BY DANIEL SCHMIDT FOR THE OBSERVER
OPELIKA – It was set to be the fairy tale evening for the Opelika High School girls’ and boys’ basketball teams. The first of two games against crosstown rival Auburn High School. The first game in the newly-renovated Sports Arena. The perfect opportunity to showcase state-of-the-art lighting that bathed the arena in an intimidating red glow.
Yet despite the electric home atmosphere and special effects, it was AHS who came out sizzling hot, sweeping the road doubleheader as the Lady Tigers pummeled the Lady Bulldogs 67-20 and the Tigers held on against the Bulldogs in a 56-51 thriller.
With the victory, the Lady Tigers improve to 19-5 while the Lady Bulldogs fall to 5-16 on the season. The Tigers boost their record to 18-6, and the Bulldogs must regroup with an 18-5 record.
After the game, AHS head girls’ basketball coach Courtney Pritchett said his team in recent weeks had opted to take a more hard-nosed, defensive-minded approach.
“Coming into this game, we decided that we were not going to allow anybody to make any defensive mistakes and not punish them for it. And so they know that if you make a mistake on defense, I’m going to take you out of the game,” Pritchett said. “In the second half of the season, we’ve started to now find our focus. We didn’t really have a good identity on defense, so that was our identity: we’re going to be a little bit tougher on defense and kind of just be everywhere.”
For Braylee Winfrey, who was seemingly everywhere for the Lady Tigers on both offense and defense, the win over OHS on the road helps build momentum as AHS fights to secure its fifth-straight area title.
“We’ve been building up for this. Our main focus has been defense, so we were coming in on Sundays, early, late nights, and we’ve been staying after practice just building up for this. It’s been really big to come here and get a great win on the road,” Winfrey said.
That newfound defensive resolve immediately appeared as a withering full court press and second chance points gave AHS a 11-2 lead halfway through the first quarter. From there, big plays on both ends by Winfrey, Brooke Hallman, and Daley Alsobrook ballooned the lead to 24-7 by the end of the quarter.
Boasting a 17-point lead, AHS continued to ratchet up the pressure as intense effort — particularly from Winfrey and Hallman — on both ends of the court led to more turnovers and second chance scoring opportunities. At times, it was extremely difficult for the Lady Bulldogs to even get out of their half of the court.
By halftime, the Lady Tigers’ lead had grown to 35 points and the teams entered their respective locker rooms with AHS up 45-10.
With the game effectively out of reach, AHS substituted most of its backups in for most of the third quarter. Despite excellent free throw shooting from Claire Barber that kept AHS’ lead from growing much further, a flurry of scoring by Hallman and Enyviah Nelms gave the Lady Tigers a 56-20 lead entering the fourth quarter.
From there, AHS scored the game’s final 11 points as the Lady Tigers substituted most of their starters back into the game to finish off the Lady Bulldogs.
Hallman finished with a game-high 26 points, while Winfrey recorded 19 points for the Lady Tigers. Barber contributed nine points for the Lady Bulldogs.
If the girls’ game was uncompetitive, the boys’ game would be anything but. For Auburn head boys’ basketball coach Chris Brandt, games between the Tigers and Bulldogs have always come down to physicality in the 34-plus years he’s been a part of the rivalry.
With more physical matchups looming, he looked ahead while also appreciating the victory.
“It was a huge win. That means we still have a chance to win the area. I mean it’s going to be really tough, [but] we had to win this game. We’ll face Central on Friday, and somehow if we have a miracle and can win that game, we’re right back in the hunt of everything,” Brandt said. “We knew it was going to be extremely tough being in here because they’re reopening this gym, which looks awesome, it looks great. I knew they were going to come out with fire and passion.”
After the game, team captain Antwane Daniels, whose clutch free throw shooting negated a fierce OHS comeback attempt, credited his preparation to being able to stay composed in high-pressure moments. He added that the team would try to build on its momentum moving forward.
“I’m used to it, so me being in the position is nothing. I practice those free throws every day, it’s free. It’s me by myself just shooting free throws, that’s all it is,” Daniels said. “The ceiling is high for us and we’re trying to go as far as we can, so we’ll see how it goes for us.”
The nightcap began with a cagey first quarter where all scoring in the first four minutes exclusively came from the free throw line. However, guards from both teams heated up from behind the three point line, particularly Karl Lindsey who extended the Tigers’ lead to 15-10 with mere seconds left to shoot.
With both teams settling into the game, scoring crawled to a halt. Following an energetic first quarter, AHS and OHS defended the lanes with vicious intent and combined to score only 15 points the entire second quarter. That would conclude the first half with the Tigers up 25-15 at the break.
After halftime, it appeared the Tigers would run away with the game as Joseph Hightower, Jr. provided an immediate spark with five quick points. Yet the Bulldogs, led by Toni Fields’ nine points, weathered the early storm and went on an explosive 23-19 run that cut AHS’ lead to 44-38 entering the fourth quarter.
Smelling blood in the water, a raucous home crowd roared to life as momentum-swinging plays — particularly a powerful slam dunk by JT Holloway — brought OHS to within a single point of tying the game. Despite their best efforts, the Bulldogs’ attempt to salvage the special night fell short as Daniels’ free throws kept them at arm’s length and secured the 56-51 victory.
Daniels led all scorers with 15 points while Lindsey chipped in an additional 11 points for the Tigers. Micah Thomas and Fields paced the Bulldogs with 14 and 11 points, respectively.
What’s next
The AHS girls and boys play host to Central High School on Jan. 17 and travel to Smiths Station High School on Jan. 21. Both of the girls’ games begin at 5:30 p.m. while both of the boys’ games begin at 7 p.m.
OHS must now regroup as both squads host SSHS on Jan. 17 and travel to Phenix City to take on CHS on Jan. 21. Both of the girls’ games begin at 5:30 p.m. while the boys’ games begin at 7 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., respectively.
