TRINITY – A decision by Cold Springs basketball coach Tammy West to change her starting lineup benefited the Lady Eagles Friday in routing Central-Florence 67-28 to end the West Morgan Christmas Tournament with a fifth-place finish.
West put Sadie Terry and Neely Ellison into the starting five with both providing a spark to the offense early as the Lady Eagles executed the 3-point attack to greatness through the first half, then went to work on breaking down the Lady Wildcats with short-range field goals in the final two quarters.
Terry had 15 points in this game with Ellison adding 11 from her role as a shooting guard.
Adding a team high 18 from Camryn Crider, who led the Lady Eagles each game this week, provided the No. 4 team from Class 2A with balance as they go into celebrating the New Year's holiday with 15 wins against one loss.
Terry opened the game with a trey for the Lady Eagles then scored on a jumper and it was 5-2 Cold Springs just two minutes in. Free throws from Terry extended the lead to 10-2 with 4:30 showing on the clock.
Terry stepped aside and let Ellison pitch in on the scoring. Ellison ripped her second trey to give Cold Springs a comfortable 22-5 lead that forced Central into using a second timeout with 2:17 to go in the quarter.
Central reduced the margin to 24-13 at the end of the period with eight consecutive points from freshman point guard Laura Lee Kenner.
By the end of the first, Cold Springs had scored six times from long distance with Central unable to slow down the Lady Eagles.
They added three more treys to the total in the second stanza and led at halftime 45-21. Sixty percent of the offense was produced by 3-point shooting.
The final baskets by Terry and Ellison came during the third period. Terry landed a trey with the score now at 54-18 and less than a minute later, it was Ellison with a basket and Cold Springs was in command at 56-18. The third period ended with the score of 63-24 in favor of the Lady Eagles.
West had her starters on the bench in the fourth quarter, allowing Zoe Strawbridge, Kelsey Johnson, Prisca McAnnally, Kinley Campbell and Aubrey Negron to finish up with solid play on defense, allowing Central one field goal in the fourth period and just 50 percent from the line.
Emme Willoughby and Elizabeth Hill added seven points each to the total while Campbell scored three, and Strawbridge, Negron and McAnnally had two points each.
Cold Springs got 10 treys on the afternoon and had a total of 23 field goals for 56 of its point total.
Central is now 5-10 for the season. Kenner led the Lady Wildcats with 17 points, scoring three field goals from 3-point range.
Priceville 60, East Limestone 37 (third-place game):
Priceville, the team that upset Cold Springs to begin the tournament on Wednesday, came back after a semifinal loss to Southside-Gadsden, crushing East Limestone thanks to a 19-2 first quarter lead, 43-17 at halftime and 50-28 following the third period.
The Lady Bulldogs even their record at 8-8 and finish 2-1 in the tournament, taking home third place.
Kathleen Wheeler was unstoppable Friday afternoon for Terri Nelson's Lady Bulldogs, scoring a game-high 33 points.
Jenna Walker pitched in support with eight. These two were the key for Priceville's upset of Cold Springs as they combined for 20 of 27 fourth-quarter points and rallied their team from a 36-35 deficit.
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