BREMEN – Cold Springs got the breathing room they needed in the third quarter to put away the St. Bernard Saints 57-42 Tuesday night in the semifinals of the AHSAA Class 2A, Area 13 Tournament at Jesse George Gymnasium.
The Eagles used a good three-point attack in the period, scoring four times, turning a five-point halftime advantage into a 15-point cushion at the end of the third.
The three-point scoring did not come from the Eagles' regular long range weapons.
Fisher Willoughby knocked down three in the period while Mason Harris scored once from downtown, lifting the Eagles while their defense slowed down St. Bernard, allowing the Saints only two baskets in the third and keeping them off the scoreboard for a span of four minutes and 35 seconds.
Cold Springs improved to 19-8 and will play Winston County in the area title game Thursday at 7 p.m.
Tim Willoughby's Eagles have won four straight since losing to Holly Pond in the finals of the Cullman County Tournament, are 9-1 at home and have won seven straight games on the Jesse George hardwood.
The second period saw the Eagles and Saints pick up the pace after the game was tied 10-10 following the opening quarter.
Four lead changes took place in a span of 1:17 during the second with the Eagles getting the lead for good on a three by Eli Hamby and a 17-14 lead.
Hamby followed that shot with a steal and a slam dunk that upped the Eagles' margin to 19-14.
But every time the Eagles tried to put away the Saints, St. Bernard answered. A 3-point play by David Kim in the final seconds enabled the Saints to hang around at halftime, trailing by the score of 30-25.
Willoughby scored consecutive threes for the Eagles that had them ahead 36-28 with 6:00 to play in the third.
Then the Eagles used a shot by Blake Wood, a three from Harris and Willoughby's third trey in the stanza that made the score 44-28 at the 2:40 mark.
The third ended with the Eagles on top 46-31.
St. Bernard fought hard to get back in the game. Down 50-32 with 5:20 to go, the Saints narrowed the margin to 53-40 with a minute remaining on Christian Peterson's fourth consecutive field goal. But that was as close as the Saints got before their time ran out.
Willoughby had 16, scoring four from long range. Hamby added 14, Jesse Lee netted 10, Wood tallied eight, Hunter McClendon six and Harris three.
Peterson's 24 points paced the St. Bernard scoring with Elijah Price hitting seven, Miguel Sanchez six and Kim five.
Winston County 56, Falkville 51
Winston County led after each quarter and was able to wrap up a semifinal win when Falkville overcame a 47-36 deficit in the fourth and took the lead at 48-47 with 3:06 to go and increased it to 50-47 with 2:21 remaining.
But Falkville committed four turnovers in the final 1:18 that spelled doom for the Blue Devils. Winston County went ahead 53-51 with 57 seconds to play and extended the margin by scoring three from the line in the final 15 seconds.
Hayden Pendergrass had 15 for Winston County while Falkville was led by Alex Fowler with a game-high 21 points.
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