West Point's Miriam Oldacre drives to the basket in the Lady Warriors' 66-58 win over Cold Springs Tuesday night. (Nick Griffin for the Cullman Tribune)
WEST POINT – Cold Springs made the trip from Bremen Tuesday night for some hardwood action at West Point and these two squads did not disappoint. The Lady Warriors trailed most of their game against the Lady Eagles until putting together a big fourth quarter to come back and win it 66-58. After them, the Warriors won in similar fashion, coming from behind to defeat Cold Springs 55-51 in overtime.
West Point 55 – Cold Springs 51 (OT) (varsity boys)
Both teams got off to a slow start in this low-scoring matchup but a deep three at the buzzer from Landyn Freeman gave the Eagles a 13-10 lead after one quarter. Cold Springs got a lot of its points driving into the paint and kept the Warriors at arm’s length throughout the second quarter, taking a 30-25 lead into the half.
West Point continued to struggle offensively but the Eagles couldn’t pull away. A three-pointer from Whitt Laney cut the Cold Springs lead to 37-36 late in the third quarter and the Warriors trailed by just two at the end of the period. It wasn’t until midway through the fourth quarter that West Point started to shift the momentum of the game.
Kolton Sapp knocked down a three with less than two minutes to play to make it 45-44 Cold Springs, but Logan Rice hit a free throw on the other end to put the Eagles back up by two. With less than 10 seconds on the clock, Rylan Jones got a layup to go in heavy traffic to tie the game at 46 and send us to overtime.
Once they got it to overtime, the Warriors began to pull away. Rice hit a three to put the Eagles up 49-48 but Jones answered with a three-point basket of his own to give West Point a 51-49 lead at the 2:00 mark of overtime. It was the first time West Point led the game since the opening minutes of the first quarter. Freeman knotted things up at 51 with two free throws but Sapp answered with another layup that put the Warriors on top 53-51 with less than a minute to play. Cold Springs had one more chance to tie the game when Levi Farley missed a free throw with 13 seconds to play but Jones pulled down the board and knocked down both of his free throws to secure the 55-51 comeback win.
Sapp led all scorers with 20 points finishing ahead of Jones who had 11, but most of Jones’ points came in the big moments like the layup to force overtime and the free throws to ice the game. Kobe Bowers was just behind him with nine points.
Freeman led the Eagles with 19 points, followed by Adam Hill who finished with 11.
West Point will be on the road this Friday to take on Muscle Shoals and Cold Springs will travel that night as well to face Cleveland.
West Point 66 – Cold Springs 58 (varsity girls)
The Lady Warriors jumped out to an 11-2 lead in this one, but Cold Springs went on a big run to take a 16-14 lead by the end of the first quarter. Camryn Crider finished with 11 in the opening frame with three baskets from beyond the arc.
The defense from the Lady Eagles in the second quarter made it difficult for West Point to get anything going offensively. Neither team got many shots to fall before the half, but Cold Springs maintained a 24-19 lead at the break.
Both teams traded three-point shots to start the second half, allowing West Point to hang around and keep the Lady Eagles from pulling away. The Lady Warriors kept the game within two points or tied for most of the quarter before Miriam Oldacre knocked down a three in the final minute of the period to give West Point a 38-37 going into the fourth quarter. It was the first lead for the Lady Warriors since the first quarter.
The fourth quarter was all West Point. The Lady Warriors exploded for 28 points in the quarter including three-point shots from Mackenzie Carter, Olivia Ball and Micah Oldacre to put the Lady Eagles away 66-58.
Miriam Oldacre and Carter finished with 22 and 21 points respectively in the win for West Point while Elizabeth Hill led the way for Cold Springs, finishing with 18 points. Crider finished just behind her with 15. The Lady Warriors and Lady Eagles will both be back in action on the road Friday night. West Point will travel to Muscle Shoals and Cold Springs will travel to Cleveland.
Other Tuesday night scores:
Cullman 59 – Haleyville 30 (varsity girls)
Fairview 62 – Good Hope 38 (varsity girls)
Hanceville 60 – Vinemont 17 (varsity girls)
Holly Pond 53 – Randolph 12 (varsity girls)
Falkville 61 – St. Bernard 21 (varsity girls)
Cullman 63 – Haleyville 55 (varsity boys)
Good Hope 66 – Fairview 48 (varsity boys)
Hanceville 68 – Vinemont 30 (varsity boys)
Holly Pond 68 – Randolph 67 OT (varsity boys)
St. Bernard 60 – Falkville 53 (varsity boys)
Copyright 2018 Humble Roots, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
