Montevallo outpaces Shelby County to claim rivalry clash

Published 6:46 pm Tuesday, December 3, 2024

By Andrew Simonson

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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

MONTEVALLO – The Montevallo Bulldogs secured a key win over their Class 5A county rivals, the Shelby County Wildcats, to add on to their 2-1 run through the Pelham Turkey Tipoff.

Montevallo defeated Shelby County 84-55 on Monday, Dec. 2 at Montevallo High School to claim the rivalry clash.

Before that though, the Bulldogs went 2-1 at the Pelham Turkey Tipoff over Thanksgiving week. They recovered from a 57-50 loss to Class 7A Carver-Montgomery, the eventual champion, by defeating Altamont 74-59 and coach Byron Gaskin’s former school Wetumpka 51-40 to claim fifth place.

Dee Cutts and the Ross brothers had strong games in those wins as Cutts scored 20 points against Altamont and Keiston and Buck Ross each dropped 19 points. All three hit double figures against Wetumpka as Cutts scored 15, Keiston had 14 and Buck posted 10 points.

That gave the Bulldogs a pair of wins to use as momentum heading into a big rivalry game.

Cutts and Nahjear Russell each scored eight points in the opening quarter as Montevallo sought to county Shelby County’s strong start, which was led by multiple baskets from Tyson Duncan and Ryan Sipes as well as a pair of 3-pointers from Sutton Reed.

The Bulldogs outpaced the Wildcats and took a 23-19 lead into the second quarter, one that they would only build off of over the course of the next three quarters.

The offensive pace slowed down on both sides in the second quarter, but Montevallo continued to hold the advantage thanks to a balanced scoring attack led by Keiston, Cutts and Demeco Gibson.

The Bulldogs used that to take a 41-32 lead into the halftime locker room.

With Shelby County still in striking distance, the Wildcats continued to hang around, scoring 18 points in the third with Duncan scoring six of those points to get into double figures.

However, Buck took over the game and accounted for 14 of Montevallo’s 19 third-quarter points, helping keep Shelby County from cutting into the lead and leaving the Bulldogs firmly in front going into the fourth quarter.

From there, Buck added seven more points in the fourth quarter before fouling out, and Cutts and Brannon Hudson both hit multiple field goals to help see out the win.

Combined with a strong finish by the Montevallo defense, the Bulldogs polished off the 29-point win to extend their win streak to three victories in a row.

Buck led the team with 27 points. Cutts dropped 18 points and Russell joined them in double figures with 13 points. Hudson had eight points, Keiston scored seven and Gibson added six points.

As for the Wildcats, three players hit double figures for them as well as Duncan scored 15 points, Reed had 12 points and Sipes posted an 11-point night. In addition, Andres McGinnis and Montez White each contributed six points.

Montevallo will have a quick turnaround as it faces the Calera Eagles on Tuesday, Dec. 3 at 7 p.m. at home.

As for Shelby County, it lost an afternoon tilt the next day to Hartselle by a score of 73-26, but the Wildcats will hope to turn their fortunes around when they face Thorsby on Friday, Dec. 6 at 7:30 p.m. on the road.

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