Senior Corien Frazier had a game-high 30 points to push Vigor to a 69-59 road triumph over St. Paul’s on Monday night in the 5A Area 1 opener for both teams.
Vigor (4-4, 1-0) was also led by senior Nicholas Watts with 16 points while the Saints (6-3, 0-1) were led by Myles White with 19 points. Both teams will be in action again on Friday as Vigor heads to Williamson for a 7:30 pm game while the Saints head to Faith Academy.
Both teams lit it up from the outside as the Wolves knocked down nine 3-pointers in the game while St. Paul's hit 10 three-pointers in the showdown.
Vigor coach John Davis said his team is starting to click.
"We're starting to put it together," said Davis. "I liked what I saw in spurts tonight. We have to learn how to manage the clock more though. We just managed to get DeAnthony Walker and Kyle Walker from football. I'm very proud of our team. I thought we shot the ball pretty well, we played defense pretty well and it seems like we are starting to come together. We're beginning to trust and believe in each other."
One bright spot for the Wolves was at the free throw line as Vigor nailed 18-of-26 free throws.
"We did shoot free throws well," said Davis. "We've been putting a lot of time in on everything."
Vigor took control early. With St. Paul’s up 3-2 in the first minute, the Wolves changed the script by going on an 8-0 offensive run that gave them a 10-3 advantage with 5:04 left to go in the opening quarter. Though the Saints threatened at times, Vigor never trailed the rest of the way.
By the end of the opening quarter, the Wolves were ahead 16-13. St. Paul's trimmed their deficit to two points at 26-24 with about three minutes left in the first half but didn't score again the remainder of the second period plus Vigor had a bucket and a three-pointer by Watts to take a 31-24 lead at the intermission.
Despite nailing six 3-pointers in the second half, St. Paul's never could seem to catch up with the Wolves. The Saints rarely went to the free throw line in the game, nailing only 3-of-5 free throw while Vigor kept scoring, going up 45-39 heading into the final eight minutes of action.
The closest the Saints managed to get the rest of the way was when White drilled a 3-pointer with 7:04 left in the game to cut Vigor's lead to four points at 48-44. Moments later after a free throw by the Wolves made it 49-44, the Saints had a bucket to cut their deficit to three points at 49-46. Vigor put together two quick buckets though by Walker and Watts to put the Wolves ahead 53-46. The Saints never managed to get as close again.
-- David Lee
OTHER BOYS GAMES
DAPHNE 74, McGILL-TOOLEN 71: Benni Gambino scored 27 points and Christian Williams had 16 points and eight rebounds as the Trojans won on the road. K.J. Dinkins followed with 14 points and seven rebounds. Jack Flynn led McGill (8-3) with 25. Cole LaRue followed with 20 and Matthew McNeece had 14. Daphne (6-5) hosts. B.C. Rain next Monday.
ESCAMBIA COUNTY 58, ST. LUKE’S 34: Lue Williams had 13 points and Allen Patterson added 12 as Escambia County moved to 6-0. Virgil Peoples chipped in 10. The Blue Devils play at Flomaton on Thursday.
CITRONELLE 55, MOBILE CHRISTIAN 53: Deontae Lawson scored 18 points and Andrew Bartlett had 17 as the Leopards fell short. Jamarcus Robinson led the Wildcats with 11. Mobile Christian (5-5) travels to UMS on Friday.
GIRLS
VIGOR 37, ST. PAUL’S 34: Vigor was led in scoring by Janiya Labyzon who had game-high 14 points while Rakira Ruffin and N’Gire Wells had 10 points apiece. For the Saints, Rachel Bell had nine points. The Wolves improved to 8-3, while the Saints fell to 6-3.
BALDWIN COUNTY 56, GULF SHORES 43: Freshman Kaleigh Boykin had 18 points, five rebounds, five steals and three assists for the Tigers. Junior Niya Boykin had nine points, 10 rebounds and three steals. Freshman Autumn Phillips added eight points, 10 rebounds and two assists. Baldwin County will play at Robertsdale Tuesday night at 6pm.
MCGILL-TOOLEN 61, BAKER 41: Sophomore Nya Valentine scored all 18 of her points in the second half for McGill (11-1). Valentine was 3-of-4 from the 3-point line. Junior Shanice Battle continued her hot shooting with 14 points. Sophomore Sanola Mixon added a double-double with 14 points and 10 boards along with five steals. Zariel Jordan led the Hornets with 13 points, Crystin Guy added 12 points and Harley Waits 10. McGill plays at Davidson on Friday.
FOLEY 58, GULF BREEZE (Fla.) 26: Four players scored in double-digits for Foley. Juniors Kaitlyn Knight and Taye Johnson led the way with 14 points each. Sophomores MG Lymon and Jakiya Jackson added 10 points each. Foley travels to Spanish Fort on Friday.
ST. LUKE’S 63, CHICKASAW 15: Elizabeth Roebuck scored 24 points on 10-of-16 shooting and had five steals for the Wildcats. Whitney Novak had 15 points, nine rebounds, seven assists and six steals. Abigail Lowry had 11 points, five assists and four steals.
WILLIAMSON 53, VIGOR 51: Jaylynn Brown scored 19 points and Tiarra Boggs had 17 for the Lions.