HOLLY POND, Ala. – The Holly Pond Broncos and Lady Broncos hit the court at Felton Easterwood Gymnasium Thursday night to host a pair of varsity showdowns against Locust Fork. The Lady Broncos played a tight game with Locust Fork, but the Lady Hornets pulled away in the fourth quarter to top them 51-40. In the boys’ game, the Broncos finished strong in the final frame to pick up a 54-47 victory over the Hornets.
Locust Fork 51 – Holly Pond 40 (Varsity Girls)
The first quarter was a tightly contested one between both teams, but Holly Pond had five players score in the first quarter with Kamryn Tankersley leading the way with a pair of treys as the Lady Broncos went into the second quarter with a 14-12 lead. A Raeleigh Olinger basket down low gave the Lady Broncos a 16-12 lead early in the second period, but a pair of threes from Locust Fork tied the game up at 18. A layup by Tankersley broke the tie and gave Holly Pond a 20-18 lead, but the Lady Hornets would hit yet another three as the Lady Broncos would go into the locker room down by one at 21-20.
Locust Fork hit a floater to give them a three-point lead early in the third period, but Kaylee Stallings drilled a three to tie the game up at 23. Five straight points from the Lady Hornets would give them a 28-23 lead, but another Tankersley trey trimmed the deficit to just two at 28-26 with a little over five minutes to go in the third quarter. Three Locust Fork free throws pushed their lead to 33-27 with less than a minute to go in the third period, but the Lady Broncos finished the quarter strong as Emma Earl hit a layup and Tankersley drilled yet another three to make it a 33-32 game going into the final period.
But a three by Locust Fork increased their lead to 36-32 to start out the final period. A three-point play and another three made it a 42-32 game, but Holly Pond went on yet another run to get back into the game. Stallings scored five in a row to make it a 42-37 contest with less than four minutes to go in the game. An Earl three kept the deficit at five at 45-40 with less than two minutes left, but Holly Pond wouldn’t get any closer after that. The Lady Hornets scored the final six points of the game and the Lady Broncos ended up falling to Locust Fork, 51-40.
Tankersley led the way for Holly Pond (7-11) with 14 points. Stallings added 10 points. Earl and Olinger each ended up with seven points and Bai Widner added two points.
Holly Pond 54, Locust Fork 47 (Varsity Boys)
Holly Pond got off to a very strong start early on as Kollin Brown and Diego Garcia each hit a three to give them a quick 6-0 lead. Sawyer Olinger hit one of his own to make it a 9-2 game, then back-to-back baskets from Christian Couch and Olinger pushed the Bronco lead to 13-4 with four minutes left in the first quarter. The rest of the quarter, though, belonged to the Hornets as they ended up scoring the final 15 points of the quarter and the Broncos went from up, 13-4, to down, 19-13, going into the second period.
The Hornets pushed their lead to eight to start out the second quarter. Levi Farr hit a layup to end an almost six-minute scoring drought for the Broncos to make it a 21-15 game, then Brown hit another three to cut the deficit to just five at 23-18. A Locust Fork three made it a 26-18 game, but Olinger hit a layup and Nathan Carter drilled a three to cut it to 26-23. The Hornets scored five straight points to make it a 31-23 contest, but Carter hit a shot down low to trim the deficit to just six at 31-25. The Broncos would end up going into the half trailing by eight at 33-25.
A pair of Hornets baskets pushed their lead to double-digits at 37-27 and later added a pair of free throws to make it 39-27. But the Broncos came roaring back into the game. A Farr basket down low cut it to ten, then later on, floaters by Garcia and Blake Rickard cut it to 39-34. Locust Fork hit a pair of free throws to end the quarter as Holly Pond went into the final quarter down by just seven at 41-34.
A huge three-point play from Couch made it a four-point game, then Olinger cut it to 41-39 on a layup. The Hornets hit a layup to make it a four-point game, but Olinger hit a three from the right corner to make it a 43-42 contest with less than five minutes left. A Locust Fork layup gave them a 45-42 lead, but the Broncos took over after that. A layup by Farr and a short jumper by Brown gave Holly Pond a 46-45 lead with 2:38 remaining in the game, then Olinger and Carter each hit a pair from the line to increase their lead to 50-45. Garcia and Olinger each added another free throw to make it 52-45. A Hornet layup cut the lead to 52-47, but Olinger sealed the 54-47 win for Holly Pond with two more free throws. The Broncos are 3-1 to start the new year.
Olinger led the way for Holly Pond (6-12) with 17 points. Brown added 10 points. Carter ended up with seven points. Farr and Garcia each added six points. Couch ended up with five points while Rickard chipped in with three points.
Holly Pond will travel to Cold Springs Friday night.
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