HOLLY POND, Ala. – The Holly Pond Broncos hosted their county rivals from Good Hope Friday night, and it was a big night at Felton Easterwood Gymnasium. Before the start of the varsity girls’ game, friends, family and former players gathered for a special ceremony to name the court after legendary Holly Pond basketball coach Dwayne Adams. In his tenure coaching the Broncos, Adams collected 312 career wins, making him the winningest coach in school history. He led Holly Pond to nine county championship game appearances, eight area championships, six elite eight appearances and three final four appearances. Adams was also a member of the inaugural class of the Cullman County Sports Hall of Fame.
Once the games tipped off, the Lady Broncos jumped out to an early lead over the Lady Raiders, but Good Hope was able to close the gap by halftime. The momentum continued into the third quarter as the Lady Raiders outscored Holly Pond 31-21 in the second half to come from behind and earn a 50-46 win. In the boys’ game, the score was knotted at 29 at the half but Good Hope took control in the fourth quarter to pull away with a 67-53 win over the Broncos.
Good Hope 50 – Holly Pond 46 (varsity girls)
Holly Pond got off to a fast start. A basket from Madison Butts, a pair of free throws from Ava Thomas and another bucket by Maggie Nail gave the Lady Broncos a 6-0 lead. McBee laid one in and added a pair of free throws to make it 10-0 and Thomas scored inside to give Holly Pond a 12-0 lead midway through the opening period. After another McBee score made it a 14-0 game, Good Hope finally got on the board when Sophie Konrad split a pair of free throws to make it 14-1. Butts drilled a three on the other end to stretch the lead to 17-1 before Jolee McHan laid one it to make it 17-3. Trailing 19-3 with one minute remaining in the first, Good Hope’s Ava McSwain drove to the rim and scored to make it 19-5 but Thomas answered with one more Holly Pond basket just before the buzzer to give the Lady Broncos a 21-5 lead at the end of the first quarter.
McHan scored inside to trim the lead to 21-7 at the start of the second quarter and after McBee split a pair of free throws, McSwain scored the next seven points to make it a 22-14 game. Lexi Marshall drilled a three from the top of the key to cut it 22-17 but Nail stopped the run with a three on the other end, keeping Holly Pond in front 25-17 late in the second. However, McSwain scored the final bucket of the half to make it a 25-19 game at the halftime break.
Basket by McSwain and Konrad trimmed the lead to two early in the third quarter and McHan sank a pair of free throws to tie the game at 25 midway through the period. McSwain buried a three on the next possession to give Good Hope its first lead of the night at 28-25. Baskets by Konrad and Lexi Marshall put the Lady Raiders ahead 32-25 and McHan converted an and-one play at the line to give Good Hope a 10-point lead. McSwain added one more bucket before the end of the third and the Lady Raiders led 37-28 at the start of the fourth.
Holly Pond battled back in the fourth quarter. Baskets by Butts and Thomas made it a 5-point game and Alana Phillips drilled a three to cut the lead to 37-35. Thomas hit a pair of free throws to trim the lead to 39-37 later in the fourth and she exchanged buckets with McSwain to hold the Raider lead to 41-39 midway through the period. McHan laid one in to put Good Hope in front by 4 and back to back baskets from McSwain gave the Lady Raiders a 47-39 advantage with two minutes to play. Butts converted a three-point play at the line to make it a 47-42 game and Thomas scored with 12 seconds on the clock to trim the lead to three, but it wasn’t enough to overcome Good Hope’s lead and the Lady Raiders held on to defeat Holly Pond 50-46.
McSwain led Good Hope with 24 points in the win, followed by McHan with 14. Thomas led the way for Holly Pond with 20 points in the loss and Butts added 10.
Good Hope 67 – Holly Pond 53 (varsity boys)
Tucker Malin knocked down a three-pointer and drive to the basket for two to give Good Hope an early lead but a pair of baskets from Cade Allbright and a bucket by Sawyer Olinger gave the Broncos a 6-5 lead. Jacob Haynes laid one in and Malin drilled another three to put the Raiders in front 10-8 later in the period. Ty Dunn and Tyler Cone exchanged baskets in the final two minutes of the first to make it a 12-10 game at the start of second.
Malin’s third three-pointer of the night put the Raiders ahead 15-10 early in the second quarter but a basket from Asher Thrift and a pair of Allbright free throws trimmed the lead to 15-14. Pace and Olinger exchanged baskets to make it a 17-16 game and Thrift and Ryan each scored to put the Broncos in front 20-17. Malin scored inside and Owen Armstrong drained a three to give Good Hope a 22-20 lead. Pace added a throw of his own to make it 25-20 but a basket from Ryan and another three by Dunn tied the game at 25 with one minute remaining in the first half and both teams went to the locker room locked up at 29 at halftime.
Allbright laid one in to give the Broncos a 33-31 lead early in the third quarter, but Haynes buried a three on the other end to put Good Hope back in front by one. Tucker Keef drove to the rim and scored to keep the Raiders in front 37-35 midway through the third, but Ryan scored inside and Olinger converted an and-one play at the line to give Holly Pond a 40-39 lead. Dunn drained a three to make it 43-39 and Thrift laid one in to give the Broncos a 6-point lead with just over a minute to play in the third, but Good Hope railed to tie things back up at 47 by the start of the fourth.
The Raiders dominated the early portion of the fourth quarter, using baskets from Malin and Haynes to pull ahead 56-47. Malin scored the next seven points for Good Hope to stretch the lead to 63-49 and the Raiders went on to defeat the Broncos 67-53.
Malin led all scorers with 28 points in the win. Haynes posted 18 and Pace finished with eight. For Holly Pond, Allbright led the way with 17 points and Olinger added 13 points.
Good Hope will return home to play Cold Springs on Monday. Holly Pond’s girls will play at North Sand Mountain Saturday and both Bronco teams will be back home to host Cold Springs on Tuesday.
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