By Brandon Sumrall | Special to the Advertiser

For the second time in a week, Verbena and Thorsby squared off against one another on the hardwood on Nov. 20.

Despite the different venue, the results were the same as Thorsby’s girls won 51-23, and Verbena’s boys won 74-40 from the campus of Thorsby High School.

Both girls teams had a hard time finding the basket early in the first period as the first points came off a Sabrina Ellison free throw at the 4:37 mark of the first period.

Ellison accounted for the next three Rebels points, and with a 4-0 lead with 3:30 to play, Thorsby went on a 14-3 run to finish the period with an 18-3 lead.

With both teams in the bonus, the second period became a free throw shooting contest.

With the Rebels out-shooting the Red Devils at the charity stripe five-of-eight to three-of-seven, the Rebels took a 28-8 lead to the locker room for the halftime break.

Ellison again got things started for the Rebels in the second half with a basket at the 5:56 mark of the third period.

Monica Blauch scored a basket for the Red Devils, but another Rebels 6-0 run lead by Zakeya Robinson, Lillyanna Barnett, Marissa Jones and Christa Roberts gave Thorsby a 43-21 lead going into the final period of play.

A Megan Barrett three-pointer gave the Red Devils an 11-8 edge in fourth-quarter scoring, but the Rebels picked up the win.

Ellison led the Rebels with 13 points, five rebounds and four blocks.

Candice Williams led the Red Devils with seven points and four rebounds.

Red Devils attempt 54 free throws in win

Points from the free throw line, a theme throughout the night, got the varsity boys game started as Christian Agee knocked down two for the Red Devils.

Baskets by Juwan Tyus, Raymond Bulger and Dorrian Parker gave the Red Devils an early 8-0 lead before Michael Fortner got the Rebels on the board with a basket of his own.

Tyus and Agee added four more points for the Red Devils while baskets by James Sellers, Michael Fortner and Calvin Plyler would keep things close at 12-8 with 2:09 to play in the first period. Brock Higgins scored two more for Thorsby, but a 6-0 Red Devils run gave Verbena an 18-10 lead at the end of the first period.

The second period start much the way the first did with Jacob Cleckler picking up three Verbena points from the free throw line.

Fortner answered with a three-pointer for the Rebels to make the score 21-13 early in the second period.

With both teams in the bonus, free throw shooting became crucial as the Red Devils went 12-of-20 from the line.

An Agee three-pointer at the buzzer gave Verbena a 45-28 lead at the half.

Agee struck again from three-point range to start the third period while Tyus added a three of his own to extend the Verbena lead to 51-28.

A nine-of-17 free-throw shooting performance by the Red Devils gave them a 69-39 lead going to the final period.

With the game in hand and the clock running, the Red Devils outscored the Rebels 3-1 on their way to their second straight win over their county rivals.

A total of 74 free throws were attempted during the game, with the Red Devils making 27 of their 54 attempts and the Rebels going 10-of-20 from the free throw line.

Agee led the Red Devils with 20 points (including 10 of 11 from the free throw line), three rebounds and six steals.

Fortner led the way for the Rebels with 11 points, three rebounds and a block.

VHS win Indian Springs Tournament

Verbena’s boys team won its other four games this season.

The Red Devils defeated Victory Christian, 60-29, on Nov. 17 and Holtville, 57-22, on Nov. 21.

In the Indian Springs Tournament on Nov. 21-22, Verbena defeated Curry, 63-46, in the first round and Indian Springs, 48-40, in the final round to claim the tournament championship.