HANCEVILLE, Ala. – Cold Springs and West Point squared off in Thursday’s night cap from Tom Drake Coliseum with one more spot in the county championship game up for grabs. After a tight first quarter, the Lady Warriors created some separation in the second and third periods and survived a late push for the Lady Eagles to win it 64-53 and earn the final spot in Saturday’s varsity girls championship game.
Summer Mendoza scored the first points of the game with back to back shots from three-point range that gave West Point a 6-0 lead. Kylie Quinn scored inside to add to the early lead but a three-pointer from Toni West made it a 4-point game midway through the first. Lexi Shadix drove to the basket and laid it in to give the Lady Warriors a 10-4 lead but a transition basket from Shay Sellers made it 10-6 with just over three minutes remaining in the opening period. AK Voce and Shadix traded buckets to make it a 13-8 game late in the first quarter but Voce scored another basket in the paint to bring the Lady Eagles within three.
Kylie Quinn laid one in to stretch the lead to 15-10 with just over a minute to play in the first but a free throw from West and another basket by Sellers made it a 15-13 game. Kylie Quinn finished an and-one play at the line to build the lead back up to five and Shadix added a free throw to give West Point a 19-13 lead with less than 30 seconds to play in the period. After offensive rebounds kept the possession alive for Cold Springs, West was fouled on a three-point attempt with one second on the clock and netted one of them to trim the lead to 19-14 going into the second quarter.
West started the second with another basket to cut into the Lady Warrior lead but Braelee Quinn responded with a three-pointer on the other end to make it a 22-16 game. Nikki Tyree added back to back threes to extend the scoring run for West Point and give the Lady Warriors a 28-18 lead and Shadix laid one in to stretch the lead to 12 midway through the period. Voce scored inside to stop the run and Brooker Crider drilled a three from the left wing to make it a 32-23 lead with just over three minutes to play in the half. Voce scored another basket in transition to trim the lead to seven but Shadix laid one in to put West Point back in front by nine late in the second quarter. Braelee Quinn buried a three with less than a minute remaining in the half to add to the lead and Ryleigh Jones drilled a deep three-pointer as time expired to give the Lady Warriors a 40-27 advantage going into the break.
Braelee Quinn scored on a transition layup to start the third quarter for West Point and she got a three-pointer to roll in off the front rim to make it a 47-27 game early in the period. Braelee kept her scoring run alive with another three from the right wing and Jones added another trey of her own extend the lead to 53-30 midway through the third. A Mendoza bucket added to the Lady Warriors’ lead with three minutes remaining in the quarter, but Sellers responded with a layup for Cold Springs on the other end. Tryee converted an and-one play at the line to make it a 58-34 game late in the third and West Point went into the final frame leading the Lady Eagles 58-36.
Kyla Aaron drilled a pair of three-pointers for Cold Springs to cut the lead to 58-42 at the start of the fourth and West hit a three from the top of the key to make it a 13-point game with five minutes to play. Shadix knocked down a pair of free throws to give the Lady Warriors a 60-45 lead midway through the period and Mendoza scored an easy basket in transition to make it 62-47 with less than three minutes to play. The Lady Eagles continued to fight on each possession, but they ran out of time to chip away at the lead to and West Point went on to win it 64-53.
Braelee Quinn led the Lady Warriors with 18 points in the win, followed by Shadix with 13, Tyree with nine and Kylie Quinn with seven. West posted 18 points in the loss for Cold Springs. Voce added 12 and Sellers finished with nine.
West Point will advance to play Fairview Saturday at 5:20 p.m. at Tom Drake Coliseum for the varsity girls championship.
Copyright 2021 Humble Roots, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
