HANCEVILLE, Ala. – The fourth-seeded Lady Warriors clashed with the fifth-seeded Lady Broncos of Holly Pond in Saturday’s second JV matchup, and it was another hard-fought contest. After a low-scoring first quarter, the Lady Broncos went into the locker room leading 17-14 but the Lady Warriors were able to rally in the second half and secure a spot in the semifinals with a 50-35 win over Holly Pond.
It was a scoreless game through the more than three minutes of the opening quarter, but Mary Beth Penn scored down low with 3:52 left to put West Point on the scoreboard first. With less than two minutes to go in the first, a three by Kynleigh Wood gave Holly Pond a 3-2 lead. Milly Huddleston rattled in a trey just before the buzzer to give the Lady Broncos a 6-2 lead going into the second.
Huddleston carried that momentum over into the second period, as her rebound and putback, plus her three-point play, extended Holly Pond’s lead to 11-2 almost midway through the second. It was the Lady Warriors’ turn to go on a run of their own. Kenadi Pagan scored five straight points, then Reese Guthrie drained a pair of free throws to cut it to 11-9 with 2:38 remaining in the first half. Hanna McKenney scored the next five points for the Lady Warriors, as that gave them a 14-11 lead. Audrey Blocker scored a basket down low, then Huddleston dropped in a floater, and Wood added a short jumper from the free throw line to give the Lady Broncos the lead right back at 17-14 going into the locker room.
The lead-swapping didn’t stop to start the second half. Pagan drilled four straight free throws to give West Point an 18-17 lead, but Wood’s trey on the other end gave Holly Pond the lead right back at 20-18. Huddleston put in a pair of floaters to increase the Lady Bronco lead to 24-19. Mckenzie Nix put in back-to-back baskets, then Penn added a free throw to tie the game up at 24 with 2:26 remaining in the third. Pagan broke the tie with a pair of free throws, then Penn scored down low to give the Lady Warriors a 28-24 lead late in the third. Wood buried a trey to trim it to just a one-point game at 28-27 going into the final period.
Penn put in a basket in the paint, then Chloe Hale drained a floater and later drilled a trey to extend West Point’s lead to 35-27. Wood knocked down a three from the right wing, and Huddleston scored off a steal to make it a 35-32 game more than midway through the fourth quarter. Penn banked in a short jumper, then Nix nailed a jumper of her own to stretch the Lady Warrior lead to 39-32 with 1:39 to go in the game. Wood’s fifth trey of the game made it a 39-35 contest, but Pagan knocked down a free throw to help seal the 40-35 win for West Point.
Pagan led the Lady Warriors with 12 points in the win and Penn finished just behind her with 10. Wood posted a game-high 17 points for Holly Pond and Huddleston added 16.
West Point will advance to take on top-seeded Cold Springs in the JV Girls semifinals Thursday at 5 p.m.
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