DOUBLE SPRINGS – Accurate foul shooting in crunch time propelled the Addison Lady Bulldogs by the Meek Lady Tigers, 46-44 in the fifth-place game of the third annual Winston County Christmas Tournament Tuesday morning.
Addison hit 4 of 6 in the final minute and 15 seconds to protect the lead over their arch rival.
Allie Townsend converted a pair from the line with 21 seconds remaining to up the Addison lead to five before Meek scored on a 3-pointer before time ran out.
The Lady Bulldogs shot 62.5 percent from the stripe in the final period; that was good enough to carry them to their second victory in three games in the tournament and send them to Christmas break with a 10-1 record.
Coach Bryan Woods' Lady Bulldogs spent much of the opening half trailing their foe from the Arley area. Meek got out to a 16-7 lead on an Amanda Cunningham field goal with less than a minute to go in the first quarter.
The Lady Tigers were up 16-9 when the stanza closed out and led by as many as nine points through the first 3:00 minutes of the second period.
Kaylee Brummett got a three to fall for Addison to pull the Lady Bulldogs within four at 22-18 at the 5:14 mark. That set the tone for an 8-0 run by Addison and a 26-23 advantage with 2:14 left after Destiny Walker scored on a short-range jumper.
Meek managed to get back with a free throw by Sarah Mauldin and a field goal from Destiny Boatright to even the score at 26-26 at the break.
Both teams struggled in offensive play during the third with Addison holding a 34-31 edge entering the final quarter.
Meek jumped on top 40-39 when Jayden Waldrep ripped a three from the top with 2:27 to play. Addison answered on a three by Macey Butler and was never behind for the rest of the way. Her three made it 42-40 and 1:48 remaining in the game.
The final four points for Addison came from the line with one each by Kendra Tyree Vandiver and Brummett and a pair from Townsend with 21 seconds to go. The two from Townsend upped the advantage to 46-41 as Meek tried to answer.
The Lady Tigers got a three by Waldrep with three seconds showing, but were out of timeouts to stop the clock. The game was over and Addison survived a fierce battle by a team they compete with in Area 12 of Class 1A.
Butler had the hot hand for the Lady Bulldogs with 21 points, Brummett scored nine, Walker four, Vandiver and Savannah Manley three and Townsend, Maison Evans and Brianna Chandler two each.
Meek fell to 5-8 on the season. Mauldin got 11 to lead her team with Cunningham scoring seven and Boatright, Savanna Banks and Waldrep six each.
Later in the day, Decatur Heritage claimed the championship by turning back Winston County 48-43. Heritage is 8-1 after the victory with Winston County falling to 12-4 for the year.
The third-place game went to Carbon Hill by a final of 42-37 over their rival from Walker County, the Oakman Lady Wildcats. Carbon Hill bounced back from a semifinal loss to Decatur Heritage and is 11-1 with Oakman now 8-5.
These two compete in Area 12 of Class 3A with Carbon Hill undefeated in the area at 3-0 and Oakman second at 2-1. These two are joined by Hanceville and Vinemont from Cullman County to make up the four-team area.
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