HANCEVILLE, Ala. – The Holly Pond Lady Broncos continued their postseason run at the Northwest Regional Tournament at Wallace State Monday morning but unfortunately for the home crowd, the Lady Broncos were unable to keep pace with No. 2 Mars Hill and they were eliminated with a 60-34 loss to the Lady Panthers.
Holly Pond Head Coach Mary Lauren Hartline is proud of the way her team fought against a very strong Mars Hill squad and is encouraged by what the effort they showed today means for the future of the program.
“We had some good moments today. Mars Hill is a very talented team and very big so we definitely struggled with that matchup at almost every position but I was really proud of the girls for the effort that they played with no matter the score,” Hartline said. “I definitely think that will keep us on the right track for the next several years.”
Mars Hill jumped out to a 9-0 lead over the Lady Broncos early in the first quarter but a three-pointer from Maycie Black got Holly Pond on the board and trimmed the lead to 9-3. Alana Phillips laid one in later in the opening period to make it a 13-5 game but the Lady Panthers closed out the quarter with a 5-0 run to take an 18-5 lead into the second.
Baskets by Maggie Nail and Madison Butts held the lead to 23-9 in the early part of the second quarter. Kamryn Tankersley scored inside to make it a 31-11 game with just under three minutes remaining in the first half and after Black split a pair of free throws, Bai Widner drilled a three in the final minute of the period to trim the Mars Hill lead to 34-15 at the break.
Presli Carr scored inside to make it a 36-17 game at the start of the third and Nail buried a three-pointer to cut the lead to 38-20. Another basket by Nail and a free throw from Tankersley held the lead to 41-23 with two minutes to play in the period and after splitting a pair of free throws, Butts laid one in to make it a 45-26 game. The Lady Panthers got a couple more shots to fall in the final minute of the third and went into the fourth leading Holly Pond 49-26.
Emma Earl knocked down a three to start the final period and trim the lead to 53-29 and Butts scored another basket with just over two minutes remaining to make it a 60-31 game. Maddi Ham scored the final points of the season for the Lady Broncos, draining a three-pointer from the top of the key as time expired to bring the final score to 60-34.
Butts and Nail each finished with seven points for Holly Pond in the loss and Maya Black added four.
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