HANCEVILLE, Ala. – Our first varsity matchup of this year’s Cullman County Basketball Tournament was a battle between the Cold Springs Lady Eagles and the Lady Bulldogs of Hanceville Monday night. The Lady Bulldogs took an early lead but the Lady Eagles, led by Ella Dickerson with 26 points, were able to pull away in the second half and collect a 52-23 win over Hanceville. With the win, Cold Springs has secured a spot in the semifinals Thursday night and will take on either Fairview or Holly Pond.
Both teams started fast in the opening period. A pair of quick scores by Kate Sterling and Aaliyah Twitty put Hanceville in front 4-0 early but Ella Dickerson drilled a three for Cold Springs on the other end to make it a 4-3 game. Dickerson converted and and-one play at the free throw line on the Lady Eagles’ next possession, giving them a 6-4 lead and Dickerson laid another one in later in the first to make it 8-4. Dickerson’s second three-pointer of the night gave Cold Springs an 11-4 lead with just over a minute to play in the quarter and Ella Bruer knocked down a three of her with 30 seconds on the clock to make it a 14-4 game going into the second. Dickerson scored 11 of Cold Springs’ 14 points in the first quarter.
Katelynn Boyd drained a three to start the second quarter and trim the lead to 14-7 but a 6-0 run by the Lady Eagles extended the lead to 20-7 midway through the period. Dickerson scored inside to make it 22-7 with just over two minutes to play in the first half and Cold Springs went into the locker room holding onto a 15-point advantage.
Twitty laid one in to cut the lead to 22-9 at the start of the third quarter but baskets from Ciara Calvert and Maci Brown put the Lady Eagles in front 26-9. Dickerson added a three-pointer to stretch the lead to 20 midway through the period and Brown followed her with another three later in the third to make it a 32-13 game. Dickerson’s fourth trey of the night gave Cold Springs a 35-13 lead and Erin Bailey scored back to back baskets for the Lady Eagles in the final 15 seconds of the third to put Cold Springs in front 39-13 going into the fourth.
Baskets by Sterling and Savana McAnnally trimmed the lead down to 40-18 early in the fourth quarter but back to back threes by Brown and Bruer built the lead back up to 46-18 with five minutes to play. Dickerson’s fifth three-pointer made it a 49-20 game with three minutes remaining and Brown knocked down another trey of her own to make it 52-20. McAnnally drained another three for the Lady Bulldogs but those were the last points of the game for Hanceville and Cold Springs held on to win it 52-23.
Dickerson led all scorers with 26 points in the win and Brown added 11 for the Lady Eagles. Twitty posted eight points for Hanceville in the loss and McAnnally finished with six.
Cold Springs will advance to play either Holly Pond or Fairview in the varsity girls’ semifinals Thursday night at 7:30 p.m.
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