Area girls basketball teams out of playoffs

Published 9:15 pm Tuesday, February 13, 2018

GREATER VALLEY AREA —Monday was unkind to local high school girls basketball teams.

All four squads that advanced to the sub-regional round of the state playoffs were eliminated.

In 5A, Valley (11-12) fell at home to Marbury, 66-46.

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In 3A, Beulah (7-14) suffered a thumping at Montevallo, 58-24.

And in 2A, Lanett and LaFayette both stumbled. The Lady Panthers (13-7), who were ranked ninth in the most recent state poll, lost at Collinsville, 58-39.

The Lady Bulldogs (15-11), who upset Lanett on Friday in the Area 8 final, dropped their home game to Sand Rock, 45-44.

As indicated by the final scores, LaFayette had the best shot of advancing to the sweet 16. Head coach Michael Bratcher’s squad rocketed out of the gates and took a comfortable lead,  37-28, into halftime. Freshman Feliah Greer scored 15 of her game-high 18 points in the first two quarters.

But the Lady Bulldogs struggled immensely after the break.

They were held to a single point  — on a free throw from Greer — in the third quarter. Sand Rock, meanwhile, poured in 10 points during LaFayette’s dry spell.

The teams entered the final quarter tied, 38-38, but Sand Rock outscored LaFayette by one point in the final quarter to eke out a slim victory.

The win punched its ticket to Friday’s regional at Jacksonville State University.

Last year, the Lady Bulldogs came up short in the sub-regional round against Ranburne, 68-40. That’s where Beulah and Valley met their ends as well.

But Lanett carried the torch locally in 2017.

The Lady Panthers clobbered Vincent in the sub-regional round, 62-23, to advance to regionals.

There, they lost Fyffe in overtime, 42-36.