Cold Springs' Camryn Crider at the line vs. Locust Fork / Johnny Thornton
TRINITY – Cold Springs and Locust Fork have established a new girls' basketball rivalry for the summer. It will also continue in the regular schedule with both schools agreeing to play one another.
For two summer play day games in a week, the Lady Eagles and Locust Fork have taken their battle to the final seconds.
At West Point on June 6, Locust Fork was a 48-47 winner on free throws from Rachael Baker with three seconds remaining. Baker scored 22 in this encounter.
Tuesday at West Morgan's Gym, a fantastic finish between the two. Cold Springs went up 39-37 on a three by Camryn Crider with four seconds left. Locust Fork got the ball to midcourt as Carissa Horton banked in a three with the horn sounding and a 40-39 victory.
The game in Morgan County was similar to last week's at Jim Boyd Gymnasium- a back-and-forth battle with Cold Springs grabbing a 22-16 lead at the half behind a solid first half from Elizabeth Hill who scored 10 on three field goals and four from the line.
Then came a very entertaining second half. Locust Fork went in front 26-25 on a three with 15:03 to go. Three lead changes occurred in a span of six minutes. Crider drove to the goal for a layup and a 30-29 lead for Tammy West's squad.
Locust Fork was able to overcome Baker having a tough time scoring. The senior, who has committed to play at Wallace State, managed one basket in the game. It came with 5:12 to play that closed the deficit to 34-33.
Crider again stood out in a big way, scoring in the paint with the Lady Eagles ahead 36-33 and 4:40 left in the game. But Cold Springs was unable to extend the lead and had four consecutive possessions that ended in turnovers, allowing Locust Fork to score four straight from the line, leading 37-36.
Cold Springs lost the ball with 13 seconds left, then Locust Fork gave it back on a turnover a second later. It allowed coach West to set up a play in which Hill drove to the basket and kicked it out to Crider who was open from the top.
Crider scored her only trey of the game, sending the Lady Eagles ahead 39-37.
Locust Fork didn't take a timeout. Instead, the Lady Hornets advanced the ball in range for Horton to complete a dramatic ending for the second week between the two new rivals.
Crider and Hill both scored 13 for the Lady Eagles with West hitting for 11, scoring three from long range.
Locust Fork completed a 3-0 mark for the day, outscoring West Morgan 57-46 and running away from Red Bay 51-22.
Red Bay and Cold Springs met for the first since Feb. 16 when they squared off in the Northwest Regional semifinals. But this was a different setup as Cold Springs is now without Emme Willoughby, who is headed to UAH, and Red Bay coach Donnie Roberts has retired after leading the Lady Tigers since 1982.
Hill started strong, scoring six in the game's first 11:00 and Cold Springs built the lead to 12-4.
Red Bay never could get into a flow on offense with Cold Springs breaking the game open. A three-point play by Kylon Hamby at 4:11 upped the advantage to 21-6. The half came to a close with the Lady Eagles ahead 23-10.
The intensity was raised with both teams getting a little chippy inside the paint. Two technical fouls were accessed to Red Bay for trying to overdo pressure against Hill.
Hill scored twice from the line and added two technical shots that put the game in cruise control, 39-14.
Zoe Strawbridge came in during the second half and made a series of plays on defense, plus scored twice from the line. Her free throws with a minute remaining completed a 20-7 second half advantage and a 43-20 victory.
Hill produced 16 to get the Lady Eagles back to Cullman County 1-1 for the day. Crider tossed in 12, West tallied eight, with Hamby scoring five and Strawbridge two.
Cold Springs now travels to Cullman for the Lady 'Cats play day on Wednesday. Good Hope will be the first opponent, with the two rivals to tip off from the Cullman campus at noon.
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