Byron Graham had a successful debut as the Florence boys head coach Friday night as the Falcons opened their season with a 59-43 victory over Sheffield.

Darius Williams scored 18 points and Corey Ricks added 15 as the Falcons defeated the Bulldogs, who were also playing their first game of the year.

Florence took control early and led by 22 heading to the fourth. The Bulldogs chipped away behind a game-high 22 points by Jerwan Thompson, but could not catch up.

Austin 71, Muscle Shoals 58: The Black Bears (2-1) used a 21-10 third quarter advantage to pull away from the Trojans in their season-opener. Detrich Mostella led Decatur with 27 points, while Jay Watkins added 15 and Chris Key scored 10.

Ralston Turner led Muscle Shoals with 23 points, while Brett Guzay added 15.

Lauderdale County 58, Clements 46: Wesley Blade led a fourth-quarter rally for Lauderdale County as the Tigers came from behind to win at Clements.

The Tigers (3-0) trailed 40-37 after three quarters. Blade then hit three 3-pointers and scored 11 points as LCHS outscored Clements 21-6 in the final quarter to remain unbeaten.

Blade led LCHS with 21 points, Rory White scored 13 and Chris Mangrum had 11. Lemac Askins paced Clements (0-2) with 14 points.

Tharptown 51, Shoals Christian 45: Manny Ricardo scored 15 points and Devin Lawson added 11 as the Wildcats (2-2) stopped the Flame (2-2).

Devon Traglia scored 17 points for Shoals Christian.

Covenant Christian 68, Waterloo 57: Covenant Christian jumped out to a big early lead and then held off a late rally by Waterloo to remain undefeated.

The Eagles led 23-10 after one quarter and took a 51-33 advantage into the final quarter. Waterloo rallied to trim the margin to eight at one point, but would get no closer. Zach Graves scored 14 of his game-high 32 points in the fourth quarter for the Cougars (0-2).

Tyler Farris led Covenant Christian (4-0) with 21 points and 15 rebounds. Alex Thompson scored 20 points for the Eagles, followed by John Baggett with 12 and Nathan Crump with 10.

Wilson 57, Lexington 41: Travis Daniels scored 30 points to lead Wilson to a victory over Lexington.

Wilson (2-1) outscored Lexington 17-13 in the third quarter to take a 38-34 lead. Daniels then scored 14 of his 30 points in the final quarter as the Warriors pulled away.

Connor Vickery added 11 points for Wilson. Logan Thompson and Kenny Ratliff scored eight points apiece for Lexington (0-1).

East Lawrence 74, Hatton 60: Martin Garner scored 23 points and E.J Turnbore added 15 as East Lawrence handed Hatton its first loss of the season.

Luke Brackin scored 21 points to lead the Hornets (2-1). Steadman Rutherford added 19 points and nine rebounds for Hatton.

Girls

Clements 63, Lauderdale County 60: Lauderdale County's fourth-quarter rally fell just short as the Tigers suffered their first loss of the season, falling at Clements.

Clements used a big third quarter to take a 53-37 lead into the final eight minutes. The Tigers trailed by 18 when they began their comeback and cut the margin to 61-60 with 8.0 seconds remaining on a basket by Oleightra Nance. Clements' Jordan Beggs hit two free throws with 4 seconds remaining and the Tigers were unable to get a shot off before the final buzzer.

Florence 48, Sheffield 30: Brianna Savage scored 12 points to lead a balanced Falcon attack to a win against the Bulldogs in the season-opener for both teams. Florence held Sheffield to eight or fewer points in each quarter.

Sheffield got 11 from Nyeshan Ricks and 10 from Maya Armstead,

Lexington 68, Wilson 44: Taylor Chapman led all scorers with 28 points as the Golden Bears opened their season with a win over the Warriors. Ashton Kerby added 13 points for Lexington.

Ciarra Edwards led Wilson with 9 points.

Austin 55, Muscle Shoals 52: Muscle Shoals missed two potential game-tying 3-pointers in the final seconds as the Trojans dropped their season opener at Austin.

The Trojans led 25-23 at halftime, but Austin outscored them 19-14 in the third quarter to take a 42-39 lead into the fourth quarter.

Jasmine Hammon scored 24 points to lead Muscle Shoals. Jayci Evans added 11 for the Trojans. Lauren Lindsey led Austin with 13.

Covenant Christian 46, Waterloo 37: Covenant Christian outscored Waterloo 18-6 in the fourth quarter to rally past the Cougars.

Anna Clair Noblit scored 13 points in the final quarter to spark the rally. Noblit led the Eagles (2-2) with 28 points, including hitting six 3-pointers. Maggie James paced Waterloo (0-2) with 13 points.

Tharptown 53, Shoals Christian 21: The Wildcats (3-1) picked up another victory, outscoring the Flame 15-4 in the first quarter and blanking Shoals Christian 12-0 in the third quarter.

Chelsea McCluskey led all scorers with 20, while Kendra Baker added 10 for Tharptown.

Hatton 63, East Lawrence 51: The Hornets (2-1) overcame a 3-point halftime deficit with a 20-11 fourth-quarter run to claim a victory over the Eagles (2-2).

Jordan Johnson led Hatton with 27 points, while Jessica Speake and Paige Rutherford each added 13 points.