DECATUR – There were heavy hearts on the Huntsville sideline this morning, as girls’ coach Willie Moore had a death in the family Monday. Moore was on the sidelines Tuesday morning for Huntsville's game vs. Holly Pond to open the Decatur Orthopedic Clinic Christmas Tournament at Smith-Morris Gymnasium.
The Lady Panthers defeated the Lady Broncos 51-32 to move into the quarterfinal round to play the winner of Decatur-Talladega County Central. Holly Pond gets the loser at 2 p.m. Wednesday.
This game was moved into the 9:30 a.m. starting slot to accommodate coach Moore, who had to leave for the funeral following the game.
Huntsville led 16-10 through the first quarter with Holly Pond unable to get into their offensive flow of scoring from the perimeter and running their transition game.
The Lady Broncos missed shot after shot after shot and had only two field goals from three-point range by halftime. Sharpshooter Ruth Horton managed only one trey, with Holly Pond looking at a 30-17 deficit at the break.
Huntsville used a balanced attack and also took advantage with 6'1" freshman center Emily Bowman against a Holly Pond frontline that was 5'8" in total size at best.
The Lady Panthers extended their lead to 43-26 at the end of the third with consecutive baskets by Emma Stephenson. This was the largest of the game at this time by Huntsville.
Holly Pond played hard, but could never dent the huge deficit. Horton scored a couple of free throws in the fourth, Molly Gambrill had a three-point play and Presley Marks tossed in a free throw.
Taylor Tankersley led Holly Pond, now 5-11, with eight points, Horton scored seven, Liz Miller six, Gambrill tallied five, Haley Higginbotham and Marks scored three each.
Huntsville improved to 8-11 with Natalie O'Kraski hitting seven, Bowman six, Stephenson and Ashley Fountain five each.
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