BY D. MARK MITCHELL
OPINION —
OPELIKA BASKETBALL
Opelika’s girls and boys basketball teams opened region play against Smiths Station, last Friday night in the Main Street Gym at Opelika High School.
The Lady Bulldogs (R 0-1) lost a close game 44-40 in front of the home crowd. Opelika was at a slight disadvantage, playing without three players due to injuries. Opelika coach Blake Smalley rotated seven players throughout the game, but was unable to get the win.
Naomi Whack led OHS with 11-points and grabbed nine rebounds, Jordyn Cobb scored 10 points with seven rebounds and K.K. Dowell added 10 points and had four assists.
Opelika’s varsity boys team beat Smiths Station 65-63 to open region play with a 1-0 record. The following players led OHS on offense: D.J. Harris scored a game high 16 points, Caurdae Wright added 13 points and J.T. Holloway and Brady McNally scored eight points apiece.
Opelika girls and boys basketball teams travel to Auburn Friday night for a region game against the Tigers.
Fans wanting to attend the game can buy tickets online at www.gofan.co. Or, fans can listen to the varsity games on FOX Sports the Game 910-1310 starting at 5:45 p.m. Fans can also listen to the game on 910-1310 AM, www.foxsportsthegame.com or on the free iheartradio app on smart phones or TVs.
OPELIKA WRESTLING
Opelika’s varsity wrestling team traveled to Smiths Station to take part in the AHSAA Region 2 Duals Championship. The format changed after Opelika arrived at SSHS Saturday morning due to some changes made because a team had some injuries that kept some of their grapplers from participating in the meet. Opelika finished in a tie for first place after all three teams went 1-1. The tiebreaker system used put Opelika in third place, behind SSHS and Enterprise.
The following is a summary from OHS (33 points) vs Smiths Station High School (SSHS) (39 points):
126 Derrick Hoyett (Opelika) over Richard Munguia (SSHS) 0-3
132 Brayden Wilson (Opelika) over Gabe Tyner (Smiths Station) (Fall 1:28) 0-6
138 Timothy Luttrell (SSHS) over Denarvious Anderson (Opelika) (Fall 3:36) 6-0
144 Tyrese Pitts (Opelika) over Tristan Cliatt (Smiths Station) 0-3
150 Trace Gaither (Opelika) over Kenneth Doster (SSHS) (Fall 5:29) 0-6
157 Brady Campbell (Opelika) over Travis Barnes (SSHS) (Fall 0:32) 0-6
LEE-SCOTT ACADEMY GIRLS
The LSA girls basketball team (13-6) split games last week, beating Fort Dale 43-31 and losing to Springwood 62-53.
The Lady Warriors defeated Ft. Dale 41-33 last week at LSA. Offensively, LSA was led by Madison Davis with 13 ponts. Mary Kathryn Harris scored 10 points and Elie KeeSee scored six points.
Springwood beat LSA girls 62-53 in front of a good crowd on the LSA campus. Madison Davis scored a game high 29 points to lead the Lady Warriors. Elie Keesee added 10 points, while Mary Katheryn Harris scored eight points.
LEE-SCOTT ACADEMY BOYS
Lee-Scott’s varsity boys basketball team is off to a 17-1 start, including two victories last week against Ft. Dale (63-50) and Springwood (77-56).
LSA had no trouble beating Springwood. Parker Wright had a huge game, scoring 22 points and grabbing 18 rebounds. Haiden Harper scored a game high 27 points, William Liles added nine points and Ben Aldridge grabbed seven rebounds and had four assists.
The Warriors beat Ft. Dale (63-50) last week at home. Three players scored double digits: Haiden Harper scored 26 points. Ben Aldridge scored 16 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and had three assists and four steals. Parker Wright added 13 points.
The Warriors host rival Glenwood on Thursday for four games. JV girls start at 3:30 p.m., followed by JV boys, varsity girls and varsity boys.
AUBURN HIGH SCHOOL
The Auburn High School varsity girls basketball team lost a close region game to Central 49-42 last week.
Brooke Hallman scored a game high 17 points with five rebounds, two steals and two assists, despite losing the game.
Auburn High varsity boys (18-3) beat Central 83-80 in double overtime at AHS.
Tabari Allen scored a game high 24 points to help the Tigers win their opening region game.
Auburn High will host Opelika on Friday in three games: JV boys, varsity girls and varsity boys.
Fans can listen to both varsity games — presented by the Orthopaedic Clinic — on FOX Sports the Game 910-13, on the free iheartradio app and online at www.kickerfm.com.
Van Riggs will start the broadcast around 5:30 p.m.
D. Mark Mitchell is the sports director at iHeartMedia, host of “On the Mark” Fox Sports the Game 910-1319, co-chair of the Auburn-Opelika Sports Council, chairman of the Super 7 and Dixie Boys Baseball state director.