By Staff
Justin Schuver, Hartselle Enquirer
Falkville junior Heath Alford broke the 1,000-point mark for his career Friday night, scoring 18 points to lead the Blue Devils to a 58-47 win over Catholic.
Alford, playing in just his second varsity season, scored a short jumper with 6:32 remaining in the second quarter for his 1,001st point. Falkville coach Yancey Randolph immediately called a timeout and the Falkville announcer honored Alford as the Blue Devil faithful gave him an ovation.
"If anybody has worked harder than Heath Alford the last two years, I'd like to see him," Randolph said. "He deserves any award he gets because he lifts weights year-round and he's in the gym all the time. That honor is a tribute to the hard work he's put in."
Falkville (11-6, 4-2 in Area 14) led 21-17 at the half and took a 10-point lead after consecutive three-pointers by Cody Sewell and Zach Moore in the third quarter. The visitors from Huntsville refused to quit, cutting the lead to 52-47 with 1:21 left in the game.
Alford hit a field goal with 1:03 left to give Falkville some breathing room.
Poor free throw shooting by the Devils allowed the Falcons to remain close late in the game. Falkville missed 19 free throws in the game.
"If we had made our free throws it wouldn't have been a game at the end and we would have won big," Randolph said. "We don't usually miss that many. We definitely have to improve in that area if we're going to win games here late."
Alford finished the night with a double-double performance, collecting 11 rebounds. Sewell had 13 points for the Blue Devils.
Falkville girls 35
Catholic girls 16
The Lady Blue Devils came back from an early nine-point deficit to pick up a crucial home area win over Catholic Friday night.
Falkville (11-5, 3-3) did not score a field goal until just 16.5 seconds remaining in the first quarter, and ended the quarter trailing 11-2. But the Blue Devils woke up in the second quarter, outscoring Catholic 9-2 to trail by just two points going into halftime.
Falkville exploded in the second half, taking its first lead of the game with 5:23 left in the third and never trailing in the remainder of the contest.
Emily Dabbs led the Lady Blue Devils with 12 points and Kayla Widener finished with eight.
J.B. Pennington girls 42
Danville girls 39
The Lady Tigers came back from a two-point deficit at the half to defeat Danville Friday night.
It was just the second area loss of the season for the Lady Hawks, who fell to .500 overall.
Lauren Simmons had a double-double for Danville (10-10, 6-2), finishing with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Kristen Sparkman had nine rebounds to go along with five points.
Bethany Evans led the team with five assists and Magen Linderman had three steals.
Danville boys 56
J.B. Pennington boys 47
Chris Vest had 16 points for the Hawks as they picked up an area win on the road Friday night.
Tyree Murphy added 10 points and had five assists for Danville (11-8, 5-3).
Priceville girls 67
West Morgan girls 47
Jessi Smith scored 19 points to lead the Lady Bulldogs to a win on the road Thursday night. Keila Hamlin added 10 points for Priceville (13-7) and Tiffany Bracken led the team with nine rebounds.
Lauren Seibert and Lauryn Kilgo each scored nine points to lead West Morgan.
West Morgan boys 43
Priceville 42
The Bulldogs missed a potential tying free throw late as the Rebels defeated Priceville (13-7) Thursday night.
Alex Cannon scored 18 points for the Bulldogs, and Josh Bedwell added 13. Andrew Elliott had 13 points and 14 rebounds for West Morgan.