Stewart leads Rogers to state Junior College basketball

FLORENCE - Katie Stewart ran a personal best time at the Section 4 cross country meet Saturday to lead the defendnig Class 4A champs into next weeks' AHSAA state meet at Oakville.

Led by Stewart, who ran 18:21 in the 5k race, Rogers had five of the top 10 finishers.

Stewart beat Lori-anna Lovelace by 51 seconds to claim her second consecutive sectional title. Rogers has now won five straight sectional titles.

Brooks' Brandi Fennell was third in 19:55, in front of Rogers runners Emily Anerton, Alyssa Cabler and Maggie Hamner. Other local runners in the top 10 included Central's baylee Atkinson, who finished eighth and Roger' Taylor Matthews, who was 10th.

In the Class 1A-2A girls, Shoals Christian's Amy McKelvey ran 19:48 to capture individual honors over Hatton's Rachel Stowe, who finished in 20:05.

Other area runners in the top 10 included: Covenant Christian's Emily Odell in fourth, Vina's Emily Davidson and Heather Thorn, who ran fifth and sixth, and Mars Hill's Sierra Patterson, who finished 10th. Athens Bible won the team competition.

Haleyville's Fabian Cortez ran 16:29 to in the boys 4A meet by 25 seconds. Rogers' Lantz Passarella was fifth, the only other local runner to net a top-10 finish. Lawrence County's boys won the team competition with seven runners in the top 10.

Hatton's boys rolled to a win in the Class 1A-2A division with Jade Brackin finishing second in 16:24, two seconds behind Cliff Denton of Athens Bible.

Hatton's Blake Brackin was third, followed by teammates Zachary O'Hare and Devin Jackson. Hatton's Reid Hrrison was seventh, with Kamron Potter running 10th.

In the Class 5A girls, Shaniqwa King was sixth, while in Class 5A boys Tanner Ryan of Muscle Shoals finished eighth.

Cullman's boys and girls won the 5A team events.

MUSCLE SHOALS - Northwest-Shoals improved to 3-0 in the early going with a 78-58 victory over Chattanooga State at the Patriot Center.

The Patriots outscored Chattanooga 39-22 in the second half to pull away after leading by only three points at halftime.

Charnise Mitchell and Jasmine Horne led Northwest-Shoals with 12 points apiece.

ReRe Bell finished with nien points and a game-high 12 rebounds, while Breanna Walker had eight points and 11 rebounds.

The Patriots struggled from the field, shooting 31.5 percent from the floor including a 3 of 20 performance from 3-point range.

Women's College Basketball

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. - A second-half scoring drought sank North Alabama women's basketball team in a 78-39 loss to Northeastern State on Saturday in the second round of the Disney Tip-Off Classic.

The Lions made only three shots from the floor in the final 20 minutes and were 0 for 13 from 3-point range.

The defensive performance helped the Riverhawks (1-1) turn a 32-27 half-time lead into a rout.

Dana Jackson and Lacy Lewis scored eight points each to lead the UNA (0-2).