GDW Analysis:
WEST POINT: Overcoming a 14 point deficit to start the 4th period was a highlight for the Brewer Patriots Saturday evening in the AHSAA 5A Northwest Sub Regional with the West Point Warriors.
A 14 point lead for the Warriors was not secured. Brewer outscored the Warriors 26 to 7 in the final 8:00 to steal a 59 to 54 victory and head on to the regional next week at Wallace State.
West Point was playing good basketball for much of the evening in the largest crowd seen by Gameday Weekly at Jim Boyd Gymnasium this season.
Cade Welborn was having a solid outing in which he nailed back to back treys to give the Warriors their largest spread of the night at 43 to 26 in the 3rd.
The Warriors held a 33 to 26 lead at halftime and scored the first 10 points in the 3rd as Brewer struggled in the period with 7 points and down 47 to 33.
It would be Mason Voce's Warriors that would have a woeful 4th period. Only 7 points in the period, they hit just 2 FGs and were 3 of 8 from the FT line.
A Dayton Watson three with 2:24 to go in the 4th sent Brewer ahead since the first period at 53 to 52.
West Point tied the game at 54 to 54 when Maddox Chapman put up a short range jumper with 1:10 to play.
That was the last time the Warriors got on the scoreboard.
Brewer went ahead at 56 to 54 on a FG and hit 3 FTs in the closing seconds to go back to Morgan County with 21 wins in 27 games and having their best season since a 21 & 9 record in 2010/11 under then coach Sam Brown.
Senior Jackson Dunn ripped the cords for 27 for Brewer, scoring 15 in the 2nd half and hitting 4 treys.
PG Austyn Holmes scored 12.
Balanced scoring came for the Warriors with Welborn and Jaxson Shelton hitting 13 apiece. Jay Lamar, the Warriors' all time leading scorer, got 11 in his final game.
Chapman scored 11 and PG Kade Vincent hit 5.
Brewer will tangle with Arab at Wallace State Thursday with game time to be determined by the AHSAA.
Like Brewer, Arab went on the road and stole a 60 to 58 victory from Douglas.
West Point's season ends at 21 & 8. Voce has led the Warriors to 45 wins and 15 losses in the last two seasons.
The Warriors will lose Lamar and Welborn to graduation. They have a good bulk of the team to return next year with Chapman, Shelton, Vincent, Brier Taylor the key personnel to keep the winning ways going for coach Voce.
Photo of West Point SG Jay Lamar in the Cullman County semifinals January 24 vs. Holly Pond. Lamar leaves as the school's all time leading scorer and was the 2025 winner of the Joe Shults Award at the county tournament.
Photo courtesy of Martha Needham.
