HANCEVILLE, Ala. – After eliminating Phil Campbell in the Sweet 16, Holly Pond was back on the court Friday afternoon to face the top-ranked Tigers of Lauderdale County in the Elite Eight. The score was knotted at 12 at the end of the first quarter and the Broncos held Lauderdale County to just 18 points in the first half but they couldn’t keep pace with the Tigers in the second half and their season came to an end with a 42-28 loss in the Northwest Regional finals.
Lady Broncos Head Coach Mary Lauren Hartline was proud of the way her team executed on the defensive end, holding a high-powered Tigers team to just 42 points and keeping themselves in the game.
“Lauderdale County is just a beast to reckon with all year and we knew that. I felt like the girls did such a good job of carrying out our game plan which was to try to keep them in the halfcourt as much as possible and to hold them to 42 points, 18 points in a half, I think they definitely did that,” Hartline said. “Millie (McBee) came through big for us today with 14 points, but we just didn’t have enough offensive power past that. They have a really strong rotation and I’m just proud of my girls’ efforts. They bought in to the game plan and they really did follow it to the best of their ability.”
Lauderdale County took an early, 4-3 lead but baskets from Millie McBee and Maggie Nail helped tie the game at 9 later in the period. Another McBee basket put Holly Pond ahead 12-9 with less than two minutes to play in the first quarter but the Tigers were able to tie things back up at 12 by the start of the second.
After a slow start to the second quarter, McBee laid one in to give the Broncos a 2-point lead midway through the period. However, Lauderdale County responded with 6 unanswered points to move in front 18-14 at halftime.
The Tigers began to create some separation in the third quarter, pulling ahead 28-17 with two minutes to play in the period and extending their lead to 31-19 by the start of the fourth quarter.
The Broncos battled back in the final frame, cutting into the lead with a jumper from Blakely Baggett and a three from Madison Butts. Sadie Nail split a pair of free throws and McBee scored another basket to bring the lead down to 7 at one point but Holly Pond wasn’t able to chip away any more than that and the Tigers went on to claim a 42-28 win.
McBee led the Broncos with 14 points in the loss. Butts finished with six and Sadie Nail and Baggett each added three.
They may not have gotten the outcome they wanted, but Hartline is excited about the impact this team’s postseason run can have on the future of the program.
“What’s more important is that there are so many little kids from Holly Pond in the stands today, so it doesn’t just end with our eighth-grade group. My children look up to these girls so the fact they got to see this is huge,” Hartline said. “A big thanks to our principal Nate Ayers because he brought buses to both games and supported us. It means a lot to our team and it’s great for our community all the way down.”
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