PREP BASKETBALL: Cold Springs sweeps regular season finale against Hanceville

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Cold Springs’ Brody Peppers finished with 23 points in the Eagles’ win over Hanceville Thursday night. (Sammy Confer/The Cullman Tribune)

BREMEN, Ala. – The Cold Springs Eagles and Lady Eagles were back home at Jesse George Gymnasium Thursday night and both teams collected wins over Hanceville in their regular season finales. The Lady Eagles outscored the Lady Bulldogs 18-10 in the fourth quarter to pull away with a 47-37 win and after winning a thrilling overtime battle against Hanceville in this year’s County Tournament, the Eagles took the rematch Thursday night 62-46.

Cold Springs 47 – Hanceville 37 (Varsity Girls)

Victoria Stanley knocked down a three to put Hanceville on the scoreboard first, but Cold Springs’ Malaya Taylor scored in the paint to make it 3-2. A pair of Ciara Calvert free throws and another Taylor basket gave the Lady Eagles a 6-3 lead. Erin Bailey added another basket in the basket for Cold Springs to make it 10-3. Hanceville’s Jolee McHan cut it to 10-5 as she knocked down a short jumper and a Katelyn Boyd free throw made it 10-6 as the Lady Eagles went into the second quarter with the four-point lead.

Paizley Whitlow pushed Cold Springs’ lead to 12-6 with a short jumper, but later on, a Boyd layup and another Stanley trey cut it to 14-13 with 3:48 remaining in the first half. Savanna McAnnally added a pair from the line to give the Lady Bulldogs a 15-14 lead and later on hit two more to give Hanceville a 17-16 lead. Calvert and Taylor scored the next six points for Cold Springs as they got the lead right back at 22-17, but a McAnnally three from the right corner cut it to 22-20. Taylor, though, scored again in the paint as the Lady Eagles would take a 24-20 lead into the locker room.

McAnnally knocked down another three to start out the second half for Hanceville, then a rebound and put-back by Kate Sterling gave the Lady Bulldogs a 25-24 lead. An Ella Bruer would lead to a Mia Light fast-break layup as Cold Springs got the lead right back at 26-25. Ella Bruer added a shot in the paint to make it 29-25, but a Boyd shot down low cut it to 29-27 and the Lady Eagles held the slim two-point lead going into the final period.

McAnnally hit another shot from long-range for Hanceville as that gave them a 30-29 lead early in the final period. A pair of Taylor free throws gave Cold Springs a 31-30 lead and they looked to finally create some distance from them and the Lady Bulldogs. Ella Bruer picked the perfect pair to get red-hot from behind the three-point line as she knocked down back-to-back threes and Kenady Graves added one from there as well and the Lady Eagles pushed their lead to double-digits at 40-30 with 4:30 remaining in the game. A McHan short jumper cut it to 40-32, but Ella Bruer added a tough layup down low, and Mia Light drilled a pair from the line to increase Cold Springs’ lead to 44-32. The Lady Eagles would pull away at the end as they ended up taking the game, 47-37.

Bruer and Taylor each finished with 14 points for Cold Springs while Calvert added seven. For Hanceville, McAnnally finished with 13 points. Boyd added 10 points and Stanley ended up with six.

Cold Springs 62 – Hanceville 46 (Varsity Boys)

Hanceville’s Will Calvert and Cold Springs’ John Mark Smith each knocked down a three to tie the game up at three early in the first period. A nice lefty layup by Calvert gave the Bulldogs a 5-3 lead, but Brody Peppers and Seth Ingram each scored in the paint to give the Eagles a 7-5 lead. Another Ingram basket and a Smith layup pushed Cold Springs’ lead to 11-6 with less than two minutes to go in the opening period. A pair of Braxton Broad free throws cut it to 11-8, but Smith drilled a trey to make it 14-8. Cold Springs would take a 14-10 lead into the second period.

Seth Williams hit a driving layup to increase Cold Springs’ lead to 16-10 early in the second period. Hanceville was scoreless for the first two and a half minutes before a Zach Campbell basket in the paint made it 16-12, but Smith answered right back with yet another three to push the Eagle advantage to 19-12. A Drew Campbell layup helped the Bulldogs cut the deficit to five at 21-16, but Tanner Kilgo scored back-to-back baskets in the paint to help Cold Springs push their lead to 25-16. Zach Campbell and Brayden Harris each knocked down a shot down to cut it to 25-20, but Peppers and Kilgo each added a shot in the paint and the Eagles went into the locker room with a 31-20 lead.

Peppers and Calvert each traded baskets to start out the second half as a Calvert shot in the paint cut it to 35-25 early in the third period. Zach Campbell made it 37-27 on a layup, but Peppers added a pair of shots in the paint to make it 41-27. A pair of Williams treys helped push Cold Springs’ lead to 47-31 and a Kilgo basket made it 49-31. A Harris trey cut the deficit to 15 at 49-34, but Peppers finished the third quarter strong as he scored the final seven points of the quarter for Cold Springs. The Eagles would take a 56-34 lead into the final period.

Hanceville looked to mount yet another comeback in the fourth quarter as Calvert scored the first five points for the Bulldogs to make it a 56-39 game. The inside game for Cold Springs, though was simply just too much for Hanceville to handle as a Williams layup, followed by a pair of Peppers shots in the paint, increased the Eagle lead to 62-39. Cold Springs would go on to win their game over Hanceville, 62-46.

Peppers led the way for Cold Springs with 23 points, eight rebounds, and a pair of steals. Smith added 11 points, while Williams and Kilgo (eight rebounds) each ended up with 10 points. For Hanceville, Calvert (six rebounds) and Harris (two steals) each finished with 13 points, while Zach Campbell added eight points.

The Eagles will host their area tournament Tuesday and will take on Winston County at 5:30. The Lady Eagles will travel to Winston County Monday, and they will take on Addison at 5:30. The Lady Bulldogs will travel to take on Good Hope Monday at 6:30 and the Bulldogs will take on Good Hope at Oneonta Tuesday at 5 p.m.

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