HANCEVILLE, Ala. – Basketball season has arrived, and the Cullman Bearcats tipped off their season at Wallace State’s Tom Drake Coliseum Thursday night against the Calera Eagles. The ‘Cats jumped out to an early lead in the opening quarter and ending up putting 95 points on the board to race past the Eagles 95-72 and collect Head Coach Stu Stuedeman’s first win in his first game on the Cullman sideline.
Stuedeman liked his team’s effort and intensity in the season opener but knows there are several ways the Bearcats can continue to improve as the season goes on.
“I love how our guys came out and were ready to compete in the game. They were just ready to go. They’re tired of beating up on each other in practice and they’ve been itching to get out there, so they competed really hard. We rebounded offensively like crazy, we shared the ball and played pretty good defense,” Stuedeman said. “Not exactly to my liking but close so we need to get better on defense, get better with our pressure and we have to get healthy, that’s the main thing. We have some guys out right now that unfortunately couldn’t be part of the first game but when we get them back and get our depth where we want it, it’s going to be a lot more of a defensive show and that’ll be great.”
Stuedeman is happy to get the first win out of the way in his first game but wants his team to focus on improving every day to continue seeing the fruits of their labor.
“What’s the saying, ‘You can’t go undefeated unless you win the first one.’,” Stuedeman joked. “Obviously we’re not worried about wins right now, we’re worried about getting better every single day and becoming the best version of ourselves, but it is always nice to get the first one. It’s good for the kids to see their hard work be rewarded immediately. It’s great for them and it’s awesome for me as long as we’re getting better.”
A basket from Tucker Apel gave the Bearcats a 4-2 lead early in the first quarter and back to back layups from Kase Nixon and Tucker Cagle stretched the lead to 8-2. Apel finished a three-point play at the free throw line to make it 11-6 midway through the first and a three-pointer by Jamar Kay gave Cullman a 14-6 lead. A pair of steals and easy baskets for Tucker Gambrill and Cagle gave the ‘Cats an 18-8 advantage and buckets from Sam Duskin and Nate Zills helped build a 27-12 advantage for Cullman by the end of the opening quarter. Nine different Bearcats scored at least two points in the first quarter.
A three-pointer from Apel followed by six straight points from Garrison Sharpe extended the lead to 36-16 early in the second quarter and two more free throws by Cagle made it a 43-20 game with four minutes remaining in the half. A three-pointer from Gambrill stretched the lead to 48-25 late in the second but the Eagles ended the half with a 9-4 run to cut the lead to 52-34 at the break.
After a basket from Cagle and a free throw by Apel to start the third quarter, Sharpe ran off nine straight points for Cullman to make it 64-36 early in the period. Back to back buckets from Nixon and Duskin made it a 68-39 game with less than three minutes to play in the third but Calera was able to end another quarter on a big run to trim the lead to 72-53 going into the final frame.
Sharpe, Cagle and Gambrill each scored to start the fourth quarter and give the Bearcats a 78-57 advantage. Baskets from Cagle and Sharpe made it 83-63 with four minutes to play and Apel scored seven straight after that to extend the lead to 90-67 with less than three minutes on the clock. With the game out of reach, Cullman pulled away to win it 95-72 and start the season 1-0.
Sharpe led the Bearcats with 25 points in the win, followed by Apel with 16 and Cagle with 14. Gambrill and Nixon each posted 11 points, Zills added six, Duskin finished with four, Arden Crane and Jamar Kay each scored three and Garrett Hall finished with two.
Cullman will be on the road Tuesday night to take on Decatur Heritage.
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