HOLLY POND, Ala. – The Holly Pond Broncos clashed with the Fairview Aggies at Felton Easterwood Gymnasium Thursday night and the county squads split their varsity matchups. The Lady Aggies pulled away to defeat the Lady Broncos 46-29 and in the boys’ game, Holly Pond edged out the Aggies 52-49 to collect a win on its home floor.
Fairview 46 – Holly Pond 29 (Varsity Girls)
Somer Harris hit back-to-back threes from the left corner for Fairview as they jumped out to a quick 6-0 lead. Maddi Ham would hit one of her own from long range for Holly Pond and Emma Earl added a basket down low to make it a 6-5 game. Kaylee Stallings drilled a three from the left wing to give Holly Pond an 8-6 lead with a little over five minutes left in the opening period. Kamryn Tankersley got fouled while shooting a three and she hit all three free throws to push the Lady Bronco lead to 11-6, but Fairview would finish the quarter strong as baskets by Emma Garcia and Sadie Smith made it a one-point game. A Jayla Gorham free throw tied the game up at 11 and that would be the score going into the second period.
The Lady Aggies quickly broke the tie in the second period as Garcia and Smith each hit a three to give them a 17-11 lead. Earl hit a layup to make it a four-point game, but a huge three-point play by Allison Davis pushed Fairview’s lead to 20-13 with less than two minutes to go in the first half. Smith got a floater to go as the Lady Aggies took a 22-13 lead into the half.
Tankersley nailed a long jumper to cut Fairview’s lead to 22-15 to start out the second half. Jaycee Aleman and Gorham each hit a layup to make it a 26-15 game, then another Garcia three and a Gorham made shot pushed the Lady Aggie lead to 31-17. A Smith trey made it 34-20, but an Ellie Burks layup cut it to 34-22 going into the final period.
Fairview started the final period strong as baskets by Davis and Garcia made it 38-22, then Gorham and Garcia each hit a basket down low to push their lead to 20 at 42-22. Abby Davis got in on the scoring for the Lady Aggies as she made a shot to make it 44-22. Despite the Lady Broncos finishing the game strong on a Bai Widner and a Stallings three-point play, it was too little, too late for them as Fairview rolled to a 46-29 win over Holly Pond.
Garcia led the way for Fairview (15-9) with 14 points. Smith added 10 points, while Gorham ended up with seven points. For Holly Pond (8-13), Tankersley finished the game with eight points, while Stallings and Earl each added six points.
Holly Pond 52 – Fairview 49 (Varsity Boys)
Sawyer Olinger got the scoring for Holly Pond with a three. Baskets from Cylas Yarbrough and Landon Tweedie gave Fairview a 4-3 early almost midway through the first period. Tweedie and Yarbrough each added a basket down to give the Aggies an 8-6 lead, but Levi Farr converted the and-one opportunity to put Holly Pond back on top, 9-8. A pair of Kollin Brown free throws made it 11-8, then he later added a layup to make it a 13-9 game going into the second period.
Back-to-back threes from Blake Rickard pushed the Bronco lead to 19-9 less than a minute into the second quarter. A Tweedie made basket cut the Fairview deficit to nine at 20-11, then a Cade Yeager three swiveled Holly Pond’s lead to 22-14. A Christian Couch layup made it a 24-14 contest, but the Aggies looked to cut into the deficit before the half. A Yarbrough three-point play made it 24-17, then an Austin Johnson layup cut it to five. Yarbrough later added a pair of technical free throws as that would make it a 24-21 game at the half.
A Tweedie made basket cut it to one, then a free throw each by Johnson and Parker Martin gave Fairview a 25-24 lead. A pair of Olinger free throws and a Brown trey saw Holly Pond get the lead right back at 29-25 with 4:27 remaining in the third period. Another Rickard three increased the Bronco lead to 32-27. A Brown layup and a free throw made it 35-29, but Cade Arnold and Tweedie each hit a basket down to cut it to 35-33. Brown, though, provided a huge boost for Holly Pond to end the third period as his buzzer-beating trey gave Holly Pond a 38-33 lead.
Brown then nailed an NBA-range three to push the Bronco lead to 41-33, then later on, layups by Rickard and Couch made it a 45-35 contest with 5:43 remaining in the contest. Fairview, though, countered with a huge run of their own as a Kobe Payne three cut it to 45-38 with 3:34 left in the game. A Johnson free throw, a layup by Yarbrough and a pair of Martin free throws made it 46-43 with two minutes left. A Payne driving layup kept the Fairview deficit at three at 48-45, but Olinger and Brown each hit a pair from the line to give Holly Pond a 52-45 lead with less than a minute left. Payne nailed a pair from the line to make it 52-47, then a Martin driving layup cut it to three. But that was as close as they would get as Holly Pond would pick up a huge 52-49 win over Fairview.
Brown finished with 18 points for Holly Pond (8-13). Rickard added 16 points. Olinger ended up with nine points. Couch added six points and Farr chipped in with three points. For Fairview (13-9), Tweedie and Yarbrough each finished with 11 points. Arnold finished with eight points, while Payne ended up with seven points.
Holly Pond will travel to take on Hanceville Friday night and Fairview will begin preparing for next week’s county tournament.
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