GOOD HOPE – Tonight concluded the Cullman County Middle School Basketball Tournament. In both games, it was the top two seeds battling it out to see who would take home the championship. In the girls' game, top seed Cold Springs pulled away in the second half to defeat second seed, West Point, 50-33. In the boys game, the second seed, West Point, defeated the top seed, Parkside, 46-39.
Cold Springs 50, West Point 33 (Girls)
There were four ties in the opening quarter between Cold Springs and West Point. Braelee Quinn gave the Lady Warriors a 9-7 lead with 15.5 seconds left on a three that bounced around a few times before it finally went in. But Lacey Rice tied the game for the fourth and final time with a layup with 8 seconds left to make it a 9-all game after one.
After Brooklyn Crider tied the game at 11 in the second quarter, Rice gave the Lady Eagles the lead with 4:06 left in the first half on a layup. Rice increased their lead to 17-12 on an old-fashioned 3-point play, but Quinn countered with one of her own with 2:50 left to cut the lead to 17-15. Cold Springs took a 21-17 lead at the half.
Cold Springs started off quick in the third quarter as they scored the first seven points to take a 28-17 lead. Kali Brown scored the first points of the quarter for the Lady Warriors with 2:42 remaining. They traded free throws and baskets for the rest of the quarter and Cold Springs took a 36-27 lead going into the final quarter.
The Lady Eagles quickly increased their advantage to double digits on a pair of free throws by Crider. They scored the first 10 points of the quarter as the lead grew to 46-27 and they cruised from there to take home the championship.
Rice led Cold Springs with 14 points. Ember Sellers and Kyla Aaron each had 10 and Madison Bruer finished with eight.
Quinn had 15 to lead West Point and Brown finished with eight.
All-Tournament:
- Cold Springs- Lacey Rice, Kyla Aaron, Ember Sellers
- Good Hope- Ruby Lucas, Kyndall Seal
- Hanceville- Zoe Joles, Malorie Morgan
- Holly Pond- Kennedy Twilley
- Parkside- Jacy Gorham, Molly McKelvy
- West Point- Sydney Smith, Ryleigh Jones, Braelee Quinn
West Point 46, Parkside 39 (Boys)
Parkside jumped out to a quick 6-0 lead in the opening quarter. West Point got on the scoreboard with 3:20 remaining on a free throw by Kaleb Heatherly. West Point cut the lead to 8-4 with 2:15 remaining when Will Cochran completed a 3-point play. From there, the Panthers dominated the rest of the quarter, outscoring West Point 9-3, to take a 16-7 lead after one.
The second quarter, West Point's Kobe Bowers went on a scoring spree as he helped the Warriors launch a comeback to tie the game at 18 with 1:25 remaining in the first half. Aubry Cleghorn completed the comeback for West Point as he went 1 of 2 from the line to give them a 19-18 lead with 52 seconds left. Parkside's Jake Yarbrough gave the Panthers a 20-19 lead on a layup, but Bowers put the Warriors back in the lead, 21-20, just before the half. Bowers scored 12 of the 14 Warrior points. West Point's defense held the Panthers to just four points.
The Warriors increased their lead to 30-25 in the third quarter on a Bowers three. Todd Stevens cut it to three on a layup, but Will Cochran finished the quarter strong as he scored the final seven points for West Point to help his team take a 37-29 lead after three.
Parkside looked to make a comeback of their own in the fourth quarter, starting out strong as they scored the first five points to cut the lead to 37-34. After a few empty possessions by both teams, Cleghorn stopped the Panthers' mini-run with a layup as he helped start a 6-0 run for the Warriors as they pushed their lead to 43-34. Yarbrough cut the lead to 44-39 with a three, but that was as close as they got as West Point hit 2 of 4 from the line to clinch the championship win.
Bowers finished with a game-high 21 points for West Point. Cochran ended up with 11 and Cleghorn had 10.
Jack Brown led Parkside with 13 points, and J.T. White and Yarbrough each had 10.
All-Tournament:
- Cold Springs- Hunter Calvert, Jeffery Hill
- Good Hope- Colton Bagwell, Tanner Malin
- Fairview- Eli Speegle
- Hanceville- J.R. Ezbell
- Holly Pond- Tucker Gambrill, Casey Brown
- Parkside- Jack Brown, J.T. White
- West Point- Aubry Cleghorn, Kobe Bowers, Will Cochran
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