BREMEN – It is simple, win and you are in, lose and you go home. This is the situation facing both Cold Springs basketball squads as they travel to Mars Hill Bible in Florence for their sub-regional games against the Panthers.
It has been an up and down season for the Lady Eagles by their standards. The flag bearer for 2A girls’ basketball for the last several years, the Lady Eagles have had to scratch and claw this year, earning their right to be in this position. The season started off in typical fashion, winning three straight games. Then they ran into this year's surprise team, Fairview, to whom they dropped a nail-biter 47-45. This would start a streak that saw Cold Springs go 4-4 over the next eight games before getting back on track, beating West Point, Hanceville and Good Hope, before losing to Fairview once more. They would finish out 2015 going 2-3.
They started 2016 with a win, followed by a loss. The second week in 2016 would mirror the first, a win followed by a loss, as Cold Springs headed into the Cullman County Tournament.
Three straight wins in the tournament gave Cold Springs much needed confidence and the Cullman County crown as they dropped Good Hope 48-44 in the finals.
The Lady Eagles finished out the regular season 4-1 for a regular season record of 19-11. They won their first area tournament but fell to Tanner in the finals Friday night, setting up their meeting with the Mars Hill Lady Panthers in the sub-regional tournament Tuesday night at 6 p.m.
The boys have lived up to expectations. Led by Cullman County’s all-time scoring leader, Triston Chambers, and the big man inside, Josh Freeman, the Cold Springs Eagles dominated opponents. They were 11-4 in the first half of the season and made it to the Cullman County Tournament championship game. However, they fell to the Hanceville Bulldogs in the final game. This just fired up Cold Springs even more as they finished out 2016 with a record of 10-2. The Eagles fell to Tanner 83-81 in overtime in the area finals Saturday, but if this season has shown us anything, a loss only motivates the Cold Springs Eagles and that is what they need heading into their sub-regional game with Mars Hill Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.
Other sub-regional games on tap include:
MONDAY
Girls (all games start at 7 p.m.)
Madison Academy @ Holly Pond
Good Hope @ Westminster
Fairview @ Columbia
TUESDAY
Boys (all games start at 7 p.m.)
St. Bernard @ Decatur Heritage
Hanceville @ Madison Academy
West Point @ Columbia
