By Brandon Sumrall | Special to the Advertiser

Thorsby defeated Verbena, 56-49, on Monday in the first round of the Chilton County Basketball Tournament to earn a date with a team that might be intent to take back its tournament crown.

Both teams kept things close early in Monday’s game, but it would be the Rebels (8-8 overall, 1-4 area) that would come out with a 1-point, 8-7 lead at the end of the first period.

The pace of the game kicked into higher gear in the second period, as Parker Bryan and Houston Daniel led a Thorsby surge that gave the Rebels a 37-21 lead at the half.

THS maintained a steady lead on the Red Devils (2-12, 0-2) throughout the third period, while a Verbena comeback led by Christian Agee and Fred Wright ran out of time.

Bryan led all scorers for Thorsby with 18 points to go along with five rebounds and three steals. Nathan Oldroyd added a double-double with 13 points and 14 rebounds.

Agee led Verbena with 15 points, two rebounds and a steal. Wright added 12 points and seven rebounds.

The Rebels move on to face No. 2 seed Chilton County High School at 7 p.m. on Friday.

CCHS could be determined to take back the county tournament title. The Tigers had won nine consecutive county championships until Jemison won the tournament last season.

“It’s always important for the kids here to do well inside the county,” JHS coach Stacy McGehee said. “It’s bragging rights. They’re really looking forward to defending [the title].”

McGehee said his team has had trouble finding a rhythm since the holiday break because games have been sporadic.

“We’ve been getting off to slow starts,” he said. “That’s been driving me crazy.”

As the No. 1 seed, Jemison earns a first-round bye. The Panthers will play the winner of Tuesday’s Isabella-Maplesville game at 7 p.m. on Thursday.

The winners of the Thursday and Friday games will play in the championship game at 7 p.m. Saturday.

The tournament is being hosted by Verbena at Chilton County High School’s gymnasium.

The Chilton County High School B-Team moved on to Round 2 with a 42-20 win over Maplesville on Monday.