DANVILLE – Two teams that faced each other Friday evening, invaded Morgan County Saturday and came back victorious in the first day of the 8th annual Danville Girls Thanksgiving Tournament.
Fairview and Cold Springs took the banner of Cullman County to a high level, entering the event with combined records of five wins against two losses.
Fairview defeated Hatton in its first assignment 47-25 and later in the afternoon at Wayne Bowling Gymnasium, Cold Springs knocked off Russellville 50-30.
Three other teams had assignments, but were unsuccessful. Good Hope fell to Lawrence County 65-32, Holly Pond was edged by Decatur 65-64 and West Point suffered a 56-35 loss to Danville.
Fairview, who upset Cold Springs Friday 47-45, began its battle with Hatton by keeping the Lady Hornets scoreless for the first quarter. Fairview was ahead 12-0 when the period ended and led 27-4 at halftime.
Hatton closed to 36-17 at the end of the third and was unable to make the margin any closer. Taylor Yeager pumped in 16 to lead Fairview who is now 3-1 on the season with a three-game winning streak.
The loss to Fairview inspired Cold Springs to take the lead early in its matchup with Russellville, who was playing its season opener. The Lady Eagles grabbed a 13-9 lead after the first and was ahead 24-18 by halftime.
Cold Springs gave up six points to Hatton in the third and fourth period with the offense getting 13 per quarter. That enabled the Lady Eagles to pull away and improve to 4-1 on the season. Emme Willoughby was hot for Cold Springs scoring a game-high 20 points with 13 coming from Camryn Crider.
Good Hope got outscored 38-10 by Lawrence County in the second half after the Lady Raiders trailed at the break 27-22. Lawrence County controlled the fourth period by a 20-3 margin. Kaylee Maddox netted 14 for the Lady Raiders, now 2-3.
Ruth Horton got a game-high 26 for Holly Pond, but Decatur took the lead for good midway in the fourth and held on for a one-point victory. Melissa Clingman supported Horton with 19 as Holly Pond dropped to 3-3 overall.
West Point trailed 20-11 to Danville following the first then watched the Lady Hawks run the lead to 43-22 at halftime and keep the Lady Warriors off stride in the final 16:00. Jeri Beasley tossed in 14 with Bailee Yearwood scoring nine and Tess Hembree eight for the 1-5 Lady Warriors.
The tournament resumes Wednesday. Good Hope plays Falkville at 10 a.m., Holly Pond meets Hatton at 11:20 and West Point getting Carbon Hill at 12:40 p.m.
In the winner's bracket, Fairview and Decatur tangle at 4:40 p.m. with Cold Springs to face defending tournament champion Brewer at 6 p.m.
