BREMEN, Ala. – Addison traveled to Jesse George Gymnasium to take on area foe Cold Springs Tuesday night and both Bulldogs teams left with wins. The girls continued their strong season by defeating the young Lady Eagles 58-40 and the Addison men took home the win over Cold Springs in a thrilling overtime game, 40-37.
Addison 58 – Cold Springs 40 (varsity girls)
Legendary Cold Springs Head Coach Tammy West was honored before the game with a belated award. The 2020-20221 Coach of the year from the Jefferson County Referees Association. The award was supposed to be given to her last year but due to Covid related issues, the award was given to the very deserving Coach West on this evening.
Coach West had her work cut out for her on this evening as her Lady Eagles, possibly the youngest team she has put on the court in her 30+ years of coaching, hosted the Lady Bulldogs which incidentally are coached by her daughter, Bailey Boland.
Addison controlled the tempo and using their trademark woman to woman defense smothered the Baby Eagles in their nest as Addison jumped out to a 11-0 lead and won the period 16-7. The Lady Dawgs were led by their all everything forward, Junior Gracie “Bug” Manley. Manley had eight points in the period as she was well on her way to her normal double double. Senior Bracie “Tiny” Rodgers had a great first frame as well, as she had only two points but had three assists and three rebounds. Lady Eagle Sophomore Malaya Taylor scored five points to try and keep Cold Springs close.
The second period was actually a good one for the Baby Eagles as they never quit and just hustled and fought on every possession. Cold Springs, led by Kenady Graves, a freshman, scored five points to lead the Eagles. Addison was led by Senior Anna Grace “The Glove” Luker who had four points and a block in the period. At the half, Addison was in a tight fight with the youngsters from Cold Springs 24-18.
Both teams picked up the scoring as they each came out hot in the third period. Addison jumped up 42-28 but the Baby Eagles scored the final six points to cut the Lady Dawg lead to 42-34. Luker dominated the period as she scored nine points to go along with four rebounds. Taylor led the Eagles with six points of her own.
The upset win was not to be as the young Eagles ran out of gas as the more experienced Lady Bulldogs pulled away for a final score of 58-40.
The win improvs the Lady Bulldogs to 11-5 and the Lady Eagles drop to 6-10 with the loss.
Coach Boland was very excited after the win for several reasons but one of them is her record against her mom moves to 2-2 so no one has bragging rights as of now.
“I am just so proud of my girls. It is always difficult to come to Cold Springs and come away with a victory. Cold Springs has excellent history and culture and let’s face it they are known as a basketball school. This is just huge for Addison to get win over here. We played better defense than I think that we have played in the two years that I have been here,” Boland said. “Bracie was a big loss for us since she is our primary ball handler, but I have to hand it to my ladies they really stepped up and picked up the slack. This was a total team effort in the win tonight.”
Unofficial stats:
Addison was led in scoring by Manley who had 16 points, 10 boards, three assists and three steals. Luker had 14 points, 15 boards and three steals. “Magic” Molly Gilbreath had 12 points, four boards and two steals. Hadley “Shooter” Butler had nine points, three boards, three assists and three steals. Rodgers in limited action had six points, eight boards and four assists.
Cold Springs was led by Taylor who had 11 points, nine boards and three steals. Graves had 10 points, three boards and two steals. Ella Breur had seven points and eight boards. Ciara Calvert chipped in five points and five boards.
Addison 40 – Cold Springs 37 (OT) (varsity boys)
Addison’s men’s team got off to a quick start against the Eagles and led 11-6 at the end of the first period. Both teams defense was outstanding which in turn could explain the suspect shooting on the night. Addison Junior Brady “Sticks” Gilbreath came out smoking from three-point land as he drained three from deep in the frame. The Eagles kept it close as Senior Brody Peppers finally got them on track with six points of his own.
The defense was suffocating as Cold Springs nor Addison could not get much of anything to go in the bucket. The Dawgs could only muster nine points against the Eagles’ four to take a 20-10 lead at the half. Yes, the score was more of a football score than a basketball one. Addison’s Gilbreath was saddled with foul trouble, so he sat for most of the second period.
The struggles continued in the third. Both teams tallied nine points apiece to put the game at 29-19 heading into the fourth. Addison was led by Christian “Ice Man” Roberts with three points, but he did grab four boards. The Eagles were led by Seth Williams who had five points and two assists.
The fourth period was not for the faint of heart. Addison looked to be cruising, as they had a 31-20 lead with 4:35 to go in the game and that is when Cold Springs went on their run. Addison wilted under the Eagle pressure as the Bulldogs committed numerous forced and unforced turnovers. The Eagles went on a huge 13-2 run to tie the game at 33 with only 32 seconds remaining in the game. The Eagles forced another Addison turnover and had the ball for what figured to be the final shot. Peppers drove to the lane and drew a block call against a Bulldog which half the building agreed with, and the other half thought that it ought to have been a charge. Peppers went to the line with only 6.4 seconds on the clock. Peppers made one of two free throws to give Cold Springs their first lead of the night at 34-33.
It looked bleak for the visiting Bulldogs but Senior guard Eli “Curly” Howse drove the lane and was fouled, again half the gym upset, giving him an opportunity to win the game with only 1.8 seconds to go in the game. Howse calmly nailed the first but missed the second and the game was tied at 34. A desperation half court heave was no good and we were heading to overtime.
Addison’s Roberts nailed a corner three to give the Dawgs the 37-34 lead and then Gilbreath notched a free throw for the four-point lead. Cold Springs refused to quit as Williams nailed an NBA three to cut the lead to 38-37 with around ten seconds left in the game. Gilbreath was fouled and sank both free throws to put Addison up three with only 3.2 seconds left. The Eagles fired up a desperation three, but it was short, and Addison came away with a hard fought 40-37 win.
The win moves Addison to 6-8 on the season.
After the game, Addison Head Coach Ben Mastin added,
“Big win tonight, we hung on. Cold Springs is a very difficult place to play. Their fans are rabid and loud, and their coach (Tim Willoughby) does an amazing job,” Mastin said. “Our styles are completely different; I mean we press and are up-tempo and they are very methodical and slow. My guys are finally learning patience and discipline. This is what we have strived for since my arrival. We can be a very good basketball team when we play within ourselves. It’s good to win a close game since we have been on the short end of several this year.”
Unofficial stats:
Addison was led by Gilbreath who had a game high 18 points. Howse had seven points, four boards and five assists. Roberts had six points and 12 boards. Justin “Rocky” Mather had four points and three boards. Bradley “Big Foot” Willette had three points, two board and two blocks. Jed “Wizard” Wilkins had one point, two boards, two assists, three steals and a block.
Cold Springs was led by Peppers with 15 points, seven boards and three assists. Williams had 13 points, four boards and three steals. Tanner Kilgo had four points and five boards. John Mark Smith had three points, five boards, two assists and two steals. Cody Bales had two points and three boards.
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