VINEMONT, Ala. — It was a battle of the Eagles at Vinemont Thursday night as Cold Springs made the trip to take on its county rivals and both teams split the varsity matchups. In the girls’ game, it was tight throughout, but some big plays late by Cold Springs helped the Lady Eagles get past Vinemont 60-56. In the boys’ game, after a closely contested first half, Vinemont pulled away late in the second half to secure a 56-39 win over Cold Springs.
Cold Springs 60 – Vinemont 56 (Varsity Girls)
A trey by Whitney Quick put Vinemont on the scoreboard first, but a rebound and putback by Cold Springs’ Malaya Taylor cut it to 3-2. Later on, five straight points by Ella Bruer gave Cold Springs a 7-4 lead. Another basket down low by Taylor made it a 9-5 game, but on the other end, an and-one by Reagan Robinson cut it to 9-8 with a little over four minutes to go in the opening quarter. A steal and layup by Bruer made it 11-8, but Caroline Miller drilled a trey from the right wing to tie the game up at 11. Baskets by Taylor, Maci Brown, and a rebound and putback by Ella Dickerson gave Cold Springs an 18-12 lead going into the second period.
A trey by Bruer and a basket by Kenady Graves pushed Cold Springs’ lead to 23-12 early in the second, but Vinemont quickly cut into their lead after that. Vayda Yarbrough and Maggie Burks each put in a long-range shot to cut it to 23-18 with a little over three minutes to go in the first half. Four straight points by Robinson made it a one-point game, then after a Brown basket kept the Cold Springs lead at one at 25-24, a late layup by Robinson gave Vinemont a 26-25 lead at the half.
Vinemont got off to a strong start to the third quarter. Whitney Quick put in a three from the top of the key to make it a 29-25 game, then a layup by Robinson and a trey from the left corner by Mill pushed their lead to 34-25 with 5:50 left to go in the third. It was Cold Springs’ turn to go on a run of their own, as back-to-back baskets by Brown and Dickerson made it a 34-29 game. A pair of Ciara Calvert free throws, a Brown trey, and another basket in the paint by Taylor gave Cold Springs a 36-34 lead. Five straight points by Morgan Flanagan gave Vinemont the lead right back at 39-36, but a Bruer trey saw Cold Springs get the lead right back at 40-39 late in the third. The last shot of the quarter came from Miller, as her trey from the left corner, gave Vinemont a 43-41 lead going into what would be an exciting and incredible fourth quarter.
A pair of threes by Quick pushed Vinemont’s lead to 49-45, then Dickerson started to get red-hot from the field. Three free throws by Dickerson made it a 50-49 game, but Robinson split her technical foul shots to make it a 51-49 game with 3:25 left to go in the contest. Quick put in a pair from the line to give Vinemont a 53-49 lead, but Dickerson banked in a short jumper and later drilled both free throws to make it a 54-53 game with 1:26 remaining in the game. Miller split her free throws to make it a two-point game, but Dickerson made another big shot down low to tie the game up at 55.
Carley Stephens split her free throws to give Vinemont a 56-55 lead. Vinemont was inbounding the ball late with a chance to burn some time off the clock, but a bad pass landed in the hands of Dickerson. She then drove down low and made the basket, plus the foul. She converted on her and-one opportunity to put Cold Springs on top 58-56 with 16 seconds remaining. Later on, Brown drilled both of her shots from the line to help seal the 60-56 win for Cold Springs.
Bruer led the way for Cold Springs with 17 points. Dickerson put up 16 points, with 12 of those points coming in the final period. Brown added 11 points, and Taylor put up 10 points. For Vinemont, Quick finished with 16 points. Robinson added 12 points, and Miller ended up with 11 points.
Vinemont 56 – Cold Springs 39 (Varsity Boys)
Colton Gillis put in the first three points of the game for Vinemont to give them the early lead, but Cole Bales drilled a trey to tie the game up at three. Jeremy Harbison put in a short jumper, then a driving layup by Bryson Bush and a pair of Harbison free throws gave Vinemont a 9-3 lead. Ethan Day put in a late trey for Cold Springs to cut it to 9-6, but a pair of free throws by Bush gave Vinemont an 11-6 going into the second period.
Baskets in the paint by Tycen Kilgo and Josh Winfrey made it an 11-10 game, and Bales put in a floater to give Cold Springs a 12-11 lead with 4:44 remaining in the first half. Later on, baskets by Winfrey and Bales pushed Cold Springs’ lead to 16-13 with less than three minutes to go in the first half. With 2:05 left to go until halftime, another trey by Day made it a 19-14 game. Late baskets by Bush and Kaden Graham cut it to a 19-18 game at the half.
Drew Dykes put in a tough shot down low gave Cold Springs a 21-18 lead early in the third, but Vinemont went on a little run to get the lead right back. Dawson Wilhite drilled a trey, Bush put in a shot in the paint, and Harbison added a three of his own to give Vinemont a 28-20 lead more than halfway through the third. Bales stopped the run with a pair of free throws to cut it to 28-23, but a trey by Bush made it a 31-23 game. Another three by Harbison gave Vinemont the first double-digit lead of the game at 36-25 and they would end up taking a 36-27 lead into the final period.
Day drilled another three from the top of the key to cut it to 36-30, but Vinemont quickly pushed their lead to 44-31 behind baskets from Isaiah Jones, Wilhite, and Harbison. A layup by Clayton Terry and another three by Day made it a 48-36 game, but an and-one on the other end by Harbison quickly pushed Vinemont’s lead to 51-36. Cold Springs wouldn’t get any closer after that and Vinemont collected a 56-39 win over Cold Springs.
Harbison led the way for Vinemont with 19 points. Bush put in 10 points, and Jones added nine points. For Cold Springs, Day finished with 12 points and Bales added 11 points.
Cold Springs will travel to take on Cleveland Friday night and Vinemont will travel to face Brindlee Mountain Tuesday.
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