By D. Mark Mitchell
Opelika Athletics turn attention to the winter sports such as basketball (girls and boys), wrestling and indoor track.
The OHS Lady Bulldog basketball team has completed four games, going 2-2 against teams across Alabama.
The girls are led by coach Devin Booth, in her 12th season at Opelika. Coach Booth led OHS to the State Finals the last three seasons, including back-to-back second place finishes. Booth’s Bulldogs have never lost at OHS and have won the Area Championship numerous times including each of the last seven seasons.
Opelika lost back-to-back games in a Thanksgiving Tournament at Hardaway High School last week.
Hewitt-Trussville won 54-37 in the opening game of the tournament. Haley Sanders led OHS in scoring with 18 points, and Kaitlyn Bryant added 11 points in the loss. Phil Cambell High School in Georgia beat Opelika 87-59 in the last game of the tournament. Haley Sanders continued to shoot well, scoring a season-high 28 points despite the loss. Kaitlyn Bryant and LaDajah Huguley added 13 and 12 points, respectively.
The Lady Bulldogs played Smiths Station on the road Tuesday night, but the results were not available at print time. Opelika travels to LaFayette for a 6 p.m. game against the Bulldogs.
The varsity boys basketball team, under first-year head coach Emanuel Brown, is off to an 0-2 start. The Bulldogs lost the season opener 59-34 to Gasden City and lost to Hewitt-Trussville 60-54 on the road.
The boys team cancelled the Carver game scheduled for Nov. 24 and the Benjamin Russell game scheduled for Dec. 7. The game against Rutherford, scheduled Nov. 28, was rescheduled for Saturday, Dec. 17. There is no word on the start time of the game.
WRESTLING
The OHS Wrestling Team started the season last week in the Smiths Station Duals at SSHS. The Bulldogs took seven wrestlers to participate against Beauregard, Russell County and Smiths Station. Opelika’s top performers were: Jack Prichard (195lb), who finished 3-0 including a pin and major decision; Teotl Heredia (182lb), who finished 2-0 with two pins; Brayden Wilson (120lbs); and Trace Gaither (132lbs), who finished with 1-0 records. Calvin Fenn went 2-1 with two pins and Jacob Williams added a win for the Bulldogs.
Head coach Jim Davis took his team to Prattville last night for a dual match. The results were not available at press time.
AHSAA SUPER 7 FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
Fourteen Teams will compete in the AHSAA Super 7 Football Championship in Tuscaloosa, today (Dec 2), Thursday (Dec 3) and Friday (Dec 4).
The action begins with the 7A Championship game featuring Auburn and Thompson, at 7 p.m. tonight (Dec. 2) in Bryant-Denny Stadium.
Thursday’s schedule begins with the 3A Championship game: Montgomery Catholic v. Fyffe at 10 a.m. The 1A Championship game between Linden and Picken County starts at 2:45 p.m.
The 5A Championship featuring St. Paul’s Episcopal and Pleasant Grove.
The 4A Championship game, Gordo vs Handley, begins at 10 am Friday, and is followed by the 2A Championship featuring Abbeville vs Mars Hill Bible at 2:45 p.m. The final game of the Super 7 Championship is the 6A game between Spanish Fort and Pinson Valley.
You can listen to every game locally, presented by the Orhopaedic Clinic on FOX Sports Game 910-1310. Each game will air on both iHeartRadio stations, 910 am and 1310 am, thanks to the doctors and staff at the Orthopaedic Clinic.