HANCEVILLE, Ala. – This year’s Cullman County Basketball Tournament is upon us, and the action tipped off with four junior varsity battles at Wallace State’s Tom Drake Coliseum Saturday afternoon. The Holly Pond Lady Broncos got things started with a 39-24 win over Vinemont and West Point’s JV boys followed them with a dominant, 63-22 win over Hanceville. The West Point Lady Warriors downed Cold Springs 51-15 in the second JV Girls bout of the day and in the nightcap, Fairview’s JV Boys advanced after defeating Cold Springs 60-19.
Holly Pond 39 – Vinemont 24 (JV Girls)
Trinity Sartin knocked down a layup to put Vinemont on the scoreboard first, but Holly Pond’s Kaylee Rohrscheib scored on the other end to tie the game up at two. Emma Dortch knocked down a short jumper to give the Lady Eagles a 4-2 lead. Later on, Sartin added a shot down low to push Vinemont’s lead to 7-3 with a little over two minutes to go in the opening period. The Lady Broncos, though, quickly got going offensively as Presli Carr knocked down back-to-back shots to tie the game at seven, then Abby Jones hit a three and later added a layup as Holly Pond would go into the second period with a 12-7 lead.
Emma Gurganus hit a pair of shots for the Lady Broncos to help them make it a 16-7 game early in the second quarter. A free throw each from Dortch and Madalyn Flanagan cut it to 16-9, but Jones added another layup and Lesly Garcia split a pair from the line to make it 19-9. Jones and Rohrscheib each added a shot down low to push Holly Pond’s lead to 23-11, but Morgan Flanagan hit a pair of free throws to help cut the deficit to 10 at 23-13 at the half.
Vinemont got off to a strong start to the third quarter as layups by Morgan Flanagan and Savannah Keel made it a 23-17 game, then Madalyn Flanagan knocked down a long-range shot to cut it to 23-20. A made shot from Jayden Persall and a layup from Jones increased Holly Pond’s lead to 27-20, but a Rylee James shot down low made it a 27-22 game going into the final period.
Alana Phillips scored down low, and Phoebe Jones added a basket down low as well to make it a 31-22 game, but a Madalyn Flanagan steal and layup cut the deficit to seven at 31-24 with 3:40 remaining in the game. A Phillips basket and a game-clinching three-point play by Gurganus made it 36-24 and the Lady Broncos would go on to win the game, 39-24, to advance to the next round of the county tournament.
Jones finished with 12 points for Holly Pond. Gurganus added seven points. Phillips ended up with six and Carr finished with five. For Vinemont, Madalyn Flanagan finished with six points. Sartin and Dortch each added five points. Morgan Flanagan ended up with four points while Keel and James each chipped in with two.
Holly Pond will take on the no. 1 seed, Good Hope, next Thursday night at 5:30 p.m.
West Point 63 – Hanceville 22 (JV Boys)
Cade Welborn knocked down a three to put West Point on the scoreboard first, then a Hunter Hensley layup and a three from Jacob Harbison gave West Point a quick 8-0 lead. A.J. Wood knocked down a three for Hanceville to make it 8-3, then he later added a basket down low to cut it to 10-5. J.D. Cochran scored down low to push the Warrior lead to 13-5 going into the second period.
The second quarter was all West Point as they dominated on both sides of the court. Hensley hit a long-range shot to make it 16-5. A Wood free throw cut the deficit to 10 at 16-6, but a Cochran basket down low and another Welborn three made it 21-6. Cochran added a pair of baskets down low and Hensley put in one as well to increase West Point’s lead to 28-6. A pair of Welborn free throws and another Cochran basket made it 32-6 and the Warriors would go into the half with a commanding 33-6 lead.
West Point continued to add on to their lead in the third period as they knocked down five threes. Welborn knocked down a pair of treys, and Harbison, Tucker Pendley, and Cade Tyree each added one as well as that made it 48-7. A Brodie Brenner trey cut it to 48-10, but Tyree and Branden Burtis each knocked down a shot down low as the Warriors held a commanding 54-17 lead going into the final period. The fourth quarter was run under a hot clock and West Point pushed their lead up to 41 at one point in the fourth quarter as they went on to take the game in convincing fashion, 63-22.
Welborn finished with 14 points for West Point. Cochran added 12. Harbison ended up with eight. Tyree added seven and Burtis ended up with six. Hanceville was led by Peyton Reynolds, who finished with 10 points, and Wood added eight.
West Point will take on Fairview Tuesday night at 5 p.m.
West Point 51 – Cold Springs 15 (JV Girls)
A Camryn Faulkner basket got things started for the Lady Warriors, putting them up 2-0 and after Cheyanne Bishop split a pair of free throws on the other end, Patton Fell converted a 4-point play at the free throw line to make it a 6-1 game early. Kelee Harbison netted a free throw and Faulkner laid another in to stretch the lead to 9-1. Harbison scored through a foul and made the free throw to make it 12-1 and after a free throw by Jaelyn Faulkner, Lela Fisher scored to give West Point a 15-1 lead. The Lady Warriors got another basket in the final moments of the period from Caitlee Simmons, making it a 17-2 game going into the second quarter.
Points were a little harder to come by for West Point in the second, but the Lady Warriors still managed to add to their lead. Marli Powell scored inside to put them in front 20-2 and Fell drained a three-pointer later in the period to make it 24-2. A Bishop basket on the other end cut the lead to 25-4 late in the second but Sydney Burks responded with a basket of her own just before the break to give West Point a 27-4 lead at halftime.
The Lady Eagles opened things up in the third quarter with a three-pointer from Avery Gertsman but Simmons answered on the other end with three straight triples of her own, putting the Lady Warriors up 36-7 early in the third. Another basket from Camryn Faulkner followed by a three by Jaelyn Faulkner stretched the lead to 41-7 midway through the period and thanks to baskets from Powell and Katie Beth Yovino, West Point carried a 49-11 advantage into the fourth quarter.
Dixie Light and Powell traded baskets at the start of the fourth but the with the hot clock running, the Lady Warriors cruised to a 51-15 win, earning them a spot in the next round.
Simmons led West Point with 11 points in the win, followed by Fell with nine and Powell with seven. Bishop led the way for the Lady Eagles with seven points. With the win, the Lady Warriors will advance to play (2) Fairview Friday at 5 p.m.
Fairview 60 – Cold Springs 19 (JV Boys)
Nic Gregory turned a steal into an easy basket and gave the Aggies a 2-0 start and Landun Smith laid one in to make it 4-0. Landon Bishop split a pair of free throws to cut the lead to three but a basket by Antonio Gaitor on the other end put Fairview in front 6-1. Will Bailey buried a three-pointer to extend the lead to 9-1 and after a Bradley Smith free throw, Bailey knocked down another shot from long range to make it a 13-1 game. Smith scored one more time before the period ended and the Aggies went into the second quarter leading Cold Springs 15-1.
A pair of Bishop baskets cut the lead to 15-5 early in the second but Gregory scored on the other end to get the lead back up to 12. Zane Brown split a pair of free throws and Kayden Graves dropped in a running floater to make it a 17-8 game but a basket from Smith and another three-pointer by Bailey on the other end kept Fairview in front 22-8. The Aggies continued to add to their lead and thanks to another three from Bailey, along with baskets by Gavin Pace and Eli Frost, Fairview went into the locker room with a commanding, 29-8 lead at halftime.
Gaitor and Mason Gable traded buckets at the start of the third quarter and back to back treys from Gregory and Gaitor stretched the Aggie lead to 37-10 early in the period. Landun Smith scored to add to the lead but a pair of three-pointers by Gable on the other end trimmed the lead to 42-17. Cooper Salazar nailed a three of his own to make it a 45-17 game and Pace scored just before the buzzer to give Fairview a 47-17 lead going into the final frame.
Bailey scored the first five points on the fourth to put the Aggies on top 52-17 and another Gaitor bucket made it a 54-17 game. Landun Smith got another shot to drop, extending the lead to 56-19 and with the hot clock running, Fairview pulled away to defeat the Eagles 60-19.
Bailey led the way for the Aggies with 17 points in the win, followed by Gaitor with 11 and Landun Smith with eight. Gable posted eight points for the Eagles in the loss Bishop added five.
Fairview will advance to play (3) West Point in the semifinal round Tuesday at 5 p.m.
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