GOOD HOPE, Ala. – Both of Good Hope’s varsity squads were back home Tuesday night to host a pair of area championship games and the Lady Raiders fended off a late run from Priceville to claim this year’s 4A, Area 13 title. Good Hope Head Coach Justin Aby is proud of the way some of his younger players stepped up when they were needed and played big minutes in a big game.
“I’m super proud. There were some girls that come off the bench that aren’t as used to playing as much as they did, and they came out tonight and they performed. I thought they played well,” Aby said. “As far as for us moving forward it was good experience for them to get some good minutes in a meaningful game but just overall as a team, we have to get healthy. We had one that didn’t play because of a concussion, and we had two others that got hurt in tonight’s game and weren’t able to finish it so we’ve just got to get healthy and see how far of a run we can make at this thing.”
Good Hope 60 – Priceville 55 (Varsity Girls)
Ava McSwain split a pair of free throws and Ivey Maddox drilled a three to tie the game at 4 and after Priceville pulled ahead by five, McSwain hit a three to cut the lead to 9-7. Maddox scored the next five points to give the Lady Raiders their first lead of the night at 12-11 and Charly Johnson converted an and one play to stretch the lead to 15-11. Ella Gossett buried a three to make it an 18-11 game and Bailey Tetro scored Good Hope’s final seven points of the first quarter to build the lead up to 25-13 by the start of the second.
Johnson scored inside to keep the Lady Raiders in front 27-19 early in the second quarter and McSwain buried a three to make it 30-19. Baskets by Maddox and Gossett added to Good Hope’s lead later in the period and after splitting a pair of free throws, Johnson laid one in just before time expired on the first half to give the Lady Raiders a 39-28 advantage at the break.
Free throws from Maddox and Gossett made it a 41-33 game early in the third and Lucie Adams knocked down a three to stretch the lead to 44-33 midway through the period. Maddox sank a pair of free throws and McSwain drilled a three to make it 49-41 with one minute to play in the third quarter. Gossett added a pair of free throws in the final seconds of the period to give Good Hope a 51-41 lead going into the fourth.
Johnson scored inside and Gossett split a pair of free throws to keep the Lady Raiders ahead 54-47 midway through the final frame. McSwain netted two more free throws to give Good Hope a 56-50 lead with just under three minutes on the clock and Lexi Marshall split a pair from the line to make it a 57-51 game with one minute to play. Gossett drained a pair of free throws with 24 seconds remaining to give the Lady Raiders a 59-53 lead and Adams split a pair of free throws in the final 10 seconds of the game to cap a 60-55 win for Good Hope.
Four Lady Raiders finished the game in double figures, led by Maddox with 15. McSwain posted 12, Gossett added 11 and Johnson finished with 10.
Good Hope will be back home Friday night to host a Sub-Regional matchup against either St. John Paul II or Randolph.
West Morgan 63 – Good Hope 59 (Varsity Boys)
Baskets by Tyler Cone, Tucker Malin and K’mal Bell gave Good Hope a 6-2 start over West Morgan in the opening period. Cone scored six straight points to extend the Raider lead to 12-6 and Dakota Overton buried a three to make it a 15-6 game midway through the first. Cone laid another one in to put Good Hope in front 17-8 but the Rebels were able to trim the lead to 17-12 by the start of the second.
Jacob Haynes scored the first six points of the second quarter for the Raiders to extend the lead to 23-16 and Tucker Malin drilled a three-pointer to make it a 10-point game with less than three minutes remaining in the first half.
Overton knocked down another three to give Good Hope a 29-18 lead later in the period and Cone laid one in to put the Raiders in front 31-24 at the halftime break.
Baskets by Malin and Weston Hancock kept Good Hope ahead 35-26 early in the third. Malin scored inside and Bell scored on back to back trips down the court to make it a 41-35 game with two minutes to play in the third quarter. Cone laid one in, and Malin split a pair of free throws to put the Raiders on top 44-40 later in the period and Haynes added another basket just before the end of the third to make it a 46-43 game at the start of the fourth.
West Morgan took a 48-46 lead over the Raiders early in the fourth quarter but a pair of free throws and a three-pointer from Bell put Good Hope back in front 51-50 midway through the period. Overton sank a pair of free throws to keep the game tied at 53 with three minutes to play and Overton scored inside later in the fourth to keep the score knotted at 55. The Rebels hit a three and split a pair of free throws to take a 4-point lead with just over a minute on the clock. Malin scored in the paint to cut the lead to two at one point, but The Raiders couldn’t come any closer than that and West Morgan held on to win the area 13 tournament championship with a 63-59 win over Good Hope.
Five Raiders finished the game in double figures, led by Cone with 14. Malin posted 12, Bell added 11 and Overton and Haynes each finished with 10.
Good Hope will be on the road Saturday to face either Randolph or Westminster Christian in the Sub-Regional round.
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