Winfield, Hamilton split wins Friday night

By Luke Brantley
Staff writer
WINFIELD — The Lady Aggies and the Winfield Pirates won their respective games on Friday night, Feb. 3, at Winfield City High School to wrap up the regular season.
Hamilton’s varsity girls defeated the Winfield Lady Pirates 53-39.
The Lady Aggies took off to an early lead, ending the first half with a 24-19 lead. They continued to outscore the Lady Pirates through the second half to secure the win.
Hamilton’s Aubrey Sorrells led her team in scoring with 20 points and 11 rebounds. Jordan Parker scored 18 points.
Emily Jones scored 7 points and made 2 rebounds. Gracie Childers scored 4 points and made 3 rebounds.
Meg Wiginton and Ella Kelley each scored 2 points. Wiginton also recorded 4 rebounds, and Kelly recorded 1 rebound.
For the Lady Pirates, Tinsley Franks scored the most with 15 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 block.
Selena Winston scored 8 points, adding 7 rebounds and 3 assists.
Gracie McCarty scored 6 points along with 5 rebounds and 4 assists. Kylah May also scored 6 points.
Brayleigh Bolton and Molly Elkins each scored 2 points. Bolton added 3 rebounds and 2 steals, and Elkins grabbed 1 rebound.
Madie Grace Lewis ended the game with 4 rebounds.
The varsity boys’ game hinted toward an Aggies victory in the first half, before the Pirates turned the tide in the second half.
Hamilton was leading by one point, 8-7, at the end of the first quarter. At halftime, the Aggies were leading 25-20.
But the Pirates had not yet begun to fight. They came out of the locker room and scored 10 points in the third quarter, to which the Aggies only responded with 5 points of their own.
Now tied 30-30, the Pirates started to outpace the Aggies, scoring 20 points to Hamilton’s 8 to win the game 50-38.
Winfield’s Sean Wyers scored the most points for the Pirates with 15, also recording 8 rebounds, 1 assist and 2 steals.
Slate Gilbert scored 9 points, along with 2 rebounds, 4 assists and 1 steal. Preston Nelson scored 8 points, and added 2 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal.
Miles Miles scored 5 points and also walked away with 3 rebounds.
Tyler Mays scored 4 points but grabbed the most rebounds with 11, along with 2 assists.
Drew Cook, Thackary Box, J.D. Boman and Jarrett Hosch each scored 2 points. Nick Haney scored 1 point.
Cook made 7 rebounds, Box recorded 2 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal. Boman grabbed 1 rebound and 1 steal. Hosch got away with 1 steal. Earlier in the week, on Tuesday night, Jan. 31, the Pirates traveled to Haleyville to take on the Lions and once again split a win and a loss with the hosting team.
The Lady Pirates lost a close game 47-43. Winfield held a narrow 18-16 lead at the end of the first half, and were still leading 33-29 going into the fourth quarter.
But the Lady Lions weren’t done and rallied to score 18 points in the fourth quarter to the Lady Pirates’ 10 points.
When the buzzer sounded, the Lady Lions had come back to win 47-43.
Winston scored the most points for the Pirates with 10 points, 11 rebounds and 1 block. Franks scored 10 points, adding 10 rebounds, 1 steal and 2 blocks.
Gracie McCarty scored 9 points along with 2 rebounds.
In the boys’ game, the Pirates also staged a comeback, but theirs began earlier in the game.
The first quarter ended with the Lions leading 17-11, but the Pirates scored 21 points in the second quarter to Haleyville’s 15.
The game was tied at 32 as the third quarter began, and the Pirates seized their chance to widen the lead, scoring 19 more points to the Lions’ 10.
The Pirates were leading 51-42 as the fourth quarter began. Even as the Lions picked up the pace and scored 14 points, the Pirates stayed just ahead by adding 15 to their total.
The Pirates held the lead, and won 66-56.
Gilbert led the Pirates in scoring, with 29 points, 14 rebounds and 2 assists. Wyers scored 18 points along with 14 rebounds and 2 assists of his own. Nelson scored 12 points and added 2 rebounds and 3 assists.
The week before, on Tuesday, Jan. 24, the Pirates traveled to Oakman, where both teams defeated the Wildcats.
The Lady Pirates won a major 47-17 victory over the Lady Wildcats, consistently outscoring the home team and maintaining the lead throughout the game.
Franks scored the most points with 13, along with 3 rebounds, 3 steals and 1 block. Burroughs scored 7 points, also adding 1 rebound. Elkins scored 6 points and also recorded 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals.
The boys’ game was a much closer battle.
The Wildcats pounced first, ending the first quarter with a 20-12 lead over the visiting Pirates.
The Pirates turned things around in the second quarter, scoring 27 points to Oakman’s 15.
At halftime, the score was 39-35 in favor of the Pirates.
The Wildcats swung the pendulum back in their own direction in the third quarter, scoring 16 points to Winfield’s 10.
But the 51-49 lead would not last for the Wildcats, as the Pirates scored 15 points in the fourth quarter while only allowing 9.
The Pirates won 64-60.
Wyers scored the highest percentage of those points with 20, along with 6 rebounds and 1 steal. Nelson scored 14 points, adding 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals. Gilbert also scored 14 points, and recorded 1 rebound, 3 assists, 4 steals and 2 blocks.
The Pirates are now headed into the area tournament. They play Carbon Hill today starting at 5:30.