HANCEVILLE Ala. – After toppling Clay-Chalkville in the Sub-Regional last week, the Cullman Lady Bearcats were back on the court at the Northwest Regional Thursday. The ‘Cats were matched up with their rivals from Hartselle in the Sweet 16 and after a tight few minutes to start the game, the Tigers began creating separation in the second quarter and pulled away to collect a 56-25 win over Cullman.
Bearcats Head Coach Jessica McBrayer wished the outcome had been different but is also excited for what this team’s postseason run can mean for the future of the program.
“Hartselle is an incredible team. They’ve been here many times over many years, and we knew going in that they would be ready for the moment, so we have been talking all week about experiencing this as our first time being here in a long time,” McBrayer said. “We’re in year two and we’re at a Sweet 16 and that takes a lot of buy in from kids. A lot of buy in from high school girls to really believe in something way bigger than themselves. I told this group of girls that for them to be come in here tonight, the girls on the bench and the young girls in the stands are getting to see something that they can believe in now.”
The Tigers jumped out to a 4-0 lead midway through the first quarter, but Hattie Graham drove to the basket and laid one in to make it a 4-2 game. Kadence Hanback scored to trim the lead to 6-4 later in the period and Hartselle maintained a 2-point advantage going into the second quarter.
The Tigers got the second started with a 9-0 run to pull ahead 15-4 midway through the period. Molly Wilson split a pair of free throws and scored in the paint to make it a 20-7 game later in the second quarter. Graham knocked down a three with one minute remaining in the half to cut the lead to 23-10 but Hartselle was able to score one more basket before the buzzer to take a 25-10 lead into the locker room at halftime.
Molly Dorough drained a three and Wilson scored inside to make it a 28-15 game early in the third. Baskets by Graham and Wilson chipped away at the lead as the quarter went on but by the start of the fourth, Cullman trailed Hartselle 41-19.
A pair of Rachel Hoffman baskets made it a 51-23 game midway through the fourth quarter and Presley Burden scored in the final minute of regulation but the ‘Cats couldn’t get any closer than that and the Tigers went on to collect a 56-25 win and advance to the Elite Eight.
Wilson (five rebounds) and Graham each posted seven points in the loss. Hoffman (six rebounds) added four and Dorough scored three.
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