HANCEVILLE, Ala. – This year’s county tournament resumed play at Wallace State’s Tom Drake Coliseum Wednesday night, and we tipped things off with a JV Girls matchup between West Point and Cold Springs. The Eagles and Warriors were tied up at 22 going into halftime and West Point held a 2-point lead going into the fourth quarter but Cold Springs rallied in the final three minutes of regulation to collect a 41-35 win and a spot in Saturday’s JV Girls Championship Game.
Kenzie Nix put in a layup to put West Point on the scoreboard first, and Brooklyn Sutter knocked down a pair from the line to give the Lady Warriors an early 4-0 lead. Cold Springs cut it to 4-2 on a rebound and putback by Baylee Perdue, but a basket on the other end by Sutter made it a 6-2 game. Another rebound and putback by Perdue trimmed the deficit to just one at 6-5. The Lady Warriors got four points each from Hanna McKenney and Mary Beth Penn and Lacey Smith knocked down a jumper, as that helped them push their lead to 16-5 going into the second period.
Cold Springs started the second quarter strong, as Perdue drilled a short jumper, and Kaydance Williams put in a layup, to cut it to 16-9. Maci Huffstutler drilled a trey from the left corner and Maddie Davis added a layup to make it a 16-14 game. Penn stopped the Lady Eagle run with a basket in the paint, but Williams put in a basket on the other end to cut it to 18-17 late in the first half. Penn added another basket in the paint to give the Lady Warriors a 20-17 lead, but five straight points by Huffstutler gave Cold Springs a 22-20 lead with a little over a minute to go in the first half. The Lady Warriors tied the game up at 22 on a short jumper by Smith, and the score stayed tied at 22 at the half.
Williams split her free throws to give Cold Springs a 23-22 lead early in the third period, and Huffstutler put in a driving layup to make it a 25-22 game. Nix drained a pair of free throws to cut it to 25-24, but Huffstutler drilled another three to make it a 28-24 game. A basket in the paint by Nix and a pair of free throws by Penn tied the game up at 28. Sutter hit a driving layup to give the Lady Warriors a 30-28 lead going into the final period.
A rebound and putback by Penn pushed the West Point lead to 32-28 early in the fourth. Cold Springs scored the next six points, as a Williams basket in the paint gave them a 34-32 lead more than halfway into the final quarter. Sutter split from the line to cut it to 34-33, but Huffstutler drilled a short jumper to give the Lady Eagles a 36-33 lead with 1:48 left to go in the contest. Williams and Huffstutler each split their free throws to make it a 38-33 game, but a rebound and putback by Penn swiveled the deficit to just three at 38-35. Three free throws by Huffstutler helped seal the 41-35 win for Cold Springs, as they will move on to the championship game on Saturday.
Huffstutler led the way for Cold Springs with a game-high 19 points and Williams added 12 points. Penn finished with 14 points for West Point.
With the win, Cold Springs advances to the JV Girls Championship Game with the win and will play either Good Hope or Holly Pond for the county title Saturday at 2:30 p.m.
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