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The Thompson Warriors made another impressive run at the Juanita Boddie, winning four straight matches to reach the round of 16 where they fell to the defending Class 7A state champions. (For the Reporter/Dawn Harrison)

By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

HOOVER – The Thompson Warriors won their first four games at the Juanita Boddie Tournament on Aug. 23-24 at the Finley Center in Hoover to reach the round of 16 in the Gold Bracket.

Thompson’s victories over Athens, Gardendale and Enterprise in Pool 15 play and Montgomery Catholic in the opening round extended their win streak to six games in a row to start the season. Their first loss of the year to defending state champion and eventual Gold Bracket winner McGill-Toolen.

The Warriors had to bounce back from some early adversity in their first match of pool play against Athens as they lost the first set 25-20. Staring down a 1-0 hole in the match, they went on to win the second set 25-21 before taking the third set 15-12 to win the game.

Thompson then carried the momentum from that victory into another big result, this time against the Gardendale Rockets.

This time around, the Warriors had no problems in the first set, winning the frame 25-18 to flip the tables on the Rockets and put the pressure on them.

Thompson kept its foot on the gas from there and won the second set by an even wider margin. The Warriors’ 25-15 win sealed their second victory of the day and sent them into the second day of pool play in great positioning.

That next morning, Thompson picked up right where it left off with a first set win over Enterprise by a score of 25-20, taking a 1-0 lead in the match.

From there, the Warriors closed out pool play with their sixth straight set win, claiming the second set 25-17 to wrap up another 2-0 sweep.

The victory over Enterprise also sealed first place in Pool 15 for the Warriors and a trip to the Gold Bracket, the Juanita Boddie’s premier division, for a chance at the tournament’s biggest prize.

Faced with the Montgomery Catholic Knights in the first round of the bracket stage, Thompson’s streak of consecutive set wins ended in the first set as Montgomery Catholic took the 25-19 win.

The Warriors faced elimination if they dropped the next set, but they rebounded in a big way with a dominant performance in the second set.

Thompson came out and won the second set by double digits, taking the fight to the Knights and emerging with a big 25-14 win to knot up the match at one set win apiece.

Heading into the third and final set with all of the momentum, the Warriors kept Montgomery Catholic at bay once again and secured the 15-10 victory to take the match 2-1.

That put Thompson in the Round of 16 and four wins away from a Juanita Boddie trophy.

However, to get further, the Warriors would have to get past the team that ended their season last October: the Dirty Dozen of McGill-Toolen, who swept Thompson in the quarterfinals of the Class 7A state tournament en route to winning the state championship.

The Warriors fell behind in the match early and wound up losing the first set as McGill cruised to a 25-15 win to go up in the match.

Ultimately, Thompson couldn’t get its revenge on the Dirty Dozen as the defending champs took the second set 25-18 to end the Warriors’ weekend in Hoover.

Despite the loss, Thompson now sits at 6-1 on the season with its lone loss coming from one of the contenders for the Class 7A state title.

The Warriors will look to get back to winning ways in its home opener on Tuesday, Aug. 27 at 6 p.m. against the Helena Huskies.

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