BY CONNOR SALTER
FOR THE OBSERVER
BEAUREGARD – Senior Night for Beauregard High School on Jan. 30 was filled with dominating performances, with both the girls and boys teams notching victories against Notasulga High School to end the regular season.
Girls GAME:
Notasulga 4, Beauregard 41
The Lady Hornets dominated the Lady Blue Devils from the tip off, jumping out to an early lead and only expanding on it.
Beauregard sophomore Morgen Hayes led with 7 points; freshman Maciya Harper added 6; sophomore Ryleigh Ortiz added 5; freshman Kalise Culbertson, sophomore Emily Champion and junior Lindsey Moulton each scored 4 points; sophomore Ellie Burroughs and juniors Lay Clark and Kam Torbert each scored 3 points; and 8th-grader Cambre Flurry added 2 points.
Clark recorded four assists, and Harper had a career-high 3 assists. Moulton and junior Jakera Davis each recorded one assist.
Torbert recorded her 500th point in the previous game against Elmore County.
“We really depend on her offense,” said Trent Powell, who is in his first year as head coach. “She’s busy doing three different sports, so the fact that she got to 500 is awesome. I think in the last six or seven years, there have only been three players to reach 500 points, so the fact that she got there is awesome.”
Notasulga’s fifth-straight loss dropped their record to 2-15. With the win, Beauregard improved to 9-7 with a game scheduled against Elmore County on Feb. 3.
“Any time you get a winning season, it’s awesome. I’ve been pretty lucky to have a few of those,” said Powell. “For me, for my first year here, coming in and creating a winning culture and having the kids buy in is what’s important.”
Boys GAME:
Notasulga 40, Beauregard 55
Five seniors were honored at the boys game: JerMyan Fitch, Kameron James, Zaccheos Grady, Leeshawn Smith and C.J. Hinton. All five started the game, as well.
For a Beauregard team that has struggled to find success this season, the victory over Notasulga meant a lot for the team.
“It’s big for our seniors,” said head coach Adam Wallace. “We have had a lot of close games that we’ve come up on the wrong side of, and for those guys to get a win in front of a great crowd tonight and go out with a win is huge.”
Two key aspects for this Beauregard win were the home crowd, who filled the stands, and the raining of 3-pointers from a multitude of players.
“It’s kinda live by the sword, die by the sword, but when they fall, it gives us a great chance to be competitive,” said Wallace.
Despite the lead they had built, Beauregard did have to stave off a Notasulga push late in the game. The Hornets had built up a 30-point lead at half time, but with 3 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter that lead had dwindled to just 10.
“Our team hasn’t been in that situation where we’ve had a big lead, so it’s a teachable moment,” said Wallace. “You can’t let your guard down ya know, we just got to keep our foot on the pedal and continue to do what got us to that point to being successful.”
Beauregard’s top scorers were sophomore Kayne Billingsley with 13 points and 6 rebounds; junior Dre Vann followed him with 10 points, 3 assists and 1 steal; sophomore Antonius Peters rounded out the top three in scoring with 10 points.
For Notasulga, senior center Jamarion Austin led scoring with 20 points.
Notasulga finished the regular season 8-9, and Beauregard finished 3-11 with a game scheduled against Elmore County on Feb. 3.
“We’re gonna have to play our best game of the year to beat those guys,” Wallace said. “They are really well-coached and play a great brand of basketball, so I think this win tonight gives us the confidence we need to win that game.”
