Coach Hembree and his Lady Bearcats
CULLMAN – The Cullman Lady Bearcats and the Guntersville Wildcats enjoyed their first games of 2017 with respective wins.
Guntersville 71, Cullman 58 (Boys)
Guntersville got on the scoreboard first on a pair of free throws by Logan Bonds. Cullman could not buy a shot early, until Dylan Finch put the Bearcats on the board with 5:17 remaining in the opening quarter by going 1 of 2 from the line. Guntersville quickly pushed the lead to 8-1 behind layups by Chrishon Hampton and C.J. Williamson. Williamson got fouled hard after hitting the layup and stayed down for a little bit before getting up. Josh Perry hit both of the intentional free throws to push the lead to 10-1. Finch also scored Cullman's first basket of the game with 4:06 remaining on a layup.
The Wildcats quickly pushed their lead to 16-4 after a Williamson layup. But the Bearcats finished the quarter on a 7-0 run to cut the lead to 16-11 after one.
Finch swiveled the lead to 16-13 to start the second quarter. The Wildcats scored the next six points to push the lead back to 22-13. After a Jayden Sullins layup cut the lead to 22-15, Izzak Parker hit a layup and got fouled. He completed the 3-point play to increase the lead to double-digits. Cullman cut the lead to 31-24 after a 9-2 run. Guntersville answered with a 7-2 run of their own to push the lead to 38-26. After a Finch 3-point play cut the lead to 38-29, Kevin Collie hit a layup to make the score 40-29 at the half.
The Wildcats increased their lead to 45-29 to start the third quarter, but Cullman fought back with a mini 6-0 run, finished by a put-back basket by Reese Harbison, to cut the lead to 45-35, but they never got the deficit under double-digits the rest of the game as Guntersville took a 56-37 lead after three and cruised from there to win their 13th game of the season.
Williamson finished with a game-high 20 points for the Wildcats. Hampton ended up with 15. Perry and Collie each had 12. They improve to 13-2 on the season. They will host New Hope on Thursday.
Sullins had 16 for Cullman, and Finch finished with 12 as the Bearcats fall to 7-13 on the season. They will host Albertville on Thursday instead of Friday because of the threat of wintry weather.
Cullman 64, Guntersville 42 (Girls)
Cullman jumped out to a quick lead and they cruised from there to win their opening game in the new year.
The Lady Bearcats led 19-4 after one, 35-16 at the half and 47-26 after three.
All but two Cullman players scored at least two points. Sierra Easterwood led Cullman with 19 points. Anna Evans finished with 10. Hannah Hoffman and Anna Eastman each had nine. They will host Albertville on Thursday instead of Friday because of the threat of wintry weather.
"I thought we played a pretty solid game," Cullman coach Josh Hembree said. "Offensively, we need to take care of the ball, but we did move the ball around and hit some outside shots. Defensively, we need to move our feet and anticipate things quicker. If the refs are going to call a lot of fouls, then we need to stop trapping them. These girls are getting better. We improved to 10-9 on the season and any time you are above .500, it is good."
Aniyah Harris finished with 13 for Guntersville and Kaylee Hasley had nine. They fall to 4-10 on the season. They will look to snap their eight-game losing streak at home against New Hope on Thursday.
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