HANCEVILLE – A version of March Madness invaded Tom Drake Coliseum during the semifinals of the Cullman County Basketball Tournament Thursday night.
The evening began with an upset as the No. 4 West Point Lady Warriors stunned the top seed Cold Springs Lady Eagles 35-31 in the junior varsity semis.
In the varsity girls, two hard-fought victories were claimed by No. 1 seed Cold Springs and No. 2 Fairview. Cold Springs had to hold off a determined Holly Pond Lady Bronco unit by the score of 54-50. Fairview topped West Point 59-48, getting control of a very close game at the beginning of the second half.
Cold Springs will return to the coliseum Saturday with a 22-2 record while Fairview is 21-6 with the championship title serving as the grand prize.
(Varsity Girls) Cold Springs rallies to avoid upset to Holly Pond, 54-50
After shooting well Wednesday in a 53-30 romp of Hanceville, Holly Pond had plenty of life left to battle the No. 5 team in Class 2A, Cold Springs.
The Lady Broncos left the floor at halftime leading 29-27, shooting 50 percent, hitting 11-of-22 attempts, 5-of-12 from 3-point range.
Cold Springs matched them in field goal percentage, converting 9-of-18 shots with seven coming from two-point land.
The Lady Eagles eased into the lead and finished the third quarter up by the score of 39-38.
It came down to the closing moments with Neely Ellison hitting four free throws before she fouled out and some clutch shots from freshman Elizabeth Hill.
Emme Willoughby led the Lady Eagles with 17, connecting on 8-of-14 attempts and had nine rebounds, Hill tossed in 13, Ellison accounted for seven, Camryn Crider and Sadie Terry six each and Kinley Campbell three.
After scoring 30 on Hanceville Wednesday, Ruth Horton performed well for Holly Pond with 16 points, Taylor Tankersley added 13, Kolby Holcombe and Molly Gambrill had nine each and Presley Marks three.
Cold Springs was 10-of-15 from the line, shooting 5-of-6 in the opening half and 5-of-9 during the second half.
Holly Pond had good numbers at 8-of-9, but had turnovers late in the game and was unable to prevent offensive rebounds, spoiling the chances for the biggest victory in Paige Parker-Adams’ rookie season.
(Varsity Girls) Fairview fights off West Point, 59-48
Jada Golden came out hitting her first four shots to lift Fairview to a 12-1 lead on West Point. But as time moved on, the Lady Warriors were able to stay in contention, with balanced scoring by Miriam Oldacre, Olivia Ball and Lexi Shadix, narrowing the deficit to 27-22 when the game reached halftime.
In the second half, Fairview got the lead back to double figures and put away every attempt West Point made in a comeback try.
The Lady Aggies led 42-30 following the third and finished strong with 17 points in the final quarter, aided by point guard Taylor Yeager shooting 8-of-9 from the line in the second half, hitting her last four in crunch time.
Golden and Yeager scored 15 points each as Fairview defeated West Point for the third time on the season.
Abbi Taylor added 11 points and gathered nine rebounds, Abby Schnittker scored eight and had eight rebounds, Dayila Dean and Mckinna Yearwood scored five each.
Ball finished with 16 for the Lady Warriors, who fell to 18-6. Miriam Oldacre scored 11, Shadix had seven, Micah Oldacre six, Madison Roberts five and Jessica King one.
West Point 35, Cold Springs 31 (JV Girls’ semifinal)
Trailing 19-15 at the half, fourth seed West Point went to work, going on a 12-5 run in the third to take a 27-24 lead.
The game was decided in the final minute. Kylon Hamby tied the score for top seed Cold Springs with free throws that made it 29-29.
Then West Point's Lexi Farley broke the deadlock with a 3-pointer on the right wing and a 32-29 advantage.
Cold Springs closed to 33-31 with 0:06 to play as West Point finished off the upset by Meredith Calvert making two from the line that upped the margin to 35-31, with Cold Springs out of timeouts. Calvert went 6-of-6 from the stripe in the second half.
Farley popped in 15 for the victory, followed by 10 from Calvert, three points apiece by Caitlyn Colburn, Sheridan Bowers and Maci Hamby.
Toni West scored five times from 3-point range for 15 points to pace the Lady Eagles. Hayden Goodwin supported the team with six, Emily Williams and Hannah Stricklin scored four each and Hamby two.
Friday schedule:
- JV Girls: Fairview vs. Holly Pond 5 p.m.
- Varsity: Holly Pond vs. West Point 6:15 p.m.
- Varsity: Cold Springs vs. Hanceville 7:30 p.m.
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