CULLMAN – New Cullman girls’ basketball coach Josh Hembree watched his Lady Bearcats prevail in their home opener Thursday night, beating the Boaz Lady Pirates 57-36.
The difference was the second half with Cullman outscoring the visitors from Marshall County 35-11, overcoming a three-point deficit at halftime.
Hembree's squad made adjustments at halftime and came on to the Cullman High floor with 12 second-half field goals, four shots from three-point range and 85 percent free throw shooting on seven of eight opportunities.
"Our intensity on defense in the second half changed the game," Hembree said following a successful home debut. "We were able to take their turnovers and convert them into baskets. It was huge for us to hit some 3-pointers. All nine played a role in this win and played hard for the entire game."
Cullman led 9-8 after the first period ended and went up 14-10 before Boaz took the advantage for the rest of the half. The Lady Pirates scored 11 straight with Caitlyn Hunkapiller delivering three field goals in the second and Autumn Patterson scoring from long distance and hitting a 2-pointer.
But Cullman took back the momentum prior to time running out in the period. AK Eastman took a steal the length of the floor and laid it in to close the margin to a one-possession game at 25-22.
Eastman sparked early in the third with a 3-point play that got the game evened at 27-27. From there, the Lady Bearcats moved the lead to 39-32 after the third, and a solid second half by Anna Bowden and Sierra Easterwood put the game well out of reach of the Lady Pirates.
Bowden found her shooter's touch in the second half with 14 points, four shots from 3-point land, and finished with a game high 16 to get Cullman to 2-1 overall.
Easterwood produced eight of her 13 points in the second half and enjoyed a fine evening from the line, going seven of eight.
Anna Evans was the third Cullman player to reach double digits, scoring 10, while Eastman added seven, Kennedy Wren and Alexis Marks four and Victoria Barker two.
Barker's presence was on the defensive side meant numerous rebounds and four blocked shots.
"Barker has a knack for timing it when it comes to blocking shots inside the paint," Hembree added on his post player.
Patterson had 12 points and Hunkapiller added 11 for the Lady Pirates who dropped to 0-3 on the season.
Cullman comes back to campus Friday night to host Lawrence County and will be at home Monday against rival Athens.
Cullman 53, Boaz 22 (Boys):
A young Cullman squad, starting a freshman at point guard, a sophomore at shooting guard, two juniors on the wing and a junior in the post, looked like a veteran team Thursday night, romping by Boaz to move into the victory lane for the first time in three games for coach Bobby Meyer.
The "Fast 32" defense caused havoc for Boaz, with the Pirates managing just two field goals by halftime and getting pelted by Dylan Finch scoring 10 in the first quarter to anchor a 17-4 Cullman lead that became 30-10 by intermission.
Cullman used a balanced attack in the third stanza to extend the lead to 43-15.
With 6:39 to play in the game, free throws from Finch gave the Bearcats a 45-15 margin and the clock ran for the rest of the contest, under National Federation for High Schools (NFHS) rules for when a team goes up by 30 points in the final period.
Meyer took Finch out to keep him fresh for Friday's game with Lawrence County as Fletcher Jennings produced back-to-back hoops from close range and Reese Harbison scored from 3-point range inside the final minute.
The Bearcats never let the Pirates score double figures in a quarter and didn't let them go to the foul line for the final 16:00 after the Pirates visited the stripe 10 times through the first half.
Reese Harbison followed the 16-point outing of Finch with nine points on four field goals; Jennings, Drew Morton and Noah Bussman scored five, Jayden Sullins and Zane Manley netted four and Cooper Beck accounted for two.
Tyler Ray's five was tops for Boaz, who are 0-3 under new coach Jay Burney. Burney is a former Wallace State Lion, playing for coach Bobby McCracken in 1987-88. Burney spent the previous 12 years coaching the Buckhorn Bucks' program in Madison County.
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