HOLLY POND, Ala. – No. 2 Holly Pond returned home to host No. 3 Decatur Heritage Tuesday night and the Broncos collected an impressive win over the highly ranked Eagles. Holly Pond trailed Decatur Heritage early but dominated the second half on the way to a 63-26 win. In the girls’ game, the Lady Broncos trailed by just four after the opening period but couldn’t keep pace the rest of the way and fell to Decatur Heritage 42-27.
Holly Pond 63 – Decatur Heritage 26 (Varsity Boys)
Just like in the last game, Decatur Heritage got out to a quick 6-0 lead. Holly Pond got on the scoreboard with less than four minutes to go in the period as Blake Rickard banked in a shot to make it 6-2, then Carson Ryan drilled a three from the right corner to cut it to 6-5. Sawyer Olinger knocked down a three from the top of the key to tie the game up at eight, then Christian Couch hit a basket in the paint as Holly Pond took a 10-8 lead into the second period.
Gunnar McBee knocked down a short jumper to push the Bronco lead to 12-8, but the Eagles answered with a basket of their own to cut it to 12-10. Holly Pond would end up taking complete control of the rest of the game after that. Rickard hit a shot down low, then a pair of baskets by McBee made it 18-10. Kollin Brown and Rickard each drilled a trey, then baskets by Brown, Levi Farr, and Olinger quickly saw Holly Pond push their lead to 30-12; they would take an 18-point lead into the locker room. Holly Pond outscored Decatur Heritage, 20-4, in the second period.
Holly Pond continued to stretch their lead in the third period as Brown and Rickard each hit another trey to increase their lead to 36-12. A Brown jumper and a McBee three made it 41-15, then McBee and Brown each added another three and Couch hit a basket in the paint as the Broncos took a commanding 53-23 lead into the final period. The fourth quarter was run under a hot clock and Holly Pond ended up rolling past Decatur Heritage, 63-26, as they will host the Class 2A, Area 13 tournament next month.
Brown led the way for Holly Pond (18-4, 6-0) with 15 points. McBee and Rickard each added 12 points and Olinger added 11 points.
Holly Pond will stay at home Friday night to take on Vinemont.
Decatur Heritage 42 – Holly Pond 27 (Varsity Girls)
Both teams had a hard time scoring to start out the game. Decatur Heritage jumped out to a quick 6-0 lead, but Holly Pond got on the scoreboard with 3:02 left in the first period on a pair of free throws by Madison Butts. Later on, Emma Earl drilled a three from the top of the key to make it a 7-5 game, but a late basket by the Lady Eagles made it a 9-5 game going into the second quarter.
Decatur Heritage quickly broke the game open to start out the quarter as they went on a 10-0 run to push their lead to 19-5. A Butts trey stopped the bleeding as that cut it to 19-8 and later on, Kamryn Tankersley knocked down a short jumper to make it a 22-10 game. Decatur Heritage would end up taking a 27-12 lead into the half.
The Lady Eagles quickly pushed their lead to 33-13 in the third quarter, but threes by Butts and Bai Widner made it a 36-19 game. A basket down low by Samantha Giles and a Tankersley trey cut it to 38-24 going into the final period. There were only a combined three made baskets in the fourth quarter as a Tankersley trey made it a 42-27 game, but the Lady Broncos wouldn’t get any closer after that as they ended up dropping their game to the Lady Eagles 42-27.
Tankersley and Butts each finished with eight points for Holly Pond (11-11, 4-2). Widner added five points. Earl ended up with four points and Giles chipped in with two.
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