HANCEVILLE, Ala. – The Hanceville Bulldogs were back home at Lane Horton Gymnasium for a pair of varsity matchups against Oak Grove Thursday night and both Bulldog teams picked up wins over the Tigers. The Lady Bulldogs led 22-21 at halftime but outscored Oak Grove 42-6 in the second half to pull away with a 64-27 win and in the boys’ game, Hanceville led by 18 at one point in the second half but had to fend off a late push from the Tigers to hold onto a 61-56 win.
Hanceville 64 – Oak Grove 27 (Varsity Girls)
Kerrigon Moore scored inside, and Piper Butts knocked down a three to give Hanceville an early, 5-4 lead. Josi Jones split a pair of free throws to tie the game at 6 midway through the period but a 9-0 scoring run from Oak Grove put the Lady Bulldogs behind 15-6 later in the first quarter. Mattie Keith drilled a three to stop the run and cut the lead to 15-9 and Kynzlee Farr split a pair of free throws in the final seconds of the first to make it a 15-10 game at the start of the second.
The Lady Tigers continued to pull ahead early in the second quarter, but Farr laid one in and Moore scored back to back baskets to trim the lead to 19-16 midway through the period. Alex Twitty then scored five straight points to claim a 21-19 lead for Hanceville in the final two minutes of the half. McKenzie Aaron split a pair of free throws with 30 seconds on the clock to secure a 22-21 halftime lead for the Lady Bulldogs.
Keith knocked down a three and Aaron scored inside to give Hanceville a 27-21 lead early in the third quarter. Alex Twitty’s big night continued as she scored the next eight Bulldog points to put Hanceville in front 35-23. Aaliyah Twitty followed with five straight points of her own to make it a 41-26 game and Butts buried a three at the buzzer to give the Lady Bulldogs a 44-27 advantage going into the fourth quarter.
Keith drained another three and Aaliyah Twitty drove to the basket and scored to make it 49-27 early in the fourth. Keith’s fourth three-pointer of the night added to the Hanceville lead and she turned a steal into an easy basket just moments later to give the Lady Bulldogs a commanding, 54-27 lead with six minutes remaining. After Alex Twitty split a pair of free throws, Keith kept the momentum rolling with another three, stretching the lead to 58-27. Another Aaliyah Twitch basket made it a 60-27 game and three free throws from Farr, followed by another from Madeline Watwood put the finishing touches on a 64-27 win for the Lady Bulldogs.
Hanceville 61 – Oak Grove 56 (Varsity Boys)
Peyton Twilley came out firing, draining three shots from beyond the arc to give the Bulldogs an early, 9-8 lead over Oak Grove. After the Tigers pulled ahead 12-9, Drake Bentley split a pair of free throws to make it a 2-point game with less than two minutes remaining in the opening period. Samuel Abney drove to the rim and scored on Hanceville’s final two possessions of the first quarter to put the Bulldogs in front 14-13 at the start of the second.
Kingsley Brown and Brodie Brenner buried a pair of threes to make it 20-13 at the start of the second quarter. Twilley hit a pair of free throws before knocking down his fourth three-pointer of the night to extend the lead to 25-16. Baskets by Jacob Keith and Ashton Hurst made it a 29-21 game and after drawing a foul on a three-point attempt, Gabe Ognilla sank all three free throws to make it 32-21 with just over two minutes to play in the first half. Baskets by Dalton Pirkle and Abney stretched the Bulldog lead to 37-22 going into the halftime break.
Twilley split a couple free throws and Jaylon Flanigan laid one in to keep Hanceville ahead 40-22 early in the third quarter. A basket from Hurst made it a 42-25 game midway through the period and Drake Bentley laid one in to keep the Bulldogs in front 44-29. Twilley’s fifth three-pointer of the night gave Hanceville a 47-29 lead later in the third. Baskets from Pirkle and Bentley helped extend the Bulldog lead to 52-37 by the start of the fourth quarter.
Abney scored inside, Bentley hit a pair of pair of free throws and Twilley laid one in to make it a 58-41 game. Twilley split a pair of free throws to make it 59-43 and Hanceville held off a late push from the Tigers to collect a 61-56 win.
Twilley led the way with 22 points in the win. Abney added 10 and Bentley finished with seven.
Hanceville will remain home to host an area battle with Holly Pond Friday night.
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