Miriam Oldacre (10) drives past a Pleasant Grove defender during West Point's 54-35 loss to the Lady Spartans Saturday morning. (Nick Griffin for The Cullman Tribune)
HANCEVILLE – West Point collected a lot of hardware this season between its County, Area and Sub-Regional Championships and advanced to the Northwest Regional for the first time since 2006, but its stellar season came to an end Saturday morning with a 54-35 loss to the Pleasant Grove Lady Spartans. The Lady Warriors were on top after the opening period, but a dominant second and third quarter from Pleasant Grove put the game out of reach.
A layup from Miriam Oldacre put West Point in front 7-2 midway through the first quarter and the Lady Warriors maintained a 9-6 advantage at the start of the second. The Lady Spartans chipped away at the lead until a 3-pointer midway through the quarter gave them a 17-15 lead. Another three stretched the lead to 24-17 late in the period, but Micah Oldacre was able to cut the lead to four with a 3-pointer of her own. Pleasant Grove got a couple more shots to fall before the half including one just before the buzzer to make it a 28-20 game at the break. West Point was outscored 22-11 in the second quarter.
The Lady Spartans continued to apply pressure defensively and their full-court press began to affect the Lady Warriors even more in the second half. Pleasant Grove kept West Point from scoring inside while racking up points in the paint on the other end and the Lady Warriors found themselves down 34-22 midway through the third. Miriam Oldacre converted an and-one play at the line to make it a 39-25 game late in the third quarter, but the Lady Spartans were able to stretch the lead to 43-25 by the start of the fourth.
A basket from Lexi Shadix trimmed the lead to 45-29 and Sydney Smith added a pair of layups late in the game, but it was too little too late for West Point. Pleasant Grove pulled away to win it 54-35 and advance to Tuesday’s Northwest Regional finals.
Mackenzie Carter led the Lady Warriors with nine points in the loss, followed by Micah Oldacre and Molly Pendley with six and Miriam Oldacre and Shadix with five. Twenty-three turnovers committed by West Point led to some easy baskets for the Lady Spartans and made it nearly impossible for the Lady Warriors to keep up offensively. West Point’s 35 was the third-lowest points total it's been held to this season.
The loss ends the season at 27-6 for the Lady Warriors, but with just two seniors graduating in May, Natalie Trammell and Olivia Ball, they’ll be ready to reload and make another run this time next year.
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