HANCEVILLE, Ala. – This year’s MLK Day Classic at Wallace State’s Tom Drake Coliseum featured three ranked, local teams and all three of them collected big wins. The top-ranked 4A Lady Raiders improved to 23-0 with a 57-41 win over Clements, the eighth-ranked Raiders pulled away to top Decatur and No. 2 in Class 6A, Cullman, capped things off with an 80-50 win over Pleasant Grove.
Good Hope 57 – Clements 41 (Varsity Girls)
The Lady Raiders started their game with Clements about as well as you can. Heather Tetro was fouled on a made three-pointer and she knocked down the free throw to make it 4-0 just a few seconds into the opening period. Ivey Maddox followed that up with back to back threes of her own and Good Hope was up 10-0 just one minute into the game. Another trey from Maddox put the Lady Raiders in front 13-2 and Rudi Derrick laid one in later in the first to make it a 15-6 game. Another basket by Maddox and another three-pointer from Heather Tetro gave Good Hope a 20-11 lead and Maddox’s fourth three-pointer of the quarter made it 23-13 with two minutes remaining in the first. Charly Johnson capped off an explosive first quarter with a layup at the buzzer and the Lady Raiders went into the second leading 25-13.
Points were tougher to come by in the second quarter. Baskets by Derrick and Bailey Tetro kept Good Hope ahead 29-15 with five minutes to play in the first half and after a long scoring drought for the Lady Raiders, Bailey got another shot to fall with 1:30 on the clock to make it a 31-21 game at halftime.
A jumper by Johnson kept Good Hope in front 36-28 midway through the third quarter and after being fouled on a three-point attempt, Bailey Tetro drained three free throws to make it 39-28. A basket by Derrick gave the Lady Raiders a 41-30 lead with one minute remaining in the third and Maddox netted a pair of free throws with three seconds on the clock to make it a 43-32 game going into the fourth quarter.
Maddox’s fifth three-pointer of the game stretched the lead to 46-34 early in the fourth and after Derrick added a pair of free throws, Bailey Tetro drilled a three of her own to make it 51-35 with five minutes to play. Baskets by Johnson, Derrick and Heather Tetro stretched the lead to 57-39 with just two minutes remaining and the Lady Raiders were able to extend their winning streak to 23 games with a 57-41 win over Clements.
Maddox led the way with 19 points in the win, followed by Bailey Tetro with 12, Derrick with 11, Heather Tetro with nine and Johnson with six. Good Hope will be back home Tuesday night to host Skyline.
Good Hope 62 – Decatur 51 (OT) (Varsity Boys)
Baskets by Weston Hancock and Colton Lindsey gave the Raiders a quick, 4-0 start in the opening period and K’mal Bell split a pair of free throws to make it 5-0. Lindsey buried a three-pointer to make it an 8-2 game and Bell laid one in to stretch the lead to 10-2 midway through the first quarter. Buckets from Eli Clements and Tyler Cone kept Good Hope in front 14-4 late in the period and after Lindsey split a pair of free throws, the Raiders went into the second leading Decatur 15-8.
Clements and Bell each scored to make it a 19-12 game early in the second quarter but the Red Raiders were able to trim the lead to 19-15 with about four minutes to play in the half. Lindsey drained a pair of free throws and Jacob Haynes scored inside to put Good Hope in front 23-19 with less than a minute remaining in the second but Decatur added a basket just before the buzzer to cut the lead to 23-21 going into the halftime break.
Cone laid one in to put Good Hope in front 25-21 at the start of the third quarter but the Red Raiders responded and tied things up at 25 with five minutes to play in the period. Lindsey drained a pair of free throws and Cone and Hancock each scored to rebuild a 31-25 lead for the Raiders late in the third and Bell added a free throw with 30 seconds on the clock to put Good Hope on top 32-27 going into the final frame.
After another bucket from Cone, Bell scored on back to back possessions to give the Raiders a 39-34 lead early in the fourth. Haynes laid one into to make it a 41-34 game around the four-minute mark and after a three by Decatur on the other end, Hancock knocked down a jumper to make it 43-37. Another Haynes basket kept Good Hope in front 45-37 with three minutes remaining but the Red Raiders were able to battle back and bring the lead down to 45-42 with two minutes to play.Leading 45-43 with 20 seconds on the clock, Clements blocked a potential game-winning three-point attempt but a steal by the Red Raiders led to an easy basket and tied the game at 45 in the final seconds, sending us to overtime.
Bell drilled back to back threes to put Good Hope back in front 51-47 early in the overtime period and Cone converted and and-one play at the free throw line to make it 54-49 with two minutes to play. Baskets by Clements and Cone kept the Raiders ahead 58-51 as overtime went on and Lindsey and Haynes each added free throws to put things away. Good Hope held on to defeat Decatur 62-51.
Bell led the Raiders with 17 points in the win. Cone finished with 15, Lindsey posted 11, Haynes scored seven and Hancock and Clements each added six.
Good Hope will return home Thursday to take on Fultondale.
Cullman 80 – Pleasant Grove 50 (Varsity Boys)
A pair of early steals led by Nate Zills and Garrison Sharpe led to a couple of easy baskets for Tucker Cagle and Sam Duskin, giving Cullman a 4-0 start over the Spartans. Sharpe scored inside to keep the Bearcats in front 6-4 and three-pointers by Colton Echols and Kase Nixon made it a 12-6 game midway through the opening period. Landon Tweedie laid one in to add to the lead and back to back buckets by Cagle put the ‘Cats ahead 18-8 with one minute remaining in the first. Evan Wilson scored one more basket for Cullman at the buzzer and the Bearcats went into the second quarter leading 20-8. Seven different Cullman players scored in the first quarter.
Another basket from Echols and a pair of Cagle free throws made it 25-14 early in the second. Echols buried another three stretch the lead to 28-14 midway through the second. Cagle laid another one in, and Arden Crane knocked down a three to make it a 33-16 game. Later in the period, Sharpe drained a deep three-pointer to put the Bearcats in front 37-19 and Zills sank a pair of free throws in the final 30 seconds of the half to give Cullman a 39-19 advantage at the break.
A flurry of turnovers and easy baskets allowed the Bearcats to build a 51-23 lead just three minutes into the third quarter. Crane buried another three to make it 54-26 and a pair of Echols free throws stretched the lead to 56-28. Another Cagle basket put Cullman in front 59-37 with one minute remaining in the third and Tyler Tankersley sank a pair of free throws just before the buzzer to make it a 21-40 game going into the fourth.
Jake Dorough netted three free throws and Crane scored inside to extend the lead to 66-43 early in the final frame. Duskin drilled a three to make it 69-44 with five minutes to play and another bucket from Crane made it 72-46 later in the period. Wilson then scored on four straight possessions for the Bearcats to wrap up an 80-50 victory over the Spartans.
Cagle led Cullman with 17 points in the win, followed by Echols with 11, Wilson and Crane with 10, Duskin with eight and Dorough and Sharpe with seven. All 12 players on the roster recorded at least one point in the win.
Cullman will be back home at Bearcat Arena Thursday night to host Paul Bryant.
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