PREP BASKETBALL: Lady Bearcats rally to defeat Handley 51-47

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Cullman's Regan Quattlebaum finished with 18 points in the Lady Bearcats' 51-47 win over Handley. (Sammy Confer/The Cullman Tribune)

HANCEVILLE, Ala. – The Cullman Lady Bearcats took on Handley in their third and final game of the day at Wallace State and after squaring off against Lexington and Decatur Heritage earlier, it took a second half comeback for the Lady Bearcats to take Handley down 51-47.

Regan Quattlebaum got Cullman on the scoreboard first with a basket down low, but Handley scored six in a row to give them a 6-2 lead. Quattlebaum nailed a three from the right corner to make it a 6-5 game with less than 15 minutes to go in the first half. But the Lady Tigers went on a huge run, scoring 18 of the next 20 points, to push the Lady Bearcat deficit to 24-7 and Cullman went into the half down, 26-13.

Handley stretched their lead to 16 at 31-15 early on in the second half, but Ella Collum hit a layup to make it 33-19, then a huge three-point play by Ally Sharpe made it an 11-point game with less than 13 minutes to go in the contest. The Lady Tigers hit a basket down low to make it a 39-24 game, but six straight points by Jaden Winfrey, including a huge three, cut the Handley lead to nine at 39-30. But they were just getting started as some huge baskets down low by Quattlebaum, and some tough defense by the Lady Bearcats, made it a 45-39 game with a little over four minutes to go in the game.

A Morgan Grimmett three made it a three-point game, then Quattlebaum scored the next five points, including a huge trey from the top of the key, to give Cullman a 46-45 lead with 1:47 remaining in the contest. Another Grimmett trey gave the Lady Bearcats a 49-47 lead with a little over a minute remaining, and after forcing a Lady Tiger turnover, Winfrey sealed the 51-47 win for Cullman with a free throw.

Quattlebaum led the way for Cullman with 18 points. Winfrey added 12 points. Grimmett ended up with six points. Stella Smith and Alli Grace Hembree each added four points, Sharpe finished with three points and Ella Collum chipped in with two points.

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