HANCEVILLE – Never before had the Holly Pond Lady Broncos captured three consecutive Cullman County High School basketball championships.
That became reality Saturday night thanks to a 14-7 rally in the fourth quarter with the Lady Broncos getting past Cold Springs 46-42 at Wallace State's Tom Drake Coliseum.
Holly Pond is the first to accomplish this task since Cold Springs claimed four straight from 2007 to 2010. The Lady Broncos became the fourth school in the history of county basketball to nail down at least three straight championships.
The Lady Broncos held Cold Springs' offensive weapon Emme Willoughby to one point in the second half and never allowed shooting guard Keegan Johnson to convert in five field goal tries.
Cold Springs also missed six free throws in the second half with three of them front ends of a one-and-one.
Melissa Clingman scored 13 of her 17 in the second half and knocked down six of 10 at the line. Her partner, Meg Gambrill, delivered 19, setting the tone from the line with nine of 10. She also claimed 15 rebounds, nine on the offensive side.
The win moved the Lady Broncos record to 18-10 as they now prepare to face Vinemont in the 3A, Area 10 Tournament Tuesday at Holly Pond.
Bailey West got 14 for the Lady Eagles who entered the title game No. 3 in Class 2A. Caitlyn Hall added 13 with Willoughby scoring nine and Camryn Crider six.
All-Tournament team:
Holly Pond: Meg Gambrill, Ruth Horton.
Cold Springs: Bailey West, Caitlyn Hall, Emme Willoughby.
Good Hope: Kaylee Maddox.
Fairview: Taylor Yeager, Ashley Latham.
Bill Shelton Award winner:
Meg Gambrill of Holly Pond.
Charlotte Cummings Memorial Scholarship winner:
McKinley Davis of Cold Springs.
