HANCEVILLE, Ala. – The third game of the Wallace State Pre-Christmas Bash on Saturday featured no. 1 Cold Springs and Locust Fork. The Lady Eagles were without the services of Elizabeth Hill, who missed the game with a sprained ankle, but they focused on defense and big-time shots, holding off the Lady Hornets, 45-39, to push their winning streak to nine.
Cold Springs got its first point of the game on a Kylon Hamby free throw, then with 5:54 remaining in the first period, Lacey Rice got the Lady Eagles’ first basket of the quarter. Cold Springs jumped out to a quick 12-0 lead before Locust Fork scored its first points with 2:20 remaining in the period, but the Lady Eagles went into the second period up, 12-2.
Madison Bruer nailed a trey to stretch the Cold Springs lead to 15-2, but the Lady Hornets started to heat up when a 10-4 run made it a 19-12 game. A Toni West 3-point play pushed the Lady Eagles’ lead back to double-digits at 22-12 and then to 25-12 on a Neely Ellison trey. The Lady Hornets scored the final four points of the quarter to cut the deficit to 25-16 at the half.
Locust Fork continued its momentum in the third quarter, hitting a free throw, then back-to-back threes, to make it a 25-23 game. West nailed one from deep for the Lady Eagles’ first basket of the quarter. After the Lady Hornets hit one from long range, Cold Springs went on a 10-0 run, with all of the points coming from Ellison and Hamby, taking the lead back up to double-digits at 38-26. For the second straight quarter, the Lady Hornets finished strong, scoring the final five points to go into the final period down by seven at 38-31.
Hamby hit a layup to push the Lady Eagles’ lead to 40-31, but Locust Fork went on a 5-0 run to make it a 40-36 contest. After each team traded treys, Brooke Crider hit a jumper from the free-throw line for the game’s final points as the Lady Eagles went on to take the game, 45-39.
West led Cold Springs (15-2) with 12 points, nine rebounds, a pair of assists and two steals. Ellison added 11 points, six rebounds and a steal. Hamby ended up with eight points and a block. Crider added five points and a steal. Lacey Rice finished with four points, four rebounds and a steal, Madison Bruer ended up with three points, and Kyla Aaron chipped in with two points.
Cold Springs will take a long break before getting back on the court Jan. 3 and will travel to take on Cleveland.
Copyright 2019 Humble Roots, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
