HANCEVILLE – Day two of the 2018 Cullman County Basketball Tournament inside Tom Drake Coliseum at Wallace State is now officially in the books, and it featured three games on the menu for the night.
JV Boys Game Four: (1) Holly Pond 64, (4) Hanceville 48
The first game of the night featured the Holly Pond Broncos taking on the Hanceville Bulldogs. And for most of the first quarter, it was close. The Bulldogs' Cainon Moore hit a layup to give them a 9-8 lead, but it was all Broncos after that, as Tucker Gambrill and Isaac Ludwig helped kick-start a quarter-ending 10-2 run to give Holly Pond an 18-11 lead after one, and the Broncos rode that momentum into the second quarter as they outscored Hanceville, 21-8, to widen their lead to 39-19 at the half.
The Bulldogs looked to make a run to start off the second half, but almost every basket they scored was matched by a Bronco basket. After a Garrett Turner trey cut the deficit to 48-34, again, it would be Ludwig and Gambrill to stop a potential Bulldog run, as a mini 5-0 run, including a buzzer-beater by Gambrill, pushed their lead to 53-34 after three.
The final period saw the Bulldogs make a big push to get back in the game, and they did that with their inside game, as Moore completed a 3-point play, and Aidan Dye hit a layup. That started a big 10-0 run by the Bulldogs, and Moore tallied eight of those points; things got a little more interesting with it being just a 53-44 lead now for Holly Pond. Gabe Fortner scored Holly Pond's first points of the quarter on a pair of free throws at the 3:34 mark, but Matthew Cornelius scored the next four points for Hanceville to make it a 55-48 game. The Bulldogs didn’t get any closer, as a 9-0 run by Holly Pond eliminated Hanceville from the tournament.
Ludwig led the way for Holly Pond with 20 points, three rebounds and a steal. Gambrill was not far behind with 17 points, two rebounds and two steals. Parker Sellers nailed four treys in the game to finish with 12 points, plus he added three rebounds and two steals. Fortner finished with seven points, three rebounds and a steal. The Broncos will face the winner of tomorrow's game between (2) Fairview and (3) West Point in the championship game on Saturday at 4 p.m.
For Hanceville, J.R. Isbell led the way with 12 points, five rebounds and three steals. Moore ended up with 11 points and seven rebounds in the game. Dye ended up with nine points, three rebounds and three blocks. Cornelius had eight points and added a steal of his own.
Varsity Girls Game One: (2) West Point 72, (7) Vinemont 16
In the opening game of the varsity girls bracket, West Point took on Vinemont, and after a little bit of a sluggish start with four turnovers early on, plus starting just 2-6 from the charity stripe, the Lady Warriors got going in a hurry. Miriam Oldacre led the charge for the Lady Warriors, as she scored 10 of her game-high 24 points in the opening period, and West Point took a 27-3 lead after one. Never challenged in the game, the Lady Warriors went on to the easy opening-round win.
Oldacre also added 10 rebounds and five steals in the game. Lexi Shadix ended up with 12 points, seven rebounds, a steal and a block. Brooke Brownfield finished with 10 points, three rebounds and a steal. Ball ended up with eight points, five rebounds and a pair of steals. All but one player for West Point scored at least a point in the game, and they will take on the winner of (3) Cold Springs and (6) Holly Pond on Thursday night at 7:30 p.m.
Vinemont will travel to Cold Springs next Monday.
Varsity Boys Game One: (4) Fairview 61, (5) Hanceville 49
In the final game of the night, Fairview and Hanceville faced off in the opening game of the varsity boys’ bracket. Both teams came out shooting well early on, and it was close for most of the opening period. A layup by Hanceville's R.J. Evans made it a 10-8 game, but Fairview picked it up on both sides of the court, finishing on a 12-2 run, to take a 22-10 lead after one.
Fred Ellis gave the Bulldogs a big lift off the bench in the second quarter, scoring 10 of their 15 points in the quarter, and Hanceville outscored the Aggies, 15-12, but Fairview held a 34-25 lead at the half, despite going 6-11 from the line in the second.
A 7-2 run by the Bulldogs to start off the third period was what the doctor ordered, and Fairview saw its lead dwindle to 36-32. After a Damion Johnson layup by Hanceville made it a 38-34 game, Cameron Guthrie started a quarter-ending 9-0 run for the Aggies, and Austin Turner and Luke Yarbrough finished it, as they hit back-to-back threes to push their lead back to double-digits at 47-34 after three.
After layups by Truman Boyd and Yarbrough pushed the Fairview lead to 51-36, Hanceville made one final push to get back in the game, as Brendan Flanigan hit a pair of free throws, and Evans and Zeke McDonald hit back-to-back shots to make it a 52-42 game with 5:25 remaining in the contest. But, five quick points by Yarbrough and a layup by Bryson Fletcher, and the Aggies were able to stop the Bulldog rally and win the game.
Yarbrough finished with 19 points and three rebounds for Fairview. Fletcher added 10 points, seven rebounds and a steal. Sawyer Daniel ended up with nine points, three rebounds and a steal. Guthrie had seven points and added two steals. All but four players found the scoring column for the Aggies, and they will square off against the top seed, Holly Pond, on Friday at 6:15 p.m. They are 1-1 against the Broncos this season, and have handed them one of their three losses on the season.
"We just had to grind and battle, rebound and play defense, and we found a way to win," Fairview coach Branch Whitlock said. "The start of the fourth quarter got a little scary. They have some great players, especially one that's coming off a torn ACL, and he was scary tonight, but we just had to continue to battle and play hard, and we got it done. Holly Pond's the number one seed for a reason. We just have to go out there and battle."
Evans led the Bulldogs with 11 points, seven rebounds and a steal. Ellis had 10 points and three rebounds. McDonald had seven points, five rebounds, a steal and two blocks. Raiden Morgan tallied five points, two rebounds and a block. Johnson got five points and two rebounds and Josh Stanley scored five points, four rebounds and a block. The Bulldogs will play at home next Monday against Dora.
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