By Stephen Dawkins | Assistant Managing Editor

Thorsby’s girls basketball team defeated Maplesville, 45-33, but the focus Monday seemed to be an opponent common to not just players from both teams but to people across the world: the fight against breast cancer.

A portion of the proceeds from the game was to be donated to the Bruno Cancer Center at St. Vincent’s hospital in Birmingham.

Also, several Thorsby students walked the perimeter of the court with boxes for donations.

The idea for the school’s first Breast Cancer Awareness Night came from these girls, a group of fourth and third graders, calling themselves the “Sweet Girls,” who decided they wanted to do something to promote a cause that has touched them already in their young lives.

“We just wanted to help,” said Adi Argent, daughter of girls basketball coach Ab Argent.

Argent—along with Lily Porter, Whitney Smitherman and Kathryn Taylor—rattled off names of loved ones affected by the disease, but one cancer survivor in particular serves as motivation for the girls.

Wendy Bryan, wife of THS principal Russ Bryan and third grade teacher at the school, is undergoing treatments, but still showed up to see her son, Parker, play in the varsity boys game.

Wendy Bryan was greeted in the auditorium by smiles and hugs—and the thought that Thorsby students were doing all they could to help.

“Ms. Bryan is dear to my heart; I love her so much,” Smitherman said.

Other Sweet Girls include Katie Mote and Lydia Nunn.

The group’s project seemed a success.

The Rebels traded their traditional maroon uniforms for pink ones, and many fans in attendance—not to mention Maplesville players, cheerleaders and fans—embraced the color scheme as well.

And the home team won, led by 16 points from Sharonda Cooper and 11 points from Amanda Hubbard.

Keshia Bailey led Maplesville with 16 points.

By Stephen Dawkins | Assistant Managing Editor

The night wasn’t perfect for Thorsby, as Maplesville’s boys closed out the night with a 57-42 win.

Thorsby held an 18-11 lead after one period of play, but MHS charged back in the second period.

Matt Hamner dribbled from one basket to the other and used his 6’5” frame to finish with a layup and give Maplesville at 21-20 lead.

The game was close until MHS’s Cameron Morrow stole an inbounds pass with 2:12 remaining in the third quarter and layed it in for a 39-35 lead.

Moments later, just before the end of the period, Hamner drained a 3-pointer for a 42-37 lead, which would only expand in the final period.

Maplesville’s Anthony Johnson led all scorers with 29 points; Thorsby’s Cody Carroll had 10 points.

By James Dubuisson | Special to the Advertiser

With three games left in the basketball season, Thorsby’s boys and girls teams traveled to Elmore County to play Holtville High School on Thursday night.

The ladies played first and won, 41-18.

The game was close after one period of play, as THS led 6-4, and remained that way after one half of play, as HHS was still down by only two points, trailing 14-12 at halftime.

THS senior Amanda Hubbard came out of the locker room on fire, as she scored 10 of her 14 points in the third period.

The Lady Rebels led 25-18 at the end of the third.

THS would then pull away, as they shut out the Lady Bulldogs’ offense in the fourth period.

THS junior Sharonda Cooper scored 15 points, which was a game high.

By James Dubuisson | Special to the Advertiser

The boys game turned into a battle that did not end at the end of regulation, as Holtville High School won, 73-68, in overtime.

The first quarter ended with the score knotted up, 17-17.

The battle continued in the second quarter, as the Bulldogs went into the half leading 29-28 over Thorsby.

The second half was filled with drama, as the Rebels led 47-46 going into the fourth quarter.

The Bulldogs had the lead, 62-61, with 19 seconds left in regulation, and the Rebels were inbounding the ball from half court.

The ball was passed in to THS senior Cody Carroll, who was fouled in the process of his shot with 12 seconds left on the clock. Carroll went on to hit one of his two free throws and tie the game 62-62.

The Bulldogs scored the first six points in overtime and would ice the rest of the clock to hold on to the victory.

The Bulldogs were lead by junior Markevius Williams’ 11-point overtime performance. He also scored an impressive game-high 35 points.

THS was led by sophomore Parker Bryan and senior Marcus Bray, who both scored 16 points. Senior Andrew Farris and juniors Jace Maddox and Aaron Thornton had solid performances, scoring 10, 9 and 8 points, respectively.

By Stephen Dawkins

A quicker, deeper Thorsby team outlasted Isabella on Tuesday, 54-45, in boys basketball action.

Isabella, playing on its home court, closed the first period on an 8-0 run to build a 15-10 lead.

The Mustangs (2-15) utilized their size advantage, with Sawyer Cahalane, Austin Haigler and Cody Smith crashing the offensive boards and earning second-chance opportunities.

An Andrew Farris 3-pointer gave Thorsby an 18-17 lead with 5:02 remaining in the second period, but too many times the Rebels (6-11) misfired from beyond the arc instead of attacking Isabella’s zone defense.

IHS’s J.D. Lenoir answered Farris’ shot with a triple of his own, and the hosts would hold the lead until there were 41 seconds left in the third period, when Farris drained the third of his 3’s to tie the score at 32.

Farris added a field goal as time expired to give Thorsby its first lead since the game’s opening moments.

THS led by as many as 11 points in the fourth period, as its defensive pressure, fast offensive pace and higher number of substitutes began taking a toll.

Farris led all scorers with 21 points.

Haigler and Thorsby’s Parker Bryan weren’t far behind with 19 points each.

Cahalane also scored in double digits, with 13 points.

By Stephen Dawkins

Thorsby girls basketball player Sharonda Cooper scored 30 points on Tuesday as the Rebels defeated host Isabella, 35-23.

Cooper’s teammate Amanda Hubbard scored five points and was the only other THS player to record a point.

Isabella’s zone defense made it difficult for Cooper to penetrate the lane, but often she simply rose up over a double team and sank a jump shot.

The Mustangs (11-6) led 6-4 after one period, but the Rebels (11-8) took a 14-13 advantage into the locker room at halftime—and Cooper exploded in the second half, scoring 21 of her points, including eight of the last 10 overall to close the third period.

Whitney Smith and Amber Wyatt scored eight points each for Isabella. Each player scored two points in each quarter of the game.

By James Dubuisson | Special to the Advertiser

Billingsley High School played host to the Rebels of Thorsby High School on Thursday night.

The girls played first, and the Lady Rebels won 59-42.

The game was close after one quarter of play, as the Lady Rebels had a

14-10 lead over the Lady Bears. Junior guard Sharonda Cooper scored nine points in the first quarter.

Cooper scored another seven points in the second quarter, bringing her total to 16.

BHS’s Lori Davis scored nine of her team-high 13 points in the first half.

THS led 30-18 going into the second half.

The Lady Rebels would then grow their lead to 15 in the third stanza, as they led 41-26 after three quarters of play.

THS then finished off the Lady Bears in the fourth quarter.

Cooper finished the game with 27 points.

Davis and Madison Price were the only two Lady Bears with double digits in the scoring category, as Price finished with 12 points.

By James Dubuisson | Special to the Advertiser

Thorsby’s boys basketball game against Billingsley on Thursday was a nail biter, as the Bears’ 53-51 win was not sealed until the last shot of the game.

The Rebels led 14-10 after one quarter, but Bears sophomore guard Justin Snow’s eight second-quarter points led BHS to a 27-26 lead going into the locker room for halftime.

THS sophomore Parker Bryan scored all 11 of his points in the first half, and senior Marcus Bray scored half of his 20 points in the first half.

The Bears’ first-half offense was led by Snow and Carlos Caver’s eight points.

In the third quarter, the Rebels outscored the Bears by six to take a 45-40 lead into the 4th quarter.

THS senior Andrew Farris was an essential key to the Rebels’ 19-point third quarter, as he scored 12 of his 17 points in the quarter.

Personal fouls played a key part in the fourth quarter as the Rebels had four players with three or more fouls—two of them being starters.

Caver scored with 2 minutes left in the game to tie the score at 51.

The game would remain tied until right after a Billingsley time out with 16.2 seconds left in the game.

The ball was inbounded and ended up in the hands of BHS sophomore Garrett Price, who made the game-winning shot.

Billingsley High School’s next games are scheduled for Friday at Maplesville High School.

Thorsby High School’s next games are also against MHS, on Jan. 24.

By Stephen Dawkins

Perhaps no one should have been surprised that Thorsby’s girls won the Chilton County Basketball Tournament.

Though the Rebels had lost to Isabella before the tournament, and Isabella had lost to Jemison, Thorsby’s success in the event over the past four years has been unequaled.

After a 40-27 win over Verbena in the championship game on Jan. 15, THS has won half of the past four titles and appeared in the finals both of the other two years.

Pride in Thorsby’s tournament reputation may have motivated this year’s team, which played its best basketball of the season, Coach Ab Argent said.

“We played hard. We got twice the effort,” he said. “I thought our girls played about as good as we had played all year.”

Thorsby’s usual stars were at their best, but the team also benefitted from contributions from unlikely sources.

Sharonda Cooper scored 30 points in the championship game and 20 points in a 44-34 semifinal win over Jemison on Jan. 14.

Amanda Hubbard added 11 points in the win over JHS, while Kelsey Mims had 12 points for the Panthers.

Two regular junior varsity players, freshman Megan Sanchez and seventh grader Sabrina Ellison, forced into action because of the absence of two usual contributors, played significant roles in the Thorsby’s tournament wins.

“We didn’t the turn the ball over as much, we rebounded better and defended better,” Argent said. “I tell them, those three things are usually going to decide the game.”

Thorsby drew a first-round bye in the tournament; Jemison defeated Maplesville, 44-29, on Jan. 11.

Maplesville was competitive but never really threatened after Mims sunk a floater at the first-period buzzer to give Jemison a 13-6 lead.

The Panthers led 23-11 at halftime and 32-19 after three periods, but MHS cut the deficit to eight points, at 33-25, before Mims nailed a 3-pointer with about 6 minutes left to play to end any doubt about the outcome.

Mims scored a game-high 16 points, and teammate Shelby Griffin had 13 points.

By Stephen Dawkins

Thorsby’s girls team used a 16-0 run to end the third period and begin the fourth period to defeat Jemison, 44-34, and advance to the finals of the Chilton County Tournament.

The Rebels will play Verbena at 5 p.m. at Chilton County High School for the county championship.

The game was tied at 26 when Jemison’s Shelby Griffin drained a jumper with 2:59 remaining in the third.

But Thorsby would score 16 points over the next 8 minutes while holding JHS scoreless.

When the Rebels finally knocked the lid off the basket, the game was out of reach.

THS led 26-21 at halftime, but the Panthers fought back before going cold.

Much of the damage was done by Sharonda Cooper, who finished with a game-high 20 points.

Amanda Hubbard had 11 points for Thorsby, and Kelsey Mims led Jemison with 12 points.