CULLMAN – Point guard Jesse Lee gave it an all-out effort with a career best 28 points in Cold Springs' 57-49 victory over St. Bernard Tuesday night in the Eagles' first-ever visit to the Fazi-Richard Athletic Center.
Every point by Lee turned out to be important in keeping the Eagles' current winning streak alive. The only double-digit scorer for Tim Willoughby's squad broke it down with three in the first quarter, seven in the second, a dozen during the third and six in the final period to help the Eagles complete a 6-0 record in 2A, Area 13 regular season play.
"We needed every bit of it," Willoughby said about the best performance offensively by his point guard on the season. "You have to take what the defense gives you."
The first half was memorable with the game even at 20-20 when both teams left for the locker room at halftime. Through the first half, there were two ties and eight lead changes.
It was a very different game in comparison to seven nights earlier when the Eagles dominated the Saints by the score of 71-39 at Jesse George Gymnasium.
Less than two minutes into the third, Lee raised his offensive production, outscoring the Saints by a margin of 10-3.
A 3-pointer with 6:07 to go pushed the advantage to 30-23. St. Bernard managed to stay close following Lee's scoring spurt and trailed 38-30 when the third stanza ended.
Lee got a pass from Eli Hamby on a backdoor play and scored for the Eagles to lead 46-38 with 3:18 remaining in the game.
Then he resumed his other role of point guard, with a picture perfect backdoor pass to Blake Wood, and the Eagles were up 48-40 with less than 3:00 to go.
St. Bernard would not go away. The Saints trailed 55-43 with 0:36 to play on free throws by Wood and were able to get a three from Miguel Sanchez to close to 55-49 with 12 seconds showing.
Mason Harris sealed the victory for the Eagles, knocking down a pair from the line with seven seconds left. Time ran out on the Saints, who were trying to pull off an upset with a large gathering of Cold Springs' fans sitting on the visitors' side of the Athletic Center.
Lee had 10 field goals on the evening, two treys, two old-fashioned 3-point plays and six free throws in eight attempts.
Hamby had 12, Wood scored nine, Hunter McClendon four and Harris and Brian McAnnally two each.
The Saints fell to 6-11 and 1-5 in area play. Sanchez produced 16 points for Greg Boatright's team, with two treys; Christian Peterson added 14, Elijah Price netted eight, Caleb Guthery five and Chann Pham three.
St. Bernard meets J.B. Pennington at home Thursday while Cold Springs is back on campus for homecoming Friday vs. the Good Hope Raiders.
Cold Springs 63, St. Bernard 10 (Girls):
Trailing 3-2 following a 3-pointer from St. Bernard's Claire Sanders, the No. 5 ranked Lady Eagles took control of the issue on the hardwood with an 18-0 run to finish the opening quarter and lead 20-3.
The offense stayed hot with an 18-point second period and a 38-9 lead at the break.
The third period saw Cold Springs outscore St. Bernard 19-0 and build a comfortable 57-9 lead.
Cold Springs is 20-1 with its seventh straight victory and finishes 2A, Area 13 at 6-0. St. Bernard is a game under the .500 mark at 8-9 and 3-3 in the area. Coach Tiffany Hinkle-Pope's Lady Saints are tied for second place in the area with Winston County.
Freshman Elizabeth Hill guided a balanced attack for Tammy West's Lady Eagles with 15, Camryn Crider 11, Emme Willoughby 10, Kinley Campbell nine, Sadie Terry seven, Zoe Strawbridge five, Neely Ellison four and Kelsey Johnson two.
St. Bernard got three points from Sanders and Makenna Kline, with Ashley Duke and Avy Whaley scoring two each.
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