HANCEVILLE – The 34th Annual Hanceville Thanksgiving Tournament is officially in the books. Cold Springs and Hanceville started the final day off with a great game, decided in the fourth quarter as Hanceville took complete advantage, dominating on both sides of the ball en route to a 43-35 win.
At the start of the game, both teams started off slow, until Fisher Willoughby nailed a three to put the Eagles on the scoreboard. They took a 6-0 lead before Brendan Flanigan scored the Bulldogs' first points of the game, and Hanceville finished the quarter strong, outscoring the Eagles, 11-2, to take an 11-8 lead after the first quarter. In the second quarter, it was a reversal for each team, as Cold Springs outscored Hanceville, 14-5. Half of those points were scored by Eli Hamby as the Eagles took a 22-17 lead into the locker room.
The third quarter, the Eagles pushed the lead to eight on a Jesse Lee three. Just when it looked like they would pull away from the Bulldogs, Hanceville came back with a quick 4-0 run to cut the lead to four. After a Blake Wood layup made it 27-21, a jumper by Alex Campbell, plus a 3-point play by Flanigan, cut the lead to one, but Lee hit another three to make it 30-26 and that was the score after the third.
In the final quarter, it was all Hanceville as they took complete control of the game. After a Hunter McClendon free throw made it 31-28, R.J. Evans cut the lead to one on a layup. Then came one of the biggest plays of the game. The Bulldogs' Josh Stanley blocked a layup attempt and saved the ball from going out of bounds and then went over the Eagles' bench. Flanigan nailed a three from the left corner to give Hanceville a 33-31 lead. After that, the Bulldogs finished the game on a 10-4 run to win by the eight-point margin.
Flanigan led the Bulldogs with 14 points and five rebounds. Luke Duffie finished with eight points. Cameron Brockman finished with seven points. Evans finished with six points and 12 rebounds. Fred Ellis and Alex Campbell each finished with three, and Stanley had two points and three blocks. They improve to 3-5 on the season and will host the Holly Pond Broncos on Tuesday.
Jesse Lee had 10 points to lead the Eagles. Wood finished with eight points. Hamby had seven points, and Willoughby and McClendon each finished with five. They fall to 2-5 on the season and will host the Curry Yellow Jackets on Tuesday.
Good Hope 72, Locust Fork 62 (Boys)
Kallen Sharpton had the game of his life against the Locust Fork Hornets, scoring 27 points, with a career-high eight blocks. Sharpton was one of four Raiders in double-figure scoring as Good Hope finished the tournament with a 2-1 record.
The Raider offense was in sync in the first quarter, scoring 20 points with Sharpton scoring half. Matt Cofer scored five, Isaac McDonald three, and Mason Moniz two as they took a 20-14 lead after one. Despite getting a little sloppy with the ball in the second, they still held a 35-28 lead at the half. They pushed the lead to 48-30 at one point in the third quarter before the Hornets finished on an 11-3 run to cut the lead to 52-41 after three.
The Hornets cut the lead to eight to start the fourth quarter, but Good Hope pushed the lead back to double digits in spite of multiple attempts by the Hornets to get back in the game. The Raiders finished strong at the free-throw line as they took the win.
Blake Lyle finished the game with 13 points. Cofer had 11 points, five rebounds and three assists. McDonald also finished with 11. Moniz had seven, and Landyn Freeman finished with three. Good Hope will host West Point on Tuesday.
Bay Etheredge led Locust Fork with 23 points. Daniel Goss had 12, and Camron Hays finished with 9. They will host Springville on Monday.
Corner 60, Curry 36 (Boys)
Corner turned a close first half into a rout as they went on to finish third in the tournament.
After leading 11-9 after the first quarter, Corner increased their lead to 29-21 at the half, and 51-28 after the third quarter.
Skylar Lara led the way for Corner with 19 points. Sam Knowlton finished with eight. Caleb Brasfield and Dalton Barrett each finished with seven. They will host Oak Grove on Monday.
Curry was led by Caleb Aaron and Harrison Hall, who each finished with eight. They will travel to Cold Springs on Tuesday.
Mortimer Jordan 69, Dora 59 (Boys)
Mortimer Jordan turned a close first quarter into a rout, but then had to withstand a huge Bulldog rally in the second half to win the championship.
After leading 11-5 after the first quarter, the Blue Devils quickly pushed their lead to 30-11 at the half, but Dora came roaring back into the game in the second half, cutting the lead to 44-37 after the third quarter, and even cutting the lead to three at one point, but free throws by Mortimer Jordan's Justin Anderson put a halt to their rally.
Anderson finished with 30 for Mortimer Jordan and Joe Peters had 15. They will travel to Oak Mountain on Monday.
Steven Smith finished with 17 for Dora. Davien Freeman and Jacob Dutton each finished with 15. They will travel to Calera on Monday.
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