From Staff Reports

Isabella’s girls basketball team defeated Thorsby on Monday, 53-46, in the Class 2A, Area 7 tournament at Francis Marion High School.

The Mustangs will play host Francis Marion at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

Billingsley plays R.C. Hatch at 6 p.m. Friday in another semifinal game.

On Monday, Isabella was led by Khadijah Craig’s 15 points.

Teammate Savannah Higgins had 14 points, and Kinslee Mims had 11 points.

Thorsby’s Sharonda Cooper led all scorers with 21 points.

Thorsby’s girls defeated Maplesville on Senior Night, 36-27.

Sharonda Cooper, playing in her last home game as a Rebel, scored 24 points on Jan. 27 to go along with 10 rebounds and two assists.

Haley Barnett chipped in six points; and Keela Lucas, Jennifer Spivey and Desiree Evans all contributed two points in the basketball win.

By Stephen Dawkins | Assistant Managing Editor

Thorsby’s and Isabella’s basketball teams split two heart-stoppers on Thursday.

Isabella’s boys won their first game of the season, 36-33, while Thorsby’s girls pulled out a 32-31 win.

Thorsby’s boys (1-8) held a slight lead for much of their game, including as late as 48.6 seconds remaining to play, when Nathan Oldroyd sank two free throws.

But on Isabella’s ensuing possession, the Mustangs (1-7) crashed the offensive boards hard, earning several second-chance opportunities before D.J. Talley finally got one to go down to tie the game at 33 with 20 seconds left.

After an offensive foul call on Thorsby, Isabella’s Deonte Campbell connected on a runner in the lane and was fouled in the process.

Campbell made the free throw for a three-point lead, and Thorsby then missed an attempt from beyond the three-point line.

Campbell led all scorers with 13 points. He also recorded 12 rebounds.

Tyler Edwards had nine points and six rebounds for host Isabella.

Oldroyd and Parker Bryan each had nine points for Thorsby.

Thorsby’s girls were down 31-29 with just under 1 minute to play in the first varsity game of the evening when Megan Sanchez found an open Haley Barnett in the post to tie the game.

The Rebels got the ball back, and Sharonda Cooper was fouled with 4 seconds remaining. She made the second of two free throws for the win.

Cooper led all scorers with 23 points and pulled down eight rebounds.

Sanchez and Keela Lucas had six rebounds each.

Khadijah Craig scored 10 points for Isabella (2-7).

The Rebels (2-6) fell to Francis Marion, 68-36, on Tuesday.

Cooper had 15 points, six rebounds and four assists in that one.

Barnett grabbed six rebounds.

From Staff Reports

Thorsby’s girls fell to Montgomery Catholic on Dec. 2, 40-32, despite 21 points and seven rebounds from Sharonda Cooper.

“We did not execute plays, and we got outrebounded,” THS coach Ginger Williams said.

From Staff Reports

Thorsby defeated Fayetteville, 62-55 in overtime, on Thursday for the Rebels’ first win of the young season.

The game was close throughout, and Houston Daniel was fouled attempting a 3-pointer for the win at the end of regulation.

The shot didn’t go in, but Daniel made the second and third free throws to send the game into overtime.

In the extra period, THS (1-1) held Fayetteville two points while scoring all of its points from the free throw line.

Parker Bryan made four free throws in overtime, Jeffrey Thornton made two and Daniel had one.

Daniel scored a team-high 17 points, and Bryan had 13 points.

B.B. Evans and Jagger Cook each had 11 points.

Thornton scored eight points, all of which came in the second half.

By Stephen Dawkins | Assistant Managing Editor

Thorsby moved up to Class 3A in the newest football and basketball classifications released by the Alabama High School Athletic Association.

Classifications are studied and set every two years, based on number students in grades 10-12, and then on proximity to other schools.

Jemison stayed in Class 4A, though its region and area foes changed somewhat.

Thorsby football coach and athletic director Billy Jackson said school officials were aware the Rebels might move up.

“We said, ‘We will either be one of the biggest 2As in the state or one of the smallest 3As,’” Jackson said. “It was that close.”

Jackson said the reclassification will challenge all Rebels athletic programs because several new region foes—including Midfield, Montevallo and Tarrant—have been 4A schools within the past several years.

Basketball and football groupings for each local program are listed below:

Basketball

Class 4A, Area 7

Bibb County, Calera, Dallas County, Jemison

Class 3A, Area 5

B.B. Comer, Central Coosa, Thorsby, Trinity Presbyterian

Football

Class 4A, Region 4

Bibb County, Calera, Corner, Dallas County, Dora, Jemison, Oak Grove, West Blocton

Class 3A, Region 4

B.B. Comer, Central Coosa, Leeds, Midfield, Montevallo, Tarrant, Thorsby, Trinity Presbyterian

Thorsby’s boys and girls basketball teams opened their seasons Tuesday with disappointing losses at Verbena.

Verbena’s girls’ 34-31 victory over the Rebels was the first for any Devil on the roster, and senior Marqueska Deramus has been playing since she was in the seventh grade.

Deramus led the effort with a game-high 24 points, two of which gave the hosts a 34-28 lead with 1:10 remaining on the clock to ice the game.

First-year coach Nicole Ivey said she is fortunate that seven of her eight players return with varsity experience.

“All eight of them stepped up and played at a higher level than I knew they could,” she said.

Thorsby’s Sharonda Cooper posted a double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds.

Like the girls game, the boys game was close and competitive throughout.

THS led by as many as four points, on a Houston Daniel 3-pointer with about 2 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.

The game was tied with about 2 minutes left in the fourth quarter when Verbena’s Fred Wright drained a couple of 3’s and T.J. Ray stole the ball at midcourt and finished for a 49-41 lead that the Rebels would not threaten.

The final score was 50-44.

Wright had 16 points for VHS, and Ray had 15 points.

Daniel led all scorers with 17 points.

Thorsby hosts Fayetteville on Thursday.

By Chris Wasson | Special to the Advertiser

Dallas County High School started slowly to begin both halves, but gathered strength when the game went on in route to a 52-30 win over Jemison Thursday in the Class 4A, Area 6 girls basketball tournament at Southside-Selma High School.

Both Thorsby teams also lost Thursday, playing in their respective Class 2A, Area 7 tournaments at Francis Marion High School.

The THS girls lost, 53-31, to Marion despite Sharonda Cooper’s 11 points and Amanda Hubbard’s nine points; and the Thorsby boys lost, 72-30, to R.C. Hatch.

In the Jemison game, the two teams started pretty evenly matched, and the Panthers even jumped out to a 10-4 lead before Dallas County came back to end the quarter tied at 12.

It was in the second quarter that the Hornets got going and pulled out to a 24-15 lead on the strength of their press defense, which forced turnovers leading to easy points.

“We just weren’t able to answer in the second quarter,” Jemison coach Stacy McGehee said. “Between that and missed opportunities in the third quarter, we fell behind and their team speed took over from there.”

McGehee said it was the Hornets’ aggressive defense that seemed to cause his squad problems but was proud of how his side fought back.

“We just couldn’t keep up with them,” McGehee said. “But we had a great season. I’m proud of the work this team put in this year, especially my seniors. They had a great run, it’s just sad to see it end.”

–Assistant managing editor Stephen Dawkins contributed to this report.

By James Dubuisson | Special to the Advertiser

For five years, Thorsby High School girls basketball teammates Sharonda Cooper and Amanda Hubbard have been teammates and best friends, on and off the court.

You always see them in the school hallways, at the lunch table laughing and leading the Lady Rebels together on the hardwood.

And on Friday night, the explosive tandem played their last home game together, against Fayetteville High School.

Cooper, a junior, outscored the Lady Wolves of FHS all by herself in the first quarter with 9 points as the Lady Rebels took a 14-6 lead into the second quarter.

THS extended its lead to 24-9 in the second quarter.

Not to be outdone by Cooper’s first quarter performance, Hubbard, a senior, dropped three 3-pointers in the third quarter.

After Hubbard’s 9 points, the Lady Rebels led 36-15 after three quarters.

THS would then finish off the Lady Wolves in the fourth.

The tandem finished the game with 41 total points, with Cooper scoring a game-high 27 and Hubbard finishing with 14, 12 of which came off her four 3-pointers.

“I love her so much, and I’m really going to miss her,” Cooper said. “I wish we could have one more year together. She is really my sister, and I love her to death along with the other seniors.”

Hubbard and the other senior basketball players and cheerleaders were honored in between the girls and boys games.

Unlike the girls’ game, the THS/FHS boys game was closely contested.

The Wolves would leave Thorsby with the victory, 75-71.

After one quarter of play, the Rebels led 20-19. They were led by junior Jace Maddox’s seven points and senior Andrew Farris’ six points.

The Wolves would then jump out to a seven-point lead in the second quarter, leading 42-35, and the game seemed to be over after the third quarter, as FHS extended its lead to 13 at 58-45.

But the Rebels were not done yet, as they scored the first eight points of the fourth. The Rebels stayed close to the Wolves for the rest of the game. They even made it a one-possession game with little time left on the clock.

Farris tried a 3, and the ball seemed to slow down as it sailed through the air and found the center of the cylinder.

The Wolves still led by three, though, and the Rebels needed to foul. With 2.7 seconds remaining, FHS junior Steven King stepped up to the line needing to make his first shot and intentionally miss the second.  He did exactly that.

The Rebels were led by Farris’s 22 points, sophomore Parker Bryan’s 15 points and Maddox’s 14 points.

From Staff Reports

The varsity basketball games involving Chilton County teams scheduled for Thursday have been canceled because of dangerous driving conditions caused by freezing rain.

Verbena’s girls and boys teams were supposed to play at Jemison on Thursday, and Fayetteville was to visit Thorsby.

The Verbena-Jemison games could not be rescheduled because there was not a date available for both schools before next week’s area tournaments.

Fayetteville and Thorsby will make up their games beginning at 5:30 p.m. Friday.