OPELIKA —
The Opelika High School (OHS) Lady Bulldog basketball team (7-9, A 1-0) opened its area play with a 51-29 win at Smiths Station last Friday.
OHS was led offensively by Tyra Pitts, who scored 12 points; Cherdi Daniels, who scored 11 points; and Z Fanning’s 10 points.
Head coach Blake Smalley said he was proud his team won the first area game after a tough schedule in December.
Opelika’s varsity boys basketball team (6-7, 1-0) blew out Smiths Station High School, 76-5, last Friday in Smiths Station. Mekhiron Brock led OHS with a double-double, scoring 22 points and pulling down 33 rebounds; Isaiah Knight scored 16 points; DJ Harris and Caur’Dae Wright added 11 and nine points, respectively.
The varsity girls dropped to 1-1 in the area after losing to Central 56-24 at the OHS Mainstreet gym Tuesday night. Daniels led the Lady Bulldogs with 13 points.
The OHS boys team dropped to 1-1 in area as well after Central beat the Dogs 86-76 Tuesday night.
OHS girls and boys basketball teams host Auburn Friday (Jan. 13) in the Mainstreet gym. Varsity girls starts at 6 p.m. with the boys to follow.
Fans can listen to Opelika/Auburn basketball games on FOX Sports the Game 910-1310 presented by the Orthopaedic Clinic, starting at 5:45 p.m. Tickets can be purchased online at
gofan.co.
Both teams host Smiths Station next Friday, Jan. 20.
TIDBITS
The Alabama Sports Writers Association held its annual “Mr. Football Banquet” Thursday at the Renaissance Ballroom in Montgomery.
Locally, Auburn High’s Ean Nation is a finalist for “7A Back of Year” and teammate Brayden Joiner is a finalist for “7A Lineman of the Year.” Lee-Scott’s George Meyers is a finalist for AISA “Back of Year.”
The Alabama Sports Writers Association (ASWA) selects three finalists in each classification with the winner being announced at the banquet.
These three players were selected by the members of the ASWA after being nominated for All-State by head football coaches across Alabama.
Unfortunately, the winners were not announced before press time. You can check online at opelikaobserver.com for the latest news on the winners.
This week, three more high schools — Blount, Pinson Valley and Bessemer City — are looking for head football coaches. All three head coaches resigned their jobs as head coaches for different reasons.
Clarke County head football coach Stacy Luker resigned as head football coach last week. Luker, a member of the AHSAA Hall of Fame, averages 10 wins a season and has won six state titles in 26 years as a head coach. Luker appeared on “On the Mark” radio show earlier this week to discuss the decision.
“I feel like it is time for me to make a change,” he said. “God leads us every day (including me). I will continue to follow the path God lays out for me. I will remain as athletic director for now.”
There is no question in my mind that Luker will have a new job very soon.
The city of Opelika and Perfect Game, a national travel baseball organization, have reached an agreement for 2023 which allows them to host baseball tournaments at West Ridge Park.
The city of Opelika controls the dates and number of tournaments and stipulated no tournaments will interfere with Opelika Dixie Youth, Dixie Boys, softball and Billy Hitchcock Miracle League.
Baseball and softball tournaments bring visitors to our area and provide economic impact for nine months out of the year.
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.