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By Carey Reeder | Managing Editor

Five Chilton County area basketball teams went into the sub-regionals and one walked out with Maplesville High School’s varsity boys team advancing to the Sweet 16 on Feb. 11 in Montgomery. The Red Devils took their sub-regional matchup over cross-county rival Verbena High School 63-33 on Feb. 8 to reach the Class 1A final 16 at the regional tournament.

Maplesville jumped out to a fast 23-3 lead after the opening quarter and it bloomed from there. Maplesville was led by the duo of Nehemiah McCary and Chris Simon who combined for 36 points and 17 made field goals. McCary nabbed another double-double with 19 points and 13 rebounds and added six assists and four steals. Jakobe Nix contributed nine points and Devon Nix had six assists.

Verbena had four players carry the scoring load for them with Caleb Short and Hayden Wilson topping the team with nine points each. Short added five blocks, five rebounds, three assists and three steals, and Wilson added four rebounds to his totals. Issac Stoudemire had eight points and seven rebounds, and Kamari Ceasar had seven points and seven rebounds.

“The boys have worked so hard to see all this come together — It is just amazing,” Maplesville head coach Undra Rush said. “This team’s success has been a testament to their relentless work ethic and teamwork to improve each game.”

Maplesville will face Keith High School in the Sweet 16 round at the Dunn-Oliver Acadome on the campus of Alabama State University in Montgomery on Feb. 11 at 1:30 p.m.

Three varsity girls teams from the area played in the sub-regionals on the road on Feb. 7 — Billingsley, Jemison and Verbena High Schools. Billingsley dropped a close contest to Autauga Academy 38-35 after Alana Jones’ double-double with 12 points and 16 rebounds. She added five assists and four steals. Derrica Motley checked in with nine points, seven rebounds and five steals, followed by Megan Chandler with eight points and six rebounds.

Verbena fell to Francis Marion High School 50-11, and Jemison fell to Marbury High School 67-32 in the sub-regionals.