BREMEN, Ala. – The Cold Springs Lady Eagles tipped off their postseason run at home Friday night in the opening round of the 2A, Area 11 Tournament. Cold Springs fell behind Cleveland early in the first quarter but dominated the second and the third to pull away with a 71-34 win and advance to the area tournament finals.
Cleveland held a 13-10 lead midway through the opening period until Maci Brown knocked down a three-pointer to tie the game at 13. Baskets by Kenady Graves and Ciara Calvert gave Cold Springs a 17-15 lead late in the first quarter and Brown hit a jumper to keep the Lady Eagles in front 19-18 at the start of the second.
The second quarter was dominated by Cold Springs. A pair of three-pointers from Brown and a pair of baskets by Malaya Taylor put the Lady Eagles ahead 29-21 early in the second and Ella Bruer added another three to make it 32-21. Five more points from Brown helped stretch the lead to 40-23 with less than three minutes remaining in the first half and after Bruer and Calvert were each added another score, Brown buried a three at the buzzer to give Cold Springs a 47-25 lead at the halftime break. The Lady Eagles outscored Cleveland 28-7 in the second quarter.
Cold Springs continued to add to its lead in the third, pulling ahead 53-25 early in the period with baskets from Brown, Graves and Calvert. Bruer knocked down a three to make it a 62-26 game midway through the third quarter and after two more buckets from Taylor and Graves, Brown drained her seventh three-pointer of the night in the final seconds of the period to put the Lady Eagles in front 69-28 at the start of the fourth quarter.
Paizley Whitlow laid one in to keep Cold Springs ahead 71-30 early in the fourth and with a hot clock running the rest of the way, the Lady Eagles cruised to a 71-34 win over Cleveland.
Brown racked up 27 points for Cold Springs in the win. Bruer finished with 15 points and Graves and Calvert each posted 10.
The Lady Eagles will be back on the court Monday night at 6 p.m. to play either Locust Fork or Southeastern in the 2A, Area 11 championship game.
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