Lowndes Academy on Thursday.

Donnell Harris Jr. added nine points and Nathaniel Doss had eight points.

The Lions (9-9, 4-1 in area play) will travel to Valiant Cross on Tuesday for the area regular season championship.

GIRLS BASKETBALL

Catholic 94, LAMP 30

Hannah Smith had 32 points, 15 rebounds, five assists, nine steals and three blocked shots to lead the Knights to their seventh consecutive win in a 94-30 thrashing of LAMP on Friday in the Catholic gym.   

Smith hit 12 of 25 shots from the field and 6 of 6 at the free-throw line to help Catholic remain unbeaten in area play. Jordan Robinson added 17 points  five assists, four rebounds and three steals, followed by Kierstyn Green with 13 points and three steals, Lela Rogers with 10 points and four assists and Ajah Tuggle with seven points and nine rebounds.

Catholic remains atop the Area 5 race with a 7-0 record, followed by Trinity (4-1), Tallassee (2-3), Booker T. Washington (2-4) and LAMP (0-7).

The Knights (16-5) were scheduled to play Montgomery Academy on Tuesday, but inclement weather forced MA to reschedule a Monday game to Tuesday. Catholic will play at Trinity on Friday.

St James 71, Alabama Christian 12

The Trojans clinched homecourt advantage in the upcoming 3A Area 5 tournament with a 71-12 win over the Eagles in the ACA gym on Friday night.

Sam Burgess led Alabama Christian with five points and three rebounds.

St. James remains atop the Area 5 standings at 7-0, followed by Thorsby (5-2), Montgomery Academy (4-3), Dallas County (1-6) and Alabama Christian (1-7).

ACA (7-12) is scheduled to play host to Loachapoka on Monday, weather permitting, and will remain home to play LAMP on Tuesday.

St. James (22-4) will play host to Trinity on Saturday morning, then will travel to Thorsby for an area game on Wednesday. The game was pushed back two days because of inclement weather.

Thorsby 47, Montgomery Academy 44

THORSBY -- The Eagles battled all night in a back-and-forth game but could never seem to find a rhythm in falling to the Rebels 47-44 in a 3A Area 5 game in the Thorsby gym on Friday night.

Garland Thomas led Montgomery Academy with 15 points, including 11 in the second half. Bailey Davis and Kaci Armistead both had 10 each.

St. James continues to lead the Area 5 race at 7-0, followed by Thorsby (5-2), Montgomery Academy (4-3), Dallas County (1-6) and Alabama Christian (1-7).

Montgomery Academy (8-13) was scheduled to travel to Dallas County for an area game on Monday, but inclement weather pushed that game to Tuesday and forced the cancellation of the Eagles’ game with Catholic on Tuesday.

Macon East Academy 48, Hooper Academy 40 (OT)

CECIL -- Jamya Powell scored 32 points, including six in overtime, to lift Macon East Academy to a 48-40 win over Hooper in the Macon East gym on Friday night.

Hooper fought back to tie the game at 37-37 at the end of regulation, but the Colts were held without a field goal in the overtime period. Abbie Longcrier had five points in overtime and finished with 13 as Longcrier and Powell combined for 45 of the Knights’ 48 points.

Henlee Garvin led Hooper with 12 points, including six in the fourth quarter. Katie Robinson added 11 points, all in first half with the help of three 3-pointers, and Jade Taylor scored eight points, all in the second half.

Hooper (12-8) will travel to Evangel Christian on Thursday before returning home to play host to Lowndes Academy on Friday. Macon East will play host to Coosa Valley on Tuesday before traveling to Lakeside School on Thursday. 

Class 1A/4A Wrestling Duals Championship
Tallassee (38-1) 42, Oak Grove (31-5) 30

159 pounds: Brady Adams (Tallassee) over Brantley Thomas (Oak Grove) Fall 1:54

167 pounds: Cor`tez Mccoy (Tallassee) won by forfeit

177 pounds: Ethan Jones (Oak Grove) over Hamp Love (Tallassee) TF 18-3

192 pounds: Troy Kelley (Tallassee) over Rylan Covin (Oak Grove) TF 29-9

217 pounds: Brooks Covin (Oak Grove) over Adairiun Henry (Tallassee) Fall 5:20

287 pounds: Grayson Cole (Tallassee) over Jack Scott (Oak Grove) Fall 2:51

108 pounds: Christian Hill (Oak Grove) over Braxton Alvarez (Tallassee) Maj 11-2

115 pounds: Thomas Patterson (Tallassee) over Case Scoggins (Oak Grove) Fall 0:58

122 pounds: Kellen Mitchell (Oak Grove) over Dylan Alvarez (Tallassee) TF 18-3

128 pounds: Dylan Price (Tallassee) over Kason Yancey (Oak Grove) Fall 0:46

134 pounds: David Hill (Oak Grove) over Karter Armstrong (Tallassee) TF 16-0

140 pounds: Aiden Bridgman (Tallassee) over Skylar Mobley (Oak Grove) Dec 13-12

146 pounds: Micah Woodman (Oak Grove) over Stephen Bridgman (Tallassee) TF 16-1

152 pounds: Avery Brantley (Tallassee) over Luke Wilson (Oak Grove) Maj 17-4