From STAFF REPORT
HANCEVILLE, Ala. — Guntersville earned two trips to the state basketball tournament Monday.
The girls team beat West Point 57-42 while the boys followed with a 68-60 victory over East Limestone. Both games gave the Wildcats Class 5A Northwest Regional championships with wins over top-five opponents.
The Guntersville girls will play Central-Clay County or Briarwood Christian at 3 p.m. March 4 in Legacy Arena in Birmingham. The GHS boys will play Marbury or Sylacauga at 4:30 that day.
State title games in 5A are March 7.
Buie leads Lady Wildcats in final
Guntersville eighth grader Kenna’D Buie earned tournament MVP honors for her dominance in the title game Monday against West Point.
Buie scored 26 points, grabbed nine rebounds and dished five assists — highs for the game in each category.
The second-ranked Wildcats (31-4) led just 15-14 after a quarter but were up 28-19 at halftime and 42-34 after three, cruising back to Birmingham for the first time since winning the 2022 state championship.
Bristol Cook scored 13 points for Guntersville and Addison Reese Hammond added 10.
Sophie Porch and Kyndel Gray chipped in 3 points apiece and Avery George added 2.
Jaelyn Faulkner paced fourth-ranked West Point with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Laklin Shadix added 14 points and Camryn Faulkner 11 as the Warriors’ season ended at 27-2.
Buie scored 21 points to pace a 60-36 Wildcat rout of Russellville in the Northwest Regional semifinals. She had eight rebounds and a steal in the win.
Hammond scored 15 points. Cook had 8 points, Gray 7 and Porch, Mya Fennell and She’Londa Wellington 3 apiece.
Ella Copeland led Russellville (18-13) with 17 points. Laila Hill had 9 points and seven rebounds.
The Wildcats led 24-10, 40-23 and 44-33 at the breaks.
West Point advanced to the region finals with a 65-32 win over Priceville.
Joining Buie on the all-tournament team were Hammond of Guntersville, Jaelyn Faulkner and Camryn Faulkner of West Point, Copeland of Russellville and Abby Langlois of Priceville.
Brothers key to Guntersville rally
The Guntersville boys earned their third straight trip to the state tournament Monday by beating third-ranked East Limestone 68-60 at Traditions Bank Arena.
Tournament MVP Kobe Brothers scored 14 points including a 3-pointer. The sophomore was 5 of 5 from the free-throw line, and he added five rebounds, two assists and two blocks to pace No. 4 Guntersville (27-5).
The Indians led 20-10 after the first quarter but the Wildcats rallied for a 28-28 halftime tie. Guntersville led 48-41 at the final rest stop.
Guntersville’s Grayson Moon led all scorers with 20 points. Hudson Duvall added 12 points, Westin Hammond and Turner Hammond 9 each and Rylan Wilson 4.
Coleby Davis and Kayne Myers scored 14 points apiece for East Limestone (27-5). Charlie Eslick scored 12.
Guntersville shot 54.5% (24 of 44) from the field and 80% (16 of 20) on free throws.
In addition to Brothers, Moon and Turner Hammond earned all-tournament team honors, along with Davis, Elsick and Myers from East Limestone.
The Wildcats advanced in the regional by beating Boaz 66-37 on Thursday.
Guntersville led its in-county rival wire-to-wire. The duo of Brothers (25 points) and Moon (12) equaled the Pirates’ output in the semifinal win.
Brothers was 9 of 16 (56.25%) from the field with two 3-pointers to lead all scorers.
Guntersville led 16-4 after the first quarter and 27-15 at halftime. The Wildcats upped their edge to 54-30 at the final rest stop in Traditions Bank Arena.
Turner Hammond rounded out the trio of Guntersville players in double figures by scoring 11 points.
Wilson came off the bench to score 6 points. Westin Hammond had 5 points, Nic Pike 3 and Duvall and Bentley Sistrunk 2 each.
Tyson Hamilton led Boaz (18-12) with 8 points. Toby Hamilton and Landon Cannady scored 7 each, Logan Williams 6, Jaiden Durden 4, Eli Pullen 3 and Jaxxon Taylor 2.
East Limestone advanced to the region finals by beating Lawrence County 52-39.
The Wildcats made the state semifinals in 2025, losing to eventual state champion Vigor. GHS also made it in 2024.
CLASS 5A GIRLS REGIONAL FINAL
GUNTERSVILLE (57)
Porch 1-3 1-2 3, Fennell 0-2 0-0 0, Cook 3-6 7-8 13, Hammond 3-9 2-4 10, Buie 8-19 9-12 26, Wellington 0-5 0-2 0, Gray 1-3 0-0 3, George 1-1 0-0 2, Kirkland 0-0 0-0 0, Loftis 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 17-48 19-28 57.
WEST POINT (42)
Shadix 4-13 5-8 14, Simmons 0-1 0-0 0, Harbison 1-2 0-0 2, J.Faulkner 4-16 7-14 15, C.Faulkner 4-12 2-2 11, Fell 0-1 0-0 0, Pagan 0-0 0-0 0, Hale 0-0 0-0 0, Echols 0-0 0-0 0, Jones 0-0 0-0 0, Nunnelley 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 13-45 14-24 42.
Guntersville 15•13•14•15—57
West Point 14•5•15•8—42
3-Point Goals—Guntersville 4-14 (Porch 0-0, Fennell 0-1, Hammond 2-7), Buie 1-2, Gray 1-2), West Point 2-14 (Shadix 1-5, Simmons 0-1, J.Faulkner 0-3, C.Faulkner 1-4, Fell 0-1). Fouled Out—Shadix, Simmons. Rebounds—Guntersville 40 (Buie 9), West Point 33 (Shadix 8). Assists—Guntersville 6 (Buie 5), West Point 1 (Faulkner). Total Fouls—Guntersville 19, West Point 22. Technicals—None.
CLASS 5A BOYS REGIONAL FINAL
EAST LIMESTONE (60)
Davis 7-13 0-3 14, Eslick 4-11 4-6 12, Fitts 1-3 3-4 5, Sales 2-4 0-0 4, Myers 6-15 0-0 14, Smith 2-6 0-0 5, Robison 0-0 0-0 0, Dunibar 2-4 2-3 6. Totals 24-56 9-16 60.
GUNTERSVILLE (68)
W.Hammond 3-6 3-4 9, Brothers 4-14 5-5 14, T.Hammond 3-5 2-2 9, Moon 7-11 6-9 20, Duvall 5-6 0-0 12, Wilson 2-2 0-0 4, Pike 0-0 0-0 0, Watkins 0-0 0-0 0, Sistrunk 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-44 16-20 68.
East Limestone 20•8•13•19—60
Guntersville 10•18•20•20—68
3-Point Goals—East Limestone 3-14 (Davis 0-3, Eslick 0-1, Fitts 0-1, Myers 2-7, Smith 1-2), Guntersville 4-14 (W.Hammond 0-2, Brothers 1-6, Hammond 1-3, Duvall 2-3). Fouled Out—Fitts. Rebounds—East Limestone 29 (Eslick 9), Guntersville 30 (Moon 9). Assists—East Limestone 9 (Eslick 5), Guntersville 14 (W.Hammond 5). Total Fouls—East Limestone 21, Guntersville 17. Technicals—None.
Hudson Duvall (23) – shown in the Marshall County tournament finals last month – came off the bench Thursday to score 2 points and grab three rebounds in Guntersville’s 66-37 rout of Boaz in the Class 5A Northwest Region semifinal. The fourth-ranked Wildcats were to play No. 3 East Limestone on Monday with a third straight trip to the state tournament on the line. See more at thesandmountainleader.com. File photo by Taylor Beck
