HANCEVILLE, Ala. – In Thursday night’s first varsity girls clash, the top-seeded Cold Springs Lady Eagles met the No. 4 seed, Good Hope, with a spot in Saturday’s title game on the line. After making it a 2-point game midway through the second quarter, the Lady Raiders couldn’t keep up with the Lady Eagles and Cold Springs pulled away to defeat Good Hope 51-29 and advance to Saturday’s championship game.
A steal and layup from Ivey Maddox led to a quick, 2-0 start for the Lady Raiders but Toni West responded with a bucket on the other end to tie things up. A three-pointer from Brooke Crider put the Lady Eagles in front 5-2 midway through the opening quarter. Cold Springs maintained a 3-point lead for most of the period until a layup by Neely Ellison stretched the lead to 7-2 with a minute remaining. Bailey Tetro laid one in for Good Hope to cut the lead back down to three with less than 30 seconds in the first but West got another shot to fall in the final seconds of the period to make it a 9-4 game at the start of the second quarter.
A triple from Lacey Rice put the Lady Eagles in front 12-4 at the start of the second but Savanna Derrick knocked down a three of her own on the other end to cut the lead to 12-7 two minutes into the quarter. A pair of free throws from Bailey Tetro made it 14-9 with just under five minutes remaining in the half and Bailey dropped in a floater to cut the lead to three. Crider responded with another three for Cold Springs, stretching the lead back out to 17-11 midway through the period and Ellison followed her with another trey from the right wing to make it 20-12 with just under three minutes to play in the quarter. The threes kept falling for the Lady Eagles as Rice buried one from behind the arc to give Cold Springs a 23-12 advantage. Cayleigh Garmon scored beneath the basket to trim the lead to nine with just over a minute remaining in the half but after a Good Hope turnover, Crider found Rice on a fast break for an easy bucket and put the Lady Eagles on top 25-14 at the half.
Cold Springs pulled ahead 32-18 midway through the third and West knocked down another three from the left corner to stretch the lead to 35-18 with three minutes remaining in the period. Crider followed her with a three from the right side to make it a 20-point game. Another Bailey Tetro basket trimmed the lead to 38-20 late in the quarter Garmon scored with 40 seconds remaining to make it 38-22. Ellison knocked down a trey put the Lady Eagles back up 41-22 and the Lady Raiders went into the final frame trailing Cold Springs by 19.
Elizabeth Hill netted a pair of free throws to make it a 43-22 game at the start of the fourth and the Lady Eagles maintained a 45-25 lead late into the quarter. A Heather Tetro bucket cut the lead to 45-27 with just over two minutes to play but it was too little, too late and Cold Springs punched its ticket to this year’s varsity girls finals with a 51-29 win over Good Hope.
Rice led the Lady Eagles with 14 points in the win. Crider finished just behind her with 13, Ellison added 11, West posted seven and Hill scored six. Bailey Tetro led the way for the Lady Raiders with 11, followed by Garmon with six and Derrick and Heather Tetro each finished with four.
Cold Springs will face either (3) Fairview or (2) West Point for the varsity girls title Saturday at 5:30 p.m.
Copyright 2020 Humble Roots, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
