BY DANIEL SCHMIDT
THE OBSERVER
AUBURN — In front of a raucous Auburn High School Gymnasium crowd that was nearly evenly divided between both sets of fans, the Auburn High School (7A) girls’ and boys’ basketball teams both earned home victories over crosstown foes Lee-Scott Academy (3A) on Nov. 20.
It was a special night for both sets of programs, as it was possibly the first time that the Tigers and Warriors squared off in competitive basketball games against each other.
Lady Tigers 68, Lady Warriors 37
In the girls’ game, the Lady Tigers (1-1) cruised to victory by dominating the first and fourth quarters while weathering the storm in between as the Lady Warriors (1-2) tried to scrape and claw their way back into the game.
Former second-team all-state guard Braylee Winfrey paced AHS with 21 points, and Kayden Carr and eighth grader Jailyn White contributed 19 and 10 points, respectively. Star sophomore guard Clarke Ivatt led all scorers with 22 points for LSA, while Sydney Dunlap chipped in six points.
It was an impressive performance by a young team that AHS head girls’ coach Courtney Pritchett admitted is still coming into its own and establishing an identity.
“Coming into the season, we’re depending on very young post players,” Pritchett said. “Our post players, even in the game that we lost, they’ve been really, really solid in areas that we wanted them to be solid. They rebounded the ball really well, and they finished the shots that they did get. We’ve got six kids that I feel like can score 15 to 20 points a game, and if that happens, we’re going to be really hard to defend.”
As arguably the best returning player from a star-studded roster a year ago, Winfrey picked up right where she left off with a dominant scoring performance. Despite the familiar stat line, she now has a new role: being the team’s top leader.
“It feels great,” Winfrey said. “We’re a younger team, so we’re bringing everybody together skill-wise. So I think this game showed how our chemistry has come together. We’ve been working hard in the offseason coming together. We have a lot of young people, and they’re just stepping up and showing what they’ve got.”
The Lady Tigers raced out to a 25-7 first quarter with a fast tempo and physical play as Winfrey led the way with 10 points.
After going down big early, the Lady Warriors regained their composure in the second quarter with a swarming defense and red-hot shooting from Ivatt, who scored 11 of LSA’s 13 second-quarter points. Having put together a 13-10 run, LSA found itself down 35-20 at halftime.
After the break, the Lady Tigers’ superior size took its toll in the third quarter as AHS repeatedly dominated the offensive boards and went on a 13-8 run to go up 48-28.
The Lady Tigers’ deep roster then fully took control of the game in the fourth quarter with a 20-9 run fueled by 10 points from Carr.
Tigers 69, Warriors 54
In the nightcap following the girls’ game, the Tigers (2-1) weathered a furious second-half comeback attempt by the Warriors (2-1).
Alabama Mr. Basketball dark horse Antwane Daniels topped all scorers with 22 points for AHS, while Trindon Manior added 17 points. William Liles led LSA with 14 points, and Troy University signee Haiden Harper pitched in 13 points.
It was a special evening for AHS head boys’ coach Chris Brandt, an Auburn native who has led the Tigers since the 2018-19 season, in a near-capacity stadium that pulsed with energy from both AHS and LSA students.
“This has never happened before, having Lee-Scott play us, with them being a private school and now going public [joining the Alabama High School Athletic Association in 2024],” Brandt said. “It’s something I grew up always wanting to play myself, being from Auburn, and now we get a chance. I thought it was a great turnout. Lee-Scott supported them really well. We had a great student section. I’m hoping that by doing this, we can continue having that type of atmosphere.”
Despite holding a comfortable lead for most of the game, the Tigers had to work hard throughout the second half to maintain their advantage against a Warriors team that refused to quit. That resilience was indicative of the spirit that AHS tries to embody day in and day out according to Manior.
“We’re a family,” Manior said. “So I tell them every day, when we’re on the bench, I tell them in practice, we’ve got to all work hard and we’ve got to stay together, because it’s all we’ve got. We don’t have our football players, and one of our star players, No. 22 Magnus [Davis], is out with a torn ACL. So I tell them every day, we’ve got to fight. Just be a dog.”
As in the girls’ game, the Tigers established a daunting 17-6 lead in an extremely physical first quarter as both teams sought to establish a presence in the paint. Kentrell Evans fueled that early run with six points off the bench.
In the second quarter, clutch three-point shooting by LSA’s Grayson Haley helped get the Warriors somewhat back into the game, although AHS closed strong and entered halftime holding a 29-19 lead.
Coming out of the locker room, AHS extended its lead with a 21-13 run that featured timely three-point shots from Caleb Brooks and tough buckets by Daniels in the paint.
With the Tigers up 50-32 entering the fourth quarter, the game became a duel between the four leading scorers as Daniels’ and Manior’s 17 combined points helped AHS stave off a 22-19 LSA run that was fueled by Harper’s and Liles’ 14 combined points.
