HANCEVILLE, Ala. – Holly Pond and Vinemont battled it out in Wednesday night’s first varsity matchup at the county tournament and it came down to the final shot. The Lady Eagles held onto a 26-19 lead after the first half and withstood a big push from the Lady Broncos in the fourth quarter to secure a 41-38 win and a spot in Thursday night’s semifinal round.
Madison Butts knocked down a three-pointer and Emma Earl hit a pair of free throws to give the Lady Broncos an early, 5-2 lead in the opening period but baskets by Maggie Burks and Reagan Robinson put the Lady Eagles in front 6-5. Burks drained a three to give Vinemont a 9-5 lead midway through the first and Robinson laid one in to make it 11-5. Caroline Miller scored to extend the lead to 13-5 and Whitney Quick buried a three just before the end of the first to give the Lady Eagles a 16-5 advantage going into the second.
Vinemont ended the first quarter with a 14-0 scoring run, but Earl responded with her own scoring run to start the second quarter. Earl scored the first seven points of the period to trim the lead to 16-12 before Quick stopped the run with a three-pointer on the other end to make it a 19-12 game. Maggie Nail answered with a three for Holly Pond to cut the lead to four and Ellie Burks added a pair of free throws to bring the lead down to 19-17. Morgan Flanagan split a pair of free throws to make it a 20-17 game and Addison Holcomb drilled a corner three with less than two minutes remaining in the half to help put Vinemont ahead 25-19. Quick netted one more free throw in the final 30 seconds of the period and the Lady Eagles went into the locker room leading 26-19 at the halftime break.
Ava Thomas hit a pair of free throws and Miller knocked down a jumper to make it a 28-21 game early in the third quarter. Carley Stephens laid one in and Robinson sank a pair of free throws to keep Vinemont in front 32-21 midway through the third. Butts scored inside and Thomas converted an and-one play at the line to trim the lead to 34-26 but Quick scored on the other end in the final minute of the period to give the Lady Eagles a 36-26 lead with just eight minutes to play.
Holcomb and Thomas exchanged baskets to make it 38-28 early in the fourth and Butts knocked down a three to cut the lead to 38-31. Butts banked one in off the glass midway through the fourth quarter to make it a 5-point game and Nail followed with a three-pointer to cut the lead to 38-36 with 1:30 on the clock. Quick drew a foul after taking a steal the other way and she hit both free throws to put the Lady Eagles up 40-36 with 46 seconds remaining. Thomas responded with a basket on the other end to make it a 40-38 game with 35 seconds to play but Quick went back to the line with six seconds on the clock and split her free throw attempts to give Vinemont a 3-point lead. Butts put up one last heave from halfcourt as time expired, but the shot bounced off the front of the rim and the Lady Eagles survived 41-38.
Quick led the way for Vinemont with 14 points in the win, followed by Robinson with eight. Earl led the Lady Broncos with 11 points in the loss and Butts added 10.
With the win, Vinemont will now advance to play top-seeded Good Hope in the varsity girls semifinals Thursday night at 6:15.
Copyright 2024 Humble Roots, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
