The Tanner and West Limestone boys basketball teams won to stay undefeated while Athens and James Clemens lost close games Friday on a busy weekend of high school basketball.

The Jets opened area play at home against Sparkman Friday and led by five points entering the fourth quarter, but lost 54-49.

James Clemens’ Garrett Hicks hit a 3-pointer as the buzzer sounded in the third quarter to give the Jets a 39-34 lead. Sparkman went on a 6-0 run to start the fourth quarter and held a lead before Bradley Belt scored to tie the game at 47 with just over a minute remaining.

Seconds later, Sparkman’s Justin Fletcher hit a 3-pointer and the Spartans closed the game on a 8-2 run. Fletcher was clutch from the free-throw line in the final quarter, making 8 of 9 attempts. He finished with 19 points.

Belt was James Clemens leading scorer with 20 points while Jordan Fletcher added 10. In the varsity girls game, Sparkman cruised to a 54-49 victory over James Clemens.

James Clemens is in action Friday at home against Bob Jones.

West Limestone 60, Lauderdale County 39

West Limestone improved to 7-0 with a 60-39 win over Lauderdale County Friday. The Wildcats had three players — Evan Hill, Reed Blankenship and Matt Bozeman — score at least 11 points. Braden Tuten added nine for West Limestone, which will host Priceville tonight.

Wyatt Newton was Lauderdale County’s leading scorer with 16 points.

Tanner 75, Hatton 37

Tanner (2-0) jumped out to a 57-17 halftime lead and coasted in the second half to a 75-37 win over Hatton Friday. The Rattlers were led by C.J. Yarbrough’s 22 points. Oman Smothers scored 14 while J.J. Johnson added 11.

Austin 77, Athens 67

Facing one of the top teams in the state, Athens jumped out to a 12-point halftime lead Friday but couldn’t hold on against Austin, losing 77-67.

The Golden Eagles came out on fire, hitting 13 shots from beyond the arc. Athens shot 47 percent from 3-point range and were up by as many as 16 points in the first half.

Cam Turner led Athens with 15 points. John Williams scored 13 while Marqueze Bone added 12 and John David Mathews chipped in 10.

Fabian Bell and Javan Johnson both had double-doubles for Austin. Bell scored 20 points and grabbed 16 rebounds while Johnson had 19 points to go along with 14 rebounds.

Varsity Girls

Athens improved to 9-0 with a 51-45 victory over Austin Friday. Alexis Woods led a balanced Athens team with 11 points. Sophie Page scored a game-high 14 points for Austin.