BREMEN, Ala. — Cold Springs hosted Addison in a pivotal early season area matchup at their outstanding gym Friday night. The lobby of the gym has to be the class of Cullman County showing the storied history of Cold Springs Eagles basketball. The much-anticipated matchup between mother and daughter coaches, the teacher and the pupil well, turned out to be anticlimatic. The veteran Lady Eagles hammered the young Lady Bulldogs 66-28. The boys’ matchup was an instant classic with everything you could ask for. Numerous lead changes, fired up fans, disputed foul calls, last second shots and a mysterious two seconds that was added to the clock at the end. Addison came away with a nail biter, 48-47 win.
Cold Springs 66 – Addison 28 (varsity girls)
The varsity girls’ game started with Cold Springs Coach Tammy West leading her veteran Lady Eagles against Addison Coach Bailey West, her daughter, and her young Lady Dawgs. The mother came away with the victory on this night as Cold Springs pummeled Addison 66-28.
From the outset, it was clear that Cold Springs was the better team on this night. Led by Senior Shay Sellers and Senior Lacey Rice the Lady Eagles scored the first nine points of the game and led 17-8 at the end of the first period. Cold Springs pressed and harassed the young Dawgs into numerous turnovers. The second period was no better for the Lady Dawgs as they were outscored 17-3, including a 13-0 run, in the frame to go into the half trailing 34-11. Gracie “Bug” Manley tried to keep the Dawgs close with her six points in the half.
The second half was more of the same as Cold Springs continued shooting the lights out and dominating the glass. Lady Eagle Senior Guard Toni West scored eight of her game high 14 points in the second half. Cold Springs outscored Addison 32-17 in the second half for a final of 66-28.
The win evened Cold Springs’ record at 5-5 while the loss dropped Addison to 5-5 as well.
After the game, Lady Eagles Coach Tammy West said, “Very proud of our girls and their effort. Was glad to see more team scoring. Our last game (Fairview) we had one girl score over 40 by herself and the rest of the team had about 20 and we lost. We are a better team when everyone of our ladies gets involved. Six of our seven scorers in this game had eight or more points. That is what we are looking for a team effort. We are a veteran team and are getting better. I mean most of our girls have played together since they were in the third grade. It was tough coaching against my daughter, but we are a close family, and it is not the first time I have coached against one of them. I coached against my brother he is the head coach at West Point. I know Bailey will do very well at Addison because she loves it there and has strong community support.”
Addison Coach Bailey West also said, “It was weird coaching against my mom, but you have to do what you have to do. We just couldn’t hit any shots tonight. I mean we got some good looks we just couldn’t get them to go down. They (Cold Springs) are a great team and we just have to get better.”
Leading Cold Springs was Toni West scoring 14 points and pulling down eight rebounds. Sellers had 12 points, 11 boards, three steals and two blocks. Rice had 12 points and seven rebounds.
Leading Addison was Molly Gilbreath with eight points and three boards. Manley had seven points and 10 boards.
Addison 48 – Cold Springs 47 (varsity boys)
The boys’ game was a back-and-forth affair with no one having a lead of over six points. The first period ended in a 13-13 tie. Cold Springs tied the game at 13 with a Micah Calvert three pointer at the buzzer. This was a preview of what was to come. The second period was good as well. Addison’s Logan “Baby Shaq” Wilkins was hot and put in 15 first half points to include a pair of three pointers. Bulldog Point Guard Eli “Curly” Howse had eight points and two assists in the half. Cold Springs’ Seth Williams kept pace with eight points of his own. Eagles Brody Peppers tossed in six points and four boards in the half to keep the game even.
The second half couldn’t possibly match the first half in excitement and intensity, right? Wrong. ddison came out and jumped out to a six-point lead until their leader, Wilkins, picked up three fouls in a two-minute time span, to include two offensive fouls. With Wilkins on the bench, the Eagles made a run and at the end of the third the score stood at Addison 41, Cold Springs 40. Jessie “Rooster” Brock filled in well for the high-flying Wilkins playing tough defense and helping the Bulldogs stay in the game. Cold Springs’ Calvert, the smallest man on the court, has no conscious as he fired up three pointers from all over the court in Steph Curry fashion. Calvert nailed three in the second half, one from Crane Hill, all of them to either tie the game or give the Eagles the lead. Calvert’s last three put the Eagles up 47-45 with around 50 seconds to go in the game.
After both teams turned the ball over, Addison had the ball with ten seconds to go in the game. Everyone assumed the Dawgs were going to run the last shot through Wilkins or Howse but oh no, a quick pass to forward Christian “Ice Man” Roberts and he calmly drained a three pointer with only 2.8 seconds on the clock to give Addison the 48-47 lead. Unfortunately for Cold Springs, the Eagles couldn’t get off a final shot and the game ended with the Bulldogs on top 48-47.
The win improved Addison to 5-5 and 2-0 area. Cold Springs falls to 1-1 in area.
After the dramatic win, Coach Mastin said, “This is a huge win for us. Addison hasn’t won on this floor in over 35 years and this is a good Cold Springs basketball team. So proud of the way everyone picked up the slack when Logan (Wilkins) went out with four fouls. We are improving a little bit every game and that is all I can ask for.”
Cold Springs was led by Calvert with 15 points, all three pointers, and three boards. Peppers had 10 points and four boards. Williams had eight points and a steal.
Addison was led by Wilkins’ game high 19 points and four boards. Howse had 13 points, three boards and three steals. Roberts had eight points and five boards.
Copyright 2020 Humble Roots, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
