By Brandon Sumrall | Special to the Advertiser

The 2014 edition of the Chilton County Basketball Tournament tipped off Monday night from the campus of Jemison High School, as Chilton County High School’s girls team and Maplesville’s boys team both advanced to the next round.

The fourth-seeded Chilton County Tigers got the evening started by knocking off fifth-seeded Verbena, 55-31, to advance to Round 2 of the tournament.

The Tigers jumped on the Red Devils early en route to a 13-6 lead at the end of the first period of play.

The Chilton County lead increased to 17 at halftime as the Tigers went to the lockerr room up 27-10.

The Red Devils cut into the Tiger lead through the third period, but the Tigers still led 40-27 at the end of the quarter.

The Tiger defense allowed four fourth-period points.

Keona DeJarnett led the Tigers with 20 points, while Candice Mims led the Red Devils with 16 points.

Maplesville, the No. 5 seed in the boys bracket, endured a late run by the No. 4 seed Verbena Red Devils on their way to a 50-40 first-round win.

A 50-percent shooting effort by Maplesville in the first period, including 5-of-7 inside the three-point arc and two from long range by Anthony Moore, propelled the Red Devils to a 16-6 first-period lead.

Christian Agee led a Verbena comeback with two threes of his own during the second period as Verbena outscored Maplesville 14-13, but Maplesville maintained a 29-20 lead at the half.

Both teams struggled to find the basket during the third period, shooting a combined 5-of-26 from the field, but it was Verbena that won the period 9-4 while Maplesville held onto a slim 33-29 lead.

With 5:30 left to play, a Raymond Bulger two-pointer for Verbena tied the game at 37-all, but Damian Mitchell answered right back with a two of his own to start a 13-2 Maplesville run to close out the game.

Moore led Maplesville with 15 points, five rebounds and two steals.

Agee led Verbena with 10 points, three rebounds and two steals.

The tournament will resume on Tuesday night with three games: Verbena (No. 4 seed) against Maplesville (5) in junior varsity action at 4:30 p.m., Maplesville (6) against Isabella (3) in varsity girl action at 6 p.m., and Isabella (6) against Thorsby (3) in varsity boys action at 7:30 p.m.