BREMEN, Ala. – After a week full of delays, postponements and cancelations, the Cold Springs Eagles were finally able to hit the floor Thursday night for their sub-regional showdown against Aliceville. After jumping out to an early lead, Cold Springs overcame a scoring drought in the second quarter and did a lot of damage from the free throw line in the final frame to pull away and defeat the Yellow Jackets 47-38, earning a spot in this year’s Northwest Regional.
Seth Williams drilled a three-pointer from the top of the key to score the first points of the night and give the Eagles a 3-0 lead. Brody Peppers netted a pair of free throws to make it a 5-2 game early in the opening quarter and knocked down a three of his own midway through the period to make it 8-4. Williams laid one in to stretch the lead to 10-4 but Aliceville began heating up from three-point range. The Yellow Jackets hit a pair of shots from beyond the arc in the final minute of the first and were able to take a 12-10 lead into the start of the second.
The scoring drought continued for Cold Springs. Aliceville was able to pull ahead 17-10 midway through the second quarter, but another Williams layup finally got the Eagles back on the board and cut into the lead. Points were still hard to come by for the Eagles, but Micah Calvert buried a three with 30 seconds remaining in the half to trim the Aliceville lead to 21-15 going into the break.
Another three-pointer by Williams cut the lead to 21-18 early in the third quarter and Peppers converted an and-one play at the free throw line to tie the game at 21. Adam Hill scored down low in the post to give Cold Springs a 23-21 lead and after the Yellow Jackets scored on the other end, Calvert drained a deep three-pointer to put the Eagles in front 26-23 with four minutes to play in the third. Hill pulled down an offensive rebound and scored to stretch the lead to 28-24 late in the period but Aliceville was able to trim the lead down to 28-26 by the start of the fourth quarter.
Calvert got a running floater to drop at the start of the fourth to make it a 30-26 game and Hill scored another basket in the paint to give Cold Springs a 32-27 advantage with just over five minutes to play. Williams drained a corner three to stretch the lead to 35-27 midway through the period, but the Yellow Jackets responded and managed to cut the lead to 35-31 with around three minutes remaining. Another Peppers bucket put the Eagles in front 37-31 and Calvert drained six straight free throws with less than two minutes on the clock to make it a 43-33 game. Calvert knocked down two more at the line to extend the lead to 12 with just over a minute remaining and Cold Springs held on to defeat Aliceville 47-38 and advance to the Northwest Regional Tournament.
Calvert led the Eagles with 16 points in the win. Williams added 13, Peppers posted 12, and Hill finished with six.
Cold Springs will either host Hatton or travel to Mars Hill for the first round of the Northwest Regional. Those two squads are currently scheduled to play Friday night. A date and time for the Eagles’ Regional game will be announced later.
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