VINEMONT, Ala. – This year’s 3A, Area 11 Tournament was in full swing at Vinemont High School Friday night and a pair of local teams shined in the semifinals to advance to the area finals. Vinemont handled J.B. Pennington in the first game of the night 63-24 and in the second game, the Holly Pond Lady Broncos held off Locust Fork 31-20 to secure their spot in Monday’s area championship game.
Vinemont 63 – J.B. Pennington 24 (Semifinals)
Both offenses struggled to get anything going to start out the game. J.B. Pennington hit a pair of free throws to take a 5-3 lead with 4:29 remaining in the first quarter. Vinemont’s offense slowly started to get going after that. Morgan Flanagan nailed a three, Caroline Miller got the offensive rebound and put it back in, and Flanagan added a steal and a layup to give them a 10-5 lead. After a Lady Tiger basket cut it to 10-7, Flanagan scored in the paint, Miller drained a three, and Reagan Robinson added a basket of her own down low to stretch the Lady Eagles’ lead to 17-7 going into the second.
Four quick points by J.B. Pennington made it a 17-11 game. Vayda Yarbrough laid it in to give Vinemont a 19-11 lead. With a little over three minutes to go in the first half, Miller knocked down a three to extend the Lady Eagle lead to 22-11. Miller added another basket in the paint, and Robinson went coast-to-coast for the layup to put Vinemont ahead, 28-13. They would take a 29-13 lead into the locker room.
The second half would see Vinemont dominate the Lady Tigers on both ends of the court. Carley Stephens put in a basket in the paint, then a pair of baskets by Miller gave them a 36-18 lead. Addison Holcomb scored down low, then Miller buried another trey and Arleigh Thomason added one of her own from long-range to make it a 44-20 game. Thomason collected a steal and laid it in on the other end, then Miller buried her third three of the game to put the Lady Eagles ahead, 51-20, going into the fourth quarter.
Layups by Brooklyn Yarbrough and Miller gave Vinemont a 55-23 lead. Brooklyn Yarbrough added a floater, then Flanagan scored down low, and Hailey Millwood knocked down a three, as Vinemont ended up rolling past J.B. Pennington, 63-24, to move on to the area championship game.
Miller finished with 22 points for the Lady Eagles. Flanagan added 11 points, and Robinson collected eight points.
Holly Pond 31 – Locust Fork 20 (Semifinals)
Millie McBee split from the free throw line to put Holly Pond on the scoreboard first then later added a steal and layup to give them a 3-2 lead. Locust Fork scored the final eight points of the quarter, as they ended up taking a 10-3 lead into the second.
McBee collected her second steal of the game, and she laid it in to cut it to 10-5, but a pair of baskets by Locust Fork gave them a 14-5 lead. Thomas split her free throws to make it a 14-6 game. Madison Butts nailed a short jumper, then Maggie Nail drained a late three to cut it to 14-11 going into the locker room.
Alana Phillips knocked down a long jumper to trim the deficit to 14-13. After McBee split her free throws, Thomas nailed a short jumper to give Holly Pond their first lead of the game at 16-14. Sadie Nail’s rebound and putback made it 18-14 late in the third. Thomas added another late basket to extend the Lady Bronco lead to 21-16 at the start of the fourth.
Thomas scored again down low, then later in the fourth, Butts drained a pair of free throws to give Holly Pond a 25-17 lead. A trey by the Lady Hornets made it a 25-20 game, but that’s the last basket that the Lady Bronco defense would allow in the game. Thomas hit a pair of baskets in the paint, and McBee added a driving layup to put the finishing touches on a 31-20 win for Holly Pond.
Thomas led the way for the Lady Broncos with 11 points, and McBee posted eight points.
Vinemont and Holly Pond will face each other in the Class 3A, Area 11 championship game on Monday at 6 p.m.
Copyright 2025 Humble Roots, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Chinese (Simplified)
English
German
Japanese
Spanish
