No. 24 Olivia Neal at the line in the first half of the Cullman vs. Hartselle play-day game / Johnny Thornton
HARTSELLE – Cullman's Lady Bearcats had a combo squad that played a combo schedule Thursday in the Hartselle play-day series.
A unit with half varsity players and the other half junior varsity, Cullman was added to the agenda earlier in the week by play-day coordinator Paul Wilson from Danville when John Carroll High School dropped out.
Cullman battled two varsity squads and a pair of JV programs, splitting the four-game schedule. The Lady Bearcats ripped apart Hartselle 31-3 and fell to Fairview 31-21 in a JV team matchup.
A 34-19 victory against Lawrence County pumped up the psyche of the ball club. But Hartselle was too superior, defeating the Lady 'Cats 37-30 in primetime.
Coach Josh Hembree had regular varsity players on hand with Anna Bowden, A.K. Eastman, Alexandria Barker, Lauren Grace Evans and Anna Grace Murphree.
The rest were JV, including freshman guard Sadie Young, who is pushing for a spot on the varsity roster for the fall.
The team is currently without Anna Evans and Kennedy Wren, both recovering from surgeries due to foot injuries. Hembree hopes both will be at full strength when fall workouts begin.
A tight first half against Lawrence County in the varsity part of the play day had Cullman up 12-11 at the break.
Then in the second half, balanced scoring set the tone for the Lady 'Cats along with a strong defense allowing Lawrence County only eight points and creating a double-digit lead.
Hartselle brought a solid lineup to the floor, with one exception. Point guard Moriah Taylor injured her foot Wednesday and was wearing a boot to protect the injury. She is out for the rest of the play-day season.
But Hartselle has another leader on the floor in Anna Mathis. Her presence on both ends sparked the Lady Tigers as they led 14-8 at the end of the first half.
Cullman missed at least half a dozen shots from close range, keeping them behind for much of the stanza.
Hartselle set the tone with a 13-0 run in the first 8:00 of the second period and had Cullman down 27-8.
But the rest of the contest, Hembree's team showed a lot of heart, and execution was better on the offensive side.
Eastman connected on a driving shot to get Cullman within seven at 29-22 at the 6:22 mark. The Lady 'Cats had been on a 14-2 spurt with Hartselle's huge lead almost gone.
Mathis took over handling the point production. The forward knocked down two field goals and had a pair of free throws that pushed the margin to 35-25 with 1:15 remaining.
Cullman closed out with a positive play on a 3-pointer by Barker off an assist from Olivia Neal with 0:06 to go and the final margin was 37-30.
A hard working attitude was something Hembree had to be pleased with, with only nine people available to play and dealing with a four-game schedule from the early afternoon to the early evening hours.
Cullman was 2-1 in hosting a play day on Monday, defeating Good Hope and Bradford High School from Tennessee. The only loss was a close one to Cold Springs. Cold Springs and Bradford were also 2-1, with Good Hope unable to achieve a victory in three attempts.
Copyright 2017 Humble Roots, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
