Positive results by locals in various basketball competition:
GDW Analysis:
A lot of positive is going on with local basketball players.
In the span of a week, five athletes representing three schools have stepped it up with winning being the highest honor.
The effort of coming out in victory is also getting recognized in how each have made an impact to the sport that can claim of how good it is here in Cullman County.
Tuesday night in Montgomery, Good Hope senior Ava McSwain showed out.
Considering she had been off the floor with an ankle injury in early June, McSwain's return to the game was tremendous.
The senior to be for the 4A state champion Lady Raiders earned MVP honors for the North in their 87 to 46 rout of the South in the AHSAA All Star Game.
McSwain found the Cramton Bowl Multiplex to her liking, McSwain would lead the North with 18 points, shooting 75 percent from the field in hitting 6 of 8. Her outside stroke was perfect in 4 made shots from three point territory.
McSwain was invited to represent the North and would share this honor with such talented players as 1A player of the year Ace Austin of Spring Garden, Leah Childress of Priceville, Shila Marks of Lauderdale County, Sarah Gordon of Vestavia and Ella Wheeler of Sulligent.
It served a purpose for McSwain on raising her level when the chips are high. She did that last season in the playoffs when Good Hope was banged up while making its run from the area through the sub regional, the Northwest Regional and on to the 4A state championship.
Others that have earned recognition by GDW for valuable performances from July 11 to July 16:
Jake Dorough of Cullman: The senior shooting guard earned a spot on the North roster and shared his time with other talent as the North rallied to beat the South 97 to 85 Tuesday evening.
Dorough and the North went on a scoring tear of 53 in the 2nd half after going down by a 50 to 44 margin at intermission.
Dorough was all state in his junior year with the Bearcats, contributing to a berth in the Elite Eight of Class 6A.
Laklin Shadix of West Point: About to enter her sophomore season with West Point, Shadix continues to make progress in her game in the offseason, playing for the Southern Starz.
Shadix enjoyed a good trip this past week to Louisville, Kentucky with the 15 under squad playing in the EYBL Run $ for the Roses from the Louisville Expo Center.
The Starz claimed a No. 3 overall seeding in winning 12 out of 15 assignments. A lot of winning for Shadix with her travel team has been on display this season, including victory in the Southern Starz Shootout held in mid April from the Cullman Basketball Complex.
Ella Gossett of Good Hope: Gossett is working herself in the role of being Good Hope's new point guard after the graduation of the Tetro twins Heather and Bailey.
Gossett, ready to be a sophomore for the Lady Raiders, had some strong moments in the Northwest Regional and Final Four to give the team depth when injuries had tried to derail the quest of this unit.
Gossett plays for the Southern Starz 16 under. They were in Louisville as well and earned six victories out of seven decisions for a winning percentage of .850.
Weston Hancock of Good Hope: Hancock will be looked at being one of several Raiders to help the squad stay in winning form when the new season begins in November.
In the present time, Hancock has wore the travel team uniform of the Cullman Elite.
Hancock enjoyed playing last weekend at the Cullman Basketball Complex with the Elite fighting through adversity to get to the championship round in the high school division of the SYBL Mid Summer Showdown.
One strength of Hancock is his deep range shooting. Hancock was knocking down a lot of outside attempts in their pool play opener, an 86 to 76 shootout over the Bogey Boys.
The scoring by Hancock and the Elite continued with his travel squad claiming a 70 to 61 victory in the quarterfinals vs. SME from Section and a 72 to 70 last second comeback thriller over the Albertville Elite.
Hancock stays clam under pressure and that will be huge for him in his final season with Good Hope as they have to tangle with West Morgan, Danville and East Lawrence in area play and try to repeat as champions in the Cullman County tournament.
Local basketball from the girls and varsity side has been on a nice run for several seasons.
Cullman winning the AHSAA championship in 2022, Good Hope girls taking down the title in 4A this past season, West Point girls going into the Sweet 16 in 5A last year.
All of these players have endured the feeling of winning on a regular routine and seek for that to continue with their high schools in 2024/25. It will be the final year in AHSAA hoops for McSwain, Dorough and Hancock as they have reached their senior season.
Photo of Good Hope's Ava McSwain in the AHSAA All Star Game July 16 in Montgomery. McSwain was named the North MVP.
Photo courtesy of the AHSAA.
