By Stephen Dawkins

Thorsby’s girls basketball team on Saturday suffered its first loss of the season.
Even worse, the 47-39 defeat came in the championship game of the county basketball tournament.
But not all was lost. Coach Ab Argent said he thinks the experience, though it didn’t end with the Rebels holding the first-place trophy, will still benefit the team.
“I thought it was good for our girls to play a game like that, with a big crowd and a lot of pressure, because we have area games this week against Vincent and Shades Mountain,” Argent said. “I thought the difference was we lost our composure there with about 5 or 6 minutes left.
“Give them credit; they went on a little run.”
The game went back and forth, and neither team led by more than three points until Kiana Andrews drained a 3-point shot after Maplesville rebounded a missed free throw with 6:47 remaining in the game.
That shot gave the Devils a 33-27 lead and sparked a run that saw them build a 16-point lead with 3:30 left.
Thorsby cut the lead to eight points on a runner by Ashlin Hilyer with 1:10 on the clock, but it wasn’t enough.
Sharonda Cooper led Thorsby with 17 points.
Amanda Hubbard added 10 points.
Maplesville’s Zuri Nix led all scorers with 23 points.