HANCEVILLE, Ala. — The Pickens County High School boys basketball team is going back to Birmingham.
MVP LaJuan Doss had 13 points, seven rebounds, and three steals Saturday to lead the Tornadoes past Parrish 82-48 Saturday in the Alabama High School Athletic Association Class 1A Northwest Regional at Drake Coliseum on the campus of Wallace State-Hanceville Community College.
Nick Stewart had three 3-pointers in the first half en route to a team-high 15-point effort. Deion Curry joined Stewart on the regional all-tournament team.
Demarko Hall added 11 points all in the first half for the Tornadoes, who had 12 players score and held a 51-36 rebounding edge.
Pickens County also scored 25 points off 17 turnovers and had 32 points from its bench.
The victory pushes Pickens County (28-1), which won the Class 2A state title last season, back to the Birmingham Jefferson Civic Center. The Tornadoes will play Keith at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. The winner of that game will take on the winner of the game at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday between Cedar Bluff and McIntosh at 8 p.m. Thursday.
Baseball
n Columbus takes two: At West Point, Hunter Mullis pitched a one-hitter and Christian Dale pitched a complete-game two-hitter to lead the Falcons to a 25-0 victory against East Oktibbeha and a 4-2 victory against Hamilton at the West Point.
In the first game, Nick Durrah hit a home run in the second inning, Dale was 1-for-3 with a double and three RBIs, Tyler Blevins was 2-for-2 with two RBIs, and Aaron Cooks had a double and two RBIs,
In the second game, Dale threw 85 pitches and struck out seven and walked one. He didn’t allow an earned run. Hamilton, which lost its other game in the tournament to Shannon, scored both its runs in the top of the seventh.
Columbus scored two unearned runs on a passed ball in the second. Trace Lee had a great read on the ball and scored from second base.
In the fifth, Durrah had an RBI single to score Jimmy Cockrell, who reached on an infield hit. The Falcons added another run in the sixth on a sacrifice fly by Martavious McKinney.
Columbus had only one error in two games. It will play at 4:30 and 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Caledonia.
n Heritage Academy beats Lamar School: At Meridian, Camp Pittman pitched six strong innings to help the Patriots (2-0) earn a 9-4 victory.
“I am very pleased with his outing considering it was his first outing,” Heritage Academy coach Bruce Branch said of Pittman’s 79-pitch outing. “That definitely was an improvement for Camp.”
Tyler Farnham had a three-run home run, James Clark had a two-run home run, Parker Dunaway had a couple of singles, and Tyler Marchak had two, two-out hits with two strikes.
“I thought we played well and that the defense held up,” Branch said.
Heritage Academy will play at 6 p.m. Monday at Tuscaloosa Academy Monday and will play host to Canton Academy in its home opener at 6 p.m. Tuesday.
n Caledonia wins two at Noxapater tournament: At Noxapater,
Zach Senneff had two doubles and two RBIs, Richard Keene had a home run and two RBIs, and Caleb Brown had a double and two RBIs as the Confederates (2-0) rallied in the bottom of the sixth inning to take a 7-6 victory against Nanih Waiya at the Noxapater Classic.
The game was played with a two-hour time limit.
Trey Lancaster had a run-producing hit in the victory, and Senneff had seven strikeouts in relief. Montana Jacobs pitched the sixth inning to get the victory.
Caledonia defeated South Leake 16-5 in four innings in its second game. Jacobs had two singles and three RBIs, Lancaster had a double and two RBIs, and Brandon Darling had two RBIs.
Will Breen and Jake Stewart each had a single and two RBIs.
Matt Gresham pitched the first two innings to get the win. He struck out five and allowed only one hit.
Caledonia will play Columbus at 6 p.m. Tuesday and will play West Lowndes in a varsity doubleheader at 4 p.m. Friday.
n West Lowndes splits first two games: At Noxapater, Tyquan Lucious went 3-for-3 with a double and a home run and earned the victory to lead West Lowndes (1-1) to a 14-1 victory against Noxapater in its second game Friday at the Noxapater tournament.
In its first game, West Lowndes lost to Nanih Waiya 14-0.
In the second game, Lucious allowed just two hits to get the victory. Fredrico Moody was 3-for-3 with a home run, and Henry Mayfield had two RBIs.
n Immanuel Christian drops doubleheader: At Berry, Ala., The Rams (0-4) rallied from a 12-0 deficit in the first game, only to have errors in the bottom of the fifth inning damage their comeback attempt in a 21-11 loss.
Immanuel Christian lost the second game 8-1.
Trailing 12-0, Immanuel Christian scored 11 runs to get back into the game. Jeremy Davidson led the charge by going 2-for-3 with a double, a run scored, and four RBIs. Justin James was 1-for-4 with two RBIs, and Christian Good was 1-for-2 with two runs scored and an RBI.
Sophomore Zach Strickland took the loss, allowing four earned runs in two innings. He also had two walks, an RBI, and a run scored.
Davidson went 1-for-3 with a double and Good had an RBI in the second game. Dustin White (0-2) pitched four innings and took the loss.
On Thursday, Immanuel Christian lost to Russell Christian 25-2.
Immanuel Christian will play at 3:15 Monday at Tuscaloosa Christian. It will play at 4 p.m. Tuesday at Hebron Christian.
n Oak Hill loses to Lamar School: At Meridian, The Raiders (1-2) led 5-4 into the bottom of the sixth inning when Lamar School scored five runs en route to a 9-5 victory.
Kody Riley (0-2) pitched well, allowed seven hits, struck out four, and walked two intentionally.
“We’re starting to figure it out,” Oak Hill Academy coach Marion Bratton said. “Kody pitched an outstanding ballgame.”
Conner Baird had two singles and was thrown out at the plate two times. Tres Turner had a single and a sacrifice, Cole Fowler hit a two-run home run, Chance Livingston had three singles, and Riley had a single and an RBI. Jeb Stevens also had an RBI on a groundball up the middle.
“I am not sad about tonight. We got better,” Bratton said. “We got beat 9-5, but the score doesn’t indicate how much better we got.”
Oak Hill Academy will play at Tuesday at Starkville Academy.
n Hebron Christian splits with Houlka: At Houlka, The Eagles (1-1) allowed a two-out basehit in the bottom of the seventh inning to earn a 12-11 victory
On Friday, Will-Corben Rogers pitched all five innings to earn a 10-0 victory against Houlka in a game shortened to five innings due to the mercy rule. Ryan Moore and Kevin Simmons had multiple hits to lead the attack.
n Central Academy-Noxubee County postponed: At Macon, Friday’s scheduled game between Central Academy and Noxubee County at the new sports facility on Highway 45 was postponed due to wet areas surrounding the field.
Central Academy coach Scott Nash said the field was playable but the wet conditions surrounding the field would have made it difficult for fans and vehicles to navigate around the new complex. He said the game has tentatively been rescheduled for March 21.
Central Academy will play host to Pickens Academy (Ala.) on Monday. The B game will start at 4 p.m., followed by the A game (varsity).
n East Webster splits first two games: At Houston, Hayden Hendrix had a three-run home run and a grand slam, and Ty Hendrix had a double and a home run to lead the Wolverines to a 13-2 victory against Kossuth at the Houston tournament.
East Webster lost to Houston 5-4 in its first game at the tournament.
Hayden Hendrix drove in three runs with a three-run double in the seventh inning of the first game. Ty Hendrix threw five innings and allowed only one earned run.
In the second game, Dillon Henley and Scott Johnson each had two hits. Johnson pitched in relief and threw the final three innings for the victory.
East Webster plays Tuesday at South Pontotoc and Friday at Oak Hill Academy.
n Pickens Academy goes 1-3 at Marengo tournament: At Demopolis, Ala., The Pickens Ac
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 36 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.