Cullman's Anna Grace Murphy drives to the basket for two points during the Lady Bearcats' 79-56 win at Hanceville Tuesday night. (Nick Griffin for the Cullman Tribune)
HANCEVILLE – The Bearcats made the short trip to Hanceville High School Tuesday night and the Black and Gold were able to put together a clean sweep of the Bulldogs. Cullman’s junior varsity boys got things started with a 50-30 win and the Lady Bearcats followed up that performance with a 79-56 win of their own. In the final matchup of the night, the Bearcats’ varsity boys completed the sweep by defeating the Bulldogs 74-61.
Varsity girls: Cullman 79 – Hanceville 56
The first half of this matchup was by far the most competitive stretch of the night. The Lady Bearcats and Lady Bulldogs exchanged the lead multiple times and the first half ended with Cullman on top 37-31.
The Lady Bearcats changed the tone of the game in the third quarter, outscoring Hanceville 22-10 to stretch their lead to 59-41 going into the fourth quarter. Turnovers by Hanceville and smothering defense from Cullman contributed to the big quarter for the road team.
The Lady Bearcats kept their foot on the gas in the fourth quarter and pulled away to a convincing 79-56 win on the road. Senior Olivia Neal and sophomore Hannah Hoffman led the way for Cullman on the offensive end, putting up 19 and 16 points, respectively. For the Lady Bulldogs, senior Malia Howell had the hot hand Tuesday night. Howell racked up a game-high 26 points in the loss.
The Lady Bulldogs will look to bounce back from a tough second half and get back in the win column when they travel to West Point this Friday. Cullman will be on the road this Friday as well to face a talented Huntsville team.
Varsity Boys: Cullman 74 – Hanceville 61
The Bearcats jumped all over the Bulldogs to start this one. Cullman started strong and fast, going up 15-0 in the first quarter. Hanceville fought its way back into the game, but the Bearcats still led 37-32 at the half.
Cullman outscored the Bulldogs 25-12 in the third quarter thanks in large part to 11 points from senior John-David "JD" Parrish, including three buckets from three-point range. The Bearcats pushed the pace as much as they could for the first three quarters, making large substitutions to maintain fresh legs, and the Bulldogs couldn’t keep up. Cullman continued to pull away in the fourth quarter and eventually secured the 74-61 road win.
Junior Jayden Sullins led Cullman with 13 points, but it was truly offense by committee Tuesday night for the Bearcats. Everyone on the roster scored at least a bucket for Cullman, including Cooper Beck with 12 points, Kaleb Heatherly with nine points and Jimnie Chau Le with eight.
Hanceville’s RJ Evans led all scorers with 21 points in the loss. Fred Ellis and Romain Pochon each added 14 points for the Bulldogs as well.
Cullman and Hanceville will both be back in action on the road this Friday. The Bearcats will travel to take on a tough Huntsville squad and the Bulldogs will try to get back on the winning side of things when they hit the road to take on West Point.
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