HANCEVILLE, Ala. — The Holly Pond Broncos traveled to Lane Horton Gymnasium to take on the Hanceville Bulldogs Monday night and left with a pair of wins. The Lady Broncos won a defensive affair over the Lady Bulldogs 39-9 and the Broncos jumped out to an early lead in the second half to pull away from Hanceville and complete the sweep with a 72-64 win.
Holly Pond 39 – Hanceville 9 (Varsity Girls)
A steal and a layup by Madison Butts quickly put Holly Pond on the scoreboard first. Kamryn Tankersley drilled a three from the left wing to give the Lady Broncos a 5-0 lead. Another Butts layup and a three by Bai Widner made it 10-0. Maggie Nail added back-to-back baskets and Alana Philips hit one herself as Holly Pond didn’t allow a single Hanceville point in the first quarter as they took a 16-0 lead into the second period.
Butts made another shot down low to make it 18-0. Aaliyah Twitty hit a basket down low to put the Lady Bulldogs on the scoreboard, but Butts hit back-to-back shots to push the Lady Bronco lead to 22-2. Kate Sterling hit a free throw to make it 22-3, but Maddi Ham drilled a three to increase Holly Pond’s lead to 25-3. The Lady Broncos would take a commanding 26-3 lead into the locker room.
Both defenses dominated the second half as neither team could get into a rhythm offensively. Jessica Marshall hit a short jumper to make it a 26-6 game, but shots by Nail, Butts, and Ham pushed Holly Pond’s lead to 34-6 going into the final period. Tankersley hit a shot down low to make it 36-6 and the rest of the quarter was played with a running clock. The Lady Broncos would end up taking the game, 39-9.
Butts finished the game with 16 points for Holly Pond (5-4). Nail added six points, while Tankersley and Ham each ended up with five. For Hanceville (1-6), Twitty finished with five points, while Marshall and Sterling each added two points.
Holly Pond 72 – Hanceville 64 (Varsity Boys)
Holly Pond’s Kollin Brown knocked down a three to put them on the scoreboard first, but Brayden Harris would tie it up at three with one of his own. Levi Farr hit a basket down low, and Carson Ryan hit a long-range shot of his own to give the Broncos an 8-3 lead. Another Farr basket down low made it 10-5 and Jackson Wilkins drilled a trey from the right wing to push the Bronco lead to 13-5. Blake Rickard hit one of his own from long-range to make it 16-5, but Will Calvert helped cut into the Hanceville deficit as he hit a pair of threes to make it an 18-11 game going into the second period.
Brown scored seven of the first nine points for Holly Pond as that made it 27-13 early on in the second period. Harris got fouled after he made the three-pointer and ended up completing the four-point play to cut it to 27-17. That started a Hanceville run as Noah Jones, Harris, and Zach Campbell each hit a basket down low to make it a 27-21 game. Diego Garcia converted on his and-one opportunity to make it 30-21. Harris hit a pair of technical free throws and Calvert added a pair of baskets to cut it to 32-27. Later in the first half, Logan Quick knocked down a floater and Campbell hit another basket down low to tie the game up at 35. Each team would hit a pair of free throws to end the first half as the contest was tied at 37 at the half.
The Broncos got a huge boost from Sawyer Olinger to start out the second half as he scored seven of the first nine points of the third quarter, including a three from the right corner, to give Holly Pond a 46-39 lead. Harris knocked down a three to cut it to 48-44 with less than two minutes to go in the third period, but a pair of Brown free throws would give the Broncos a 52-46 lead going into the final period.
Garcia drilled a three from the right corner to push the Holly Pond lead to 55-46 to start out the fourth quarter. Brown got fouled after making the basket and converted his and-one opportunity, then Rickard hit a shot down low as the Broncos pushed their lead to double-digits for the first time since the first quarter: 60-46. Harris hit a pair of free throws with 5:50 left to go in the game for the Bulldogs’ first points of the period.
A Calvert basket down low made it 61-50 with a little over four minutes to go in the game, then later on, a huge Harris trey made it a 62-53 game. The Bulldogs looked to make yet another comeback. Campbell hit a shot down low, then after forcing a Bronco turnover, drilled a three from the top of the key to cut the deficit to just three at 62-59. Holly Pond had a quick answer after that as Brown hit a layup, then hit another one after getting a steal to make it a 66-59 game with 1:45 left to go in the contest. A huge basket by Christian Couch and four Brown free throws helped seal the 72-64 win for Holly Pond on the road. That puts the Broncos 4-0 now on the road.
Brown led the way for Holly Pond (6-1) with 29 points. Olinger added 11 points. Rickard ended up with seven points and Couch added six points. For Hanceville (6-1), Harris finished with 29 points. Calvert added 13 points and Campbell ended up with 11 points.
Holly Pond will travel to take on Good Hope Thursday night and Hanceville will go to Fairview Tuesday night.
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