Warriors, Jags win in area first round

Published 12:00 am Tuesday, February 7, 2006

The Thompson Lady Warriors were not about to let Oak Mountain get the best of them again.

On Jan. 19, the Warriors were stunned by the Lady Eagles, but Monday night they were unstoppable, claiming a 62-37 victory to advance to the semifinal round of the Class 6A, Area 6 tournament.

&8220;I think we&8217;re peaking at the right time,&8221; Warriors&8217; head coach Cara Crosslin said. &8220;We played with great intensity and heart tonight.&8221;

Thompson&8217;s Britt Self led the way for her team, netting 17 points in the winning effort.

&8220;I thought I did all right,&8221; Britt said. &8220;It was great because the six seniors came out really fired up tonight.&8221;

Thompson, now 24-6 on the season, will face the fifth-ranked Vestavia Hills Lady Rebels tomorrow night, a team the Warriors have struggled against this year.

&8220;Vestavia is a good team and they know it,&8221; Crosslin said. &8220;In our last game we were leading them at halftime, so there&8217;s no reason why we can&8217;t stick with them.&8221;

Britt said her team is concentrating as much on their mental game as they are on the physical aspects.

&8220;We need to have the mindset that we can win,&8221; she said. &8220;We have the physical ability to be able to do it. We just need to get over the hump and play well.&8221;

Oak Mountain&8217;s Tiffaney McKinney finished with eight points to lead the Lady Eagles in scoring.

The Lady Warriors and Rebels square off at Vestavia Hills tomorrow night at 7:30 p.m.

Spain Park 36, Mountain Brook 25: Spain Park&8217;s Lauren Dunning hit two crucial three-pointers at the end of the first half Monday night to spur her team to a 36-35 victory over the Mountain Brook Spartans in the first round of the Class 6A, Area 6 tournament.

Dunning netted two of her three shots from behind the arc of the final two minutes of the second quarter Friday night to tie the Spartans at the half, 15-15.

&8220;Those shots were huge for us,&8221; Spain Park head coach Gena Morris said. &8220;We were missing some shots early but I told them to keep shooting and eventually they would go in.&8221;

Dunning led her team in scoring in the game, finishing with 13 points while teammate Tiffany Thomas finished with nine points in the win.

Spain Park will now face cross-town rival Hoover on Thursday night in the semifinal round of the Class 6A, Area 6 tournament at Vestavia Hills. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m.

Hoover 53, Pelham 31: The Pelham Panthers made things interesting in their first round game against the third-ranked Hoover Lady Bucs Monday.

After falling to a 15-14 deficit at the end of the first quarter, Pelham went on a 18-8 run in the second to pull within one point of Hoover at the half at 22-23.

But poor shooting and turnovers got the better of the Panthers in the second half, as Pelham only scored two points in the third quarter and turned the ball over 11 times in the second two periods. The Bucs pulled away and eventually won the game 53-31.

Pelham&8217;s Whitney Billings and led the way for the Panthers in the loss, netting eight points. Pelham finishes the season with a 10-18 record while Hoover moves on in the Class 6A, Area 6 tournament to face Spain Park tomorrow night