By Scott Nickerson
Elmore Autauga News Sports
Girls Basketball
The Stanhope Elmore High School girls’ basketball team defeated Holtville 59-28 in the semi-finals of the county tournament on Friday, and the Mustangs beat Wetumpka in the championship game 59-42 on Saturday afternoon.
Against Holtville, the Mustangs started slow, and the game was tied 12-12 at the end of the 1st quarter. Ariel Gilchrist got the Mustangs going, and Stanhope Elmore scored the first 12 points of the 2nd quarter to take a lead that they never relinquished.
For the game, Gilchrist scored 18 points and had 9 steals, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists to lead the Mustangs.
In the Elmore County Tournament Championship game against Wetumpka, the Mustangs again led from start to finish, and led by a comfortable margin of double digits for most of the 2nd half.
Gilchrist again stuffed the stat sheet, almost pulling a rare quadruple double. The senior had 19 points, 8 rebounds, 8 steals, and 7 assists.
Two other Mustangs also scored in double figures, with Tamira Smalls scoring 12 points and grabbing 16 rebounds, and Jada McLeod scoring 10 points and securing 8 rebounds.
Following the game, Gilchrist was recognized for scoring the 1000th point of her impressive career for the Mustangs. She is the fourth 1000-point scorer for the Mustangs during Coach Kelvin Stokes tenure leading the school. Stokes said she also has over 300 career steals.
“Ariel plays relentless defense. When she gets a steal, she plays downhill. A majority of her points came in the paint. But she affects the game in every aspect. She is seeing the floor better this year.”
Stokes was also impressed with the tough play of Smalls after grabbing 16 rebounds in the county tournament championship game. “T is our anchor. She owns the paint and does all the dirty work. She makes the game go. If Ariel is the motor, then T is the transmission.”
The Mustangs record improves to 11-4. They will now turn their focus to area play. The Carver Wolverines come to Mustangs gym on Tuesday, and the Mustangs will travel to Wetumpka on Friday.
“We got enough to get it done,” Stokes said, of winning an area championship. “There are going to be some tight games. We are going to have to continue playing tough and close out tight games.”
Boys Basketball
In the county championship game, Wetumpka senior Nate Rogers started hot, scoring 10 points in the 1st quarter as the Indians took a 17-7 lead. But things changed when Rogers went to the bench in foul trouble after picking up his 2nd foul. The Mustangs scored the next 9 points and cut the Indians lead to 1 point.
Leading by one point near the end of the 1st half, Anthony Davis hit a 3 pointer for Stanhope Elmore to take a 31-27 lead into halftime. Corian Gilder had 15 points in the 1st half to lead the Mustangs.
In the 3rd quarter, the Mustangs scored the first six points to go up 37-27, but the Indians worked on the lead behind the strong play of Malik Owens who finished the game with 21 points.
With the Mustangs leading by 2 points, Rogers hit a 3-pointer to give the Indians their first lead in the 2nd half, to go up 61-60.
Gilder answered for the Mustangs, hitting a jumper to claim a 1-point lead, which they maintained with just 8 seconds remaining in the game. Attempting to inbound the ball from underneath their goal, Rogers intercepted the pass, and found Julius Williams open under the goal. Attempting to defend the shot, the Mustangs were called for goaltending, giving the lead back to the Indians with under 3 seconds remaining.
The Mustangs attempted a long inbound pass, but the ball sailed out of bounds when the Stanhope Elmore player tripped attempting to track the ball down. The Indians were able to inbound the ball successfully, and Rogers hit a foul shot to make the final score 64-62.
For the Mustangs, Gilder had 23 points and Jaylon Young had 11 points. Tyrone Williams had 14 points, 10 rebounds, and 4 assists for the Mustangs.
Owens led the Indians with 21 points, while Rogers had 18 points.
“The plan was to steal the ball if we could,” Rogers said of the steal with 8 seconds left. “When I got the steal I saw Julius wide open so I hit him.”
The win gives the Indians their second consecutive Elmore County tournament title. “It feels great to get the win in their gym,” Rogers said. “It’s an even better feeling being able to win it back-to-back.”
The Indians will face Lanier in the first area game of the season on Tuesday. They will face the Mustangs again, this time on their home court, on Friday.
