Arab basketball: Lady Knights beat Brewer, John Paul II

Sometimes you get a win any way you can. That’s what happened with the Arab varsity girls basketball team in the Hartselle Tournament last Tuesday.

The Lady Knights defeated rival Brewer 32-28.

“We played as ugly a first half as we could possibly play,” said coach Brad Kitchens.

The good news for the Lady Knights was they were relatively sharp at the free throw line.

“We scored 13 points in the fourth quarter and every one of them was at the free throw line. It was that kind of day,” said Kitchens.

Laney Kelley, who was 7-of-9 from the stripe in the fourth, had nine points and Aspen Miller, who hit 6-of-7 throws in the fourth, also had nine points.

“We played well the second half, so we’ll take it,” said Kitchens.

Priceville 52, Arab 38

The good second-half play did not continue on Wednesday, though Lady Knights played Priceville close practically all the way.

Arab led 11-10 after a quarter and were down 26-22 at the half, 38-32 after three quarters.

“With about four minutes to go we had a couple of turnovers and they hit the end one to go back up by seven,” Kitchens said. “We had to foul late trying to get back in it and they made their free throws.

“They hit their stride at the right time, but they were an Elite 8 team last year so we knew they were going to be good.”

Sydney Ferguson led Arab with nine points, Kelley had eight and Miller had seven.

Arab 47, John Paul II 39

On Tuesday, the Lady Knights jumped out to 22-5 lead at the end of the first quarter and it proved to be very beneficial. Arab scored only six points in the second quarter and four in the third. Kitchens was thankful for the start, but not totally surprised with how the game progressed.

“We were hot as a firecracker when the game started,” he said. ”Kate Collins came out and had six points in the first quarter and that set the tone for us. Aspen Miller had five in the first quarter off the bench but after that, like in most games when teams come out hot, they tend to cool off and the other team makes a run. 

“I was pleased though that we were able to keep our composure and that allowed us to pull away at the end.”

The Falcons pressed for the better of the game.

“That was a good experience for us,” Kitchens said. ”Overall, we executed well and got some good looks. Late in the game we were able to get some big free throws, too.”

Miller had 11 points for the Knights, Ferguson had 10, Collins eight, Bryleigh Bodine had six and Kelley had five. 

• JV GIRLS

Arab 39, Good Hope 26

Playing the Hartselle Tournament last week, the JV girls got off to a fast start and won the first game before losing the second.

“Julie Stapler has really stepped up for us and is scoring more for us now. That was a big help,” said coach Carlie Henderson. “We jumped on them early but it was still close late in the game.

“I was really proud of how we handled the fourth quarter.”

Stapler finished with 12 points and Maggie Chastain had nine.

Priceville 26, Arab 14

“Priceville has a really good team and they pressed us all the way. I was not totally disappointed in how we played; they didn’t pull away until late in the game,” said Henderson.

Ella Bradshaw had four and Maleah Wooten had three.

Arab 42, John Paul II 10

On Tuesday, the Lady Knights outmatched the Falcons across the board and had no problems in getting an easy win. Stapler had 12 points and Maggie Chastain had seven.