A major milestone was reached by one of our local basketball talents this past week. In the Lady Eagles’ 73-65 win over Weaver last Friday, sophomore Lacey Buchanon scored her 1,500th point of her varsity career.

Buchanon, who scored 39 points in the win against Weaver, has been playing on the varsity team since the seventh grade.

I’ve been watching Lacey play since she was in elementary school and took it to the boys in the PARD leagues; I knew then she was going to be something special. Lacey has a lot of talents. She is very quick, can steal the ball and lay it up for two points before the opposition has time to react.

Something I really like about Lacey is that she is one of those really nice kids that you just hope the best for and she works hard at achieving her goals.

With two years left at JHS, Lacey is likely to draw a lot of attention to herself with the numbers she is putting up.

It’s hard to believe that the regular season is completed and that teams are gearing up for their area tournaments this week.

For the girls, The Thunder will take on Sacred Heart in the 1A, Area 11 tournament Thursday at 6 p.m. at Ragland. Finals will be on Monday at 6 p.m.

Pleasant Valley will play Piedmont in Class 3A, Area 10 action at Glencoe. Tip-off is slated for 7:30, with finals on Monday at 7 p.m.

The Lady Eagles will travel to Centre to take on No. 1 seed Cherokee County on Thursday at 7 p.m. in Class 4A, Area 12 action. The finals will be Monday at 5 p.m.

In boys’ action, the Thunder will take on Coosa Christian Friday at Sacred Heart. Action will start at 5:30. Finals will be Monday at 7 p.m.

The Raiders will travel to Piedmont to take on Glencoe Friday at 7:30. Finals will be Monday at 7 p.m.

Jacksonville’s Golden Eagles as No. 1 seed will host the Class 4A, Area 12 tournament at Jacksonville. The Golden Eagles will take on No. 4 seed Hokes Bluff with the winners playing Monday at 7 p.m.

From what I’ve seen of our local teams this year, we could have a lot of teams advancing to the finals and the right to go on to sub-regional play.

The Golden Eagles have been especially productive this year with a 19-7, 5-1 record.

Second year head coach Anthony Kingston turned his program around from a 12-15 year last year that saw Jacksonville go out in the first game of the area tournament.

The Golden Eagles have a lot going for them this year. Eleven of the players are seniors.

Captain Ethan Maske is deadly from the outside and can drive the lane, perplexing defenses as to whether he is going to pass off the ball or take it to the hoop.

Tristan Garmon, a 6-7 post player has thrilled the fans this year with some awesome dunks and incredible blocks. He has been playing some of his best ball since the county tournament and is hard to stop inside but will also pull up and swish a three.

Senior Deonte Elston also is a scoring threat and has added tremendously to the team with both his offense and defense.

Jacksonville plays hard nose defense and twins Robert and Nick Quinn are two of the best.

Jervon Cowden, Jordan Shelvin, Josh Willis, Tyler Ross, Knox Newell, Hunter Green, Micah Maxwell and Micah Shelvin are also counted on for their skills.

The Eagles have reaped the benefits of the experiences and training of Coach Kingston. A product of Tanner High School in Limestone County, Coach Kingston went on to excel at JSU where he is on several Top 10 all time lists to include scoring, 3-point field goals made and attempted, free throws made and attempted and assists.

Kingston says that over the years he has learned that, “teams win, defense wins championships, you must do the simple things well and to play hard and smart.”

Kingston feels that his team has improved because they are beginning to realize the elements it takes to win games.

Best of luck to all our area teams in the upcoming tournaments.