HANCEVILLE, Ala. – We capped off Championship Saturday at the Cullman County Tournament with the varsity boys’ finals and it was another good one between Good Hope and Hanceville. The regular season matchup between the Raiders and Bulldogs went down to the wire and their meeting in the county championship game was no different. It took more than four quarters to settle things this time around but after 36 tightly-contested minutes, the Hanceville Bulldogs finished just ahead of the Raiders 64-63 to claim their first county title since 2016. Harris knocked down a three in the final seconds of the fourth quarter to send the game to overtime tied at 57.
Brayden Harris and Braxton Broad each drained three-pointers to give the Bulldogs a 6-0 start early in the first quarter. Colton Lindsey hit a pair of free throws to cut into the lead but Zach Campbell took a steal the other way for an easy basket to make it 8-2. Dakota Overton laid one in off a turnover to trim the lead to 8-4 and following another score by Harris, K’mal Bell drilled a three from the left corner to make it a 10-7 game. A basket from Lindsey and a three-pointer by Eli Clements tied the game at 12 late in the opening period but Noah Jones scored inside to put Hanceville back in front 14-12. Weston Hancock and Konnor Helms traded baskets to keep the score at 16-14 with 30 seconds remaining in the first but Clements sank a pair of free throws in the final seconds of the quarter to tie the game at 16 going into the second.
Overton buried a three to start the second quarter and give the Raiders their first lead of the night at 19-16 and after another steal and score by Campbell, Lindsey laid one in to keep Good Hope in front 21-18. However, Broad netted a pair of free throws and scored of an offensive rebound to reclaim a 22-21 lead for the Bulldogs and Harris drilled another three to make it a 25-21 game. Buckets from Hancock and Tyler Cone tied things back up at 25 with two minutes to play in the first half and Hancock laid one in with one minute on the clock to give the Raiders a 27-25 advantage at the halftime break.
Calvert and Bell traded three-pointers at the start of the third to make it a 30-28 game and after a Carson Garrett basket tied the score at 30, baskets from Cone and Lindsey gave Good Hope a 34-30 lead. Harris laid one in and Calvert drained another three to move the Bulldogs back in front 35-34 midway through the period and the lead changed hands with each basket throughout most of the third quarter. Campbell pulled down an offensive rebound and put it back in to score and give Hanceville a 41-38 lead and on the next Bulldogs possession, he banked in a deep three to put them ahead 44-40 with 15 seconds remaining in the quarter. However, Lindsey was able to score down low in the final seconds of the period to cut the lead to 44-42 going into the final frame.
Cone got a pair of running floaters to fall at the start of the fourth, giving the Raiders a 46-44 lead. Campbell knocked down another three to put Hanceville in front 47-46 but Good Hope answered with a bucket by Lindsey and a three from Bell to move ahead 51-47 with five minutes to play. Another three-pointer by Harris trimmed the lead to 55-50 later in the period and Campbell scored another basket off a turnover to make it a 3-point game with three minutes remaining. Lindsey and Calvert exchanged buckets to make it a 57-54 game with two minutes on the clock but both teams struggled with ball security in the final 90 seconds, setting up an inbound pass for Hanceville with about 20 seconds to play in regulation. The Bulldogs brought the ball up the floor with the final seconds ticking away and Harris drilled his biggest three-pointer of the night to tie the score at 57 and send the game to overtime.
A basket from Bell and a pair of Lindsey free throws gave Good Hope a 61-57 lead just a couple minutes into the overtime period but Hanceville was able to seize the momentum after that. Broad laid one in to make it a 2-point game and Garrett buried a three to give the Bulldogs a 62-61 lead with one minute on the clock. On the ensuing inbound pass, Broad stole the ball and laid it up and in to make it a 64-61 game and the Raiders called timeout to draw up their final play. Good Hope’s three-point attempt was off the mark and Cone scored on a putback as time expired but it wasn’t enough to erase the deficit and Hanceville held on to win a 64-63 thriller over the defending champs.
Harris and Campbell each finished with 16 points for Hanceville and Broad posted 11. Lindsey led the way for Good Hope with 18 points in the loss, followed by Bell with 13 and Cone with 12.
Eli Thomas Memorial Scholarship
Will Calvert, Hanceville
Joe Shults Award
Colton Lindsey, Good Hope
2023 Varsity Boys All-County Tournament Team
Cylas Yarbrough, Fairview
Kobe Payne, Fairview
Brayden Harris, Hanceville
Blake Rickard, Holly Pond
Will Calvert, Hanceville
Tyler Cone, Good Hope
Colton Lindsey, Good Hope
Christian Couch, Holly Pond
Zach Campbell, Hanceville
Braxton Broad, Hanceville
K’mal Bell, Good Hope
2023 Varsity Boys All-County Team
Connor Gibbs, Vinemont
John Mark Smith, Cold Springs
Nic Fallin, Cold Springs
Jay Lamar, West Point
Kolten Perry, West Point
Zach Campbell, Hanceville
Brayden Harris, Hanceville
Will Calvert, Hanceville
Kobe Payne, Fairview
Cylas Yarbrough, Fairview
Kollin Brown, Holly Pond
Gunnar McBee, Holly Pond
Blake Rickard, Holly Pond
Colton Lindsey, Good Hope
K’mal Bell, Good Hope
Weston Hancock, Good Hope
Tyler Cone, Good Hope
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