HANCEVILLE, Ala. — The 40th annual Hanceville Thanksgiving Tournament tipped off at Lane Horton Gymnasium Monday and the hosting Hanceville Bulldogs got things started with an impressive, 90-41 win over Falkville. Vinemont and Cold Springs also played their opening round games Monday night but fell to Dora 51-43 and Mortimer Jordan 60-41, respectively.
Hanceville 90 – Falkville 41 (Game Four)
It didn’t take long for Hanceville to build a sizable lead over Falkville. Carson Garrett scored on an and-one to put the Bulldogs on the scoreboard. A driving layup by Zach Campbell and free throws by Garrett and Brayden Harris quickly made it 9-2. A pair of Blue Devil free throws cut it to 9-4, but Campbell drilled a right-wing trey and Austin Wood and Harris each hit shots down low to make it 16-4. Wood couldn’t seem to miss as he scored the next seven points to push the Bulldog lead to 23-6. Logan Quick got in on the act as well, knocking down a pair of treys, and Hanceville took a commanding 29-8 lead into the second period.
Garrett and Harris each hit a shot down low to increase their lead to 33-10 early in the second period. Will Calvert and Braxton Broad each added a steal and a layup to make it 39-10, then five straight points by Harris pushed their lead to 44-10. The bench players got in on the act as well as Noah Jones hit a couple of baskets, Quick added a shot down low, J.T. Davis hit a free throw, and Jake Cornelius drilled a three as the Bulldogs went into the half with a 57-17 lead.
The second half saw the starters play a little bit in the third period before the bench players took over after that. Every player on the roster found the scoring column for Hanceville as they lit up the scoreboard for 90 points and the Bulldogs ended up dominating the Blue Devils from start to finish, 90-41.
Harris led the way for Hanceville with 18 points. Garrett added 11 points. Quick ended up with 10 points. Wood added nine points. Jones finished with eight points and Campbell added seven points.
Hanceville will face off against Mortimer Jordan Tuesday night at 7:45 p.m.
Dora 51 – Vinemont 43 (Game One)
It was all Dora to start out the game as they scored the first 10 points of the game as Vinemont quickly fell behind, 10-0. A Chayce Sandlin shot down low put Vinemont on the scoreboard with a little over five minutes to go in the opening period, but the Bulldogs added a couple of more baskets down low as the Eagles found themselves down, 14-2, after the first period.
Vinemont’s Jaxon Holcombe knocked down a left-wing three and Dawson Wilhite hit a pair of free throws to cut it to 16-7. Later on, another Holcombe trey made it an 18-10 game with less than five minutes to go in the first half, but six straight points by Dora pushed their lead back up to double digits at 24-10. The Eagles would go into the locker room down, 26-14, as they looked for a strong start to the second half.
Things didn’t start out good for Vinemont as a pair of baskets down low by the Bulldogs made it 30-14 early in the third period. The Eagles, though, quickly got going on both sides of the court as Sandlin knocked down a shot down low to make it 30-16, then Jordan Eller hit back-to-back layups and Holcombe knocked down consecutive shots. Just like that, it was down to a six-point game at 30-24 with a little over two minutes to go in the third period. Holcombe continued his hot shooting as he drilled a pair of treys to make it a 35-30 game and the Eagles went into the final period down by just six points at 36-30.
Wilhite hit a shot down low to make it a 36-32 game early in the final period. Dora, though, scored the next five points, including an and-one, to push their lead to 41-32. The Eagles weren’t done yet, though, as Wilhite and Sandlin each hit a layup and Holcombe knocked down another three to make it a 41-39 game with 4:32 to go in the game. The Bulldogs pushed their lead to 46-39, but layups by Ellar and Wilhite cut it to 46-43 with a little over a minute to go in the game. Unfortunately, Vinemont didn’t get any closer after that as Dora drilled five free throws to win, 51-43, over Vinemont.
Holcombe finished with 19 points for Vinemont. Wilhite added eight points, while Eller and Sandlin each ended up with six.
Vinemont will face Ardmore Tuesday at 4 p.m. in the loser’s bracket game.
Mortimer Jordan 60 – Cold Springs 41 (Game Three)
Mortimer Jordan scored the first seven points of the game as Cold Springs found themselves down, 7-0, with 5:40 left to go in the opening period. Cole Bales hit a free throw to put the Eagles on the scoreboard, and later on, Nic Fallin put in Cold Springs’ first basket of the game to make it a 10-3 game. Bales scored down low to cut it to 14-5, but a Blue Devil trey made it a 17-5 game going into the second period.
John Mark Smith hit a layup to make it a 17-7 game early in the second period. After Mortimer Jordan made it 21-7, Smith went off after that as he scored the next five points and Cameron Nunn added a layup to cut it to 21-14 with 3:24 left to go in the first half. Smith hit four free throws, including a pair of technical ones, and on the next play, converted an and-one to make it a 24-21 game with less than two minutes to go in the first half. The Blue Devils quickly pushed their lead to 29-21, but a Smith three made it a 29-24 game and the Eagles would go into the half trailing, 31-24.
Mortimer Jordan quickly pulled away from Cold Springs in the third quarter as they scored the first 10 points of the period to make it 41-24. A Bales trey cut it to 41-27, but the Blue Devils quickly pushed their lead to 48-29 going into the final period. A Fallin three-point play, a Seth Ingram shot down low, and another Smith trey, cut the sizable deficit to just 12 at 49-37 with a little over four minutes to go in the game as Cold Springs looked to make the biggest comeback they’ve ever made. Mortimer Jordan, though, quickly put those dreams to rest as they went on an 11-4 run to close out the game and the Eagles ended up falling to the Blue Devils, 60-41.
Smith finished with 22 points for Cold Springs. Bales added six points. Fallin ended up with five points, while Ingram and Nunn each added four.
Cold Springs will take on Falkville Tuesday at 5:15 p.m.
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