A higher gear: Area play takes over schedule

David Elwell, The Decatur Daily, Ala.
·3 min read

Jan. 4—Happy New Year and welcome to the midpoint of the race to a high school basketball championship.

The season officially started Nov. 4. Here we are two months later on Jan. 4. The finish line is waiting two months away at around March 4.

It's time for the season to shift into a new gear with area games taking over the schedule. Then we have area tournaments and hopefully subregional, regional and state tournament games for a lot of area teams.

Tonight's schedule has several big area matchups. Some of the bigger ones include Hartselle at Decatur, Bob Jones at Austin, Danville at East Lawrence, Winston County at Falkville and Lawrence County at West Point.

It really heats up Friday with area games involving Cullman at Hartselle, Lindsay Lane at Decatur Heritage, West Morgan at Brooks, Guntersville at Brewer, Falkville at Cold Springs, Priceville at Randolph, Lawrence County at Russellville and Mae Jemison at East Limestone.

Getting off to a great start in area play is critically important for any team. This week could be huge for the Decatur boys and girls. The Red Raiders host Hartselle tonight and then Austin visits on Friday.

The game with Hartselle is a Class 6A, Area 14 matchup. After tonight, the Red Raiders have five area games in the next three weeks with Cullman, Muscle Shoals and at Hartselle.

The Austin at Decatur game is not an area game. It's just the River City Rivalry. The momentum from a win in that rivalry can go a long way in building confidence in area play.

The Black Bears swept the Red Raiders in the first meeting on Dec. 3 at Austin. The boys won 63-52, after it was tied in the fourth quarter at 50-50. Jalen Orr led Austin with 23 points. Isaiah Slaughter topped Decatur with 21.

The Austin girls used a 12-0 run to take a 46-41 win over Decatur. The teams met last week in the DOC at Decatur High with Austin winning again, 46-31.

County tournaments

January is also the time for county tournaments. The champions in Morgan, Lawrence and Limestone will all be crowned Jan. 22.

The West Morgan Rebels are hosting the Morgan County tournament starting on Jan. 17. Hatton is the host school for the Lawrence County tournament starting Jan. 20. The Limestone County tournament begins Jan. 15 at Ardmore.

More tournaments

Since we are talking tournaments, here are the dates for postseason play. Area tournaments for girls are scheduled between Feb. 5-11 and for the boys it is Feb. 5-12. Subregional dates for girls are Feb. 14 and for the boys it is Feb. 15.

The dates for regional play are Feb. 17-24 with the Northwest Regional being played again at Wallace State-Hanceville and the Northeast Regional at Jacksonville State.

Most of the area schools go through Northwest Regional at Wallace. Five area schools go through the Northeast Regional at Jacksonville State. They are Decatur Heritage, Lindsay Lane and Athens Bible in 1A, Priceville in 4A and Brewer in 5A.

The state tournament schedule goes from Feb. 28-March 5 at the Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center. It's a return to the BJCC for the state tournament. Construction at the BJCC forced last year's state tournament to be split between UAB's Bartow Arena and the CrossPlex.

— david.elwell@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2395. Twitter @DD_DavidElwell.