HOLLY POND, Ala. – The Holly Pond Broncos hosted the Locust Fork Hornets in a pair of area games on Tuesday night. In the varsity girls’ game, the Lady Broncos trailed by 10 early in the third quarter, but they came back and ended up knocking off the Lady Hornets, 45-42. In the varsity boys’ game, Holly Pond trailed by 10 at the half, but they outscored Locust Fork, 29-14, in the second half en route to a 50-45 win over the Hornets.
Holly Pond 45 – Locust Fork 42 (Varsity Girls)
Milly Huddleston drilled a trey from the left corner to put Holly Pond on the scoreboard first, then later on, Madison Butts found Sadie Nail down low for a basket to give the Lady Broncos an early 5-0 lead. Locust Fork, though, scored the next six points to take a 6-5 lead and later added a floater to make it an 8-6 game going into the second period. Ava Thomas nailed a jumper from the free-throw line to tie things up at eight early in the second. The Lady Hornets went on a 6-0 run to take a 14-8 lead, but another basket by Thomas made it 14-10. Huddleston hit her second three of the game to trim the deficit to three at 16-13. Locust Fork hit a floater and a long jumper to stretch their lead to 20-13, but a driving layup by Maggie Nail and a trey from the left wing by Thomas cut it to 20-18. The Lady Hornets knocked down a long-range shot just before the buzzer to put them up, 23-18, at the half.
Five quick points by Locust Fork made it a 28-18 game early in the third period. Thomas knocked down a pair of free throws, and a rebound and putback by Huddleston cut it to 28-22. A Lady Hornet trey put them up, 31-22. Holly Pond came roaring back into the game. Huddleston hit of her own from long-range on the other end, and Butts collected a steal and laid it up and in to make it a 31-27 game with 2:37 remaining in the third quarter. Later on in the quarter, Thomas put in a reverse layup, and Sadie Nail nailed a pair from the line to keep it at a four-point game at 35-31 going into the final quarter.
A rebound and putback by Sadie Nail cut it to 35-33, then later on that quarter, Thomas drained a three from the right wing to make it a 37-36 game. Sadie Nail put in another basket down low, and Thomas continued her red-hot shooting from deep, as her trey gave the Lady Broncos a 41-37 lead with 3:25 remaining in the contest. Locust Fork knocked down a three on the other end to cut it to 41-40, but a basket down low by Huddleston put Holly Pond ahead, 43-40. A Lady Hornet basket trimmed it to one at 43-42, but Thomas and Butts split their free throws to make it 45-42 with less than a minute to go in the game. Holly Pond came up with a couple of huge defensive stops to help seal their 45-42 win over Locust Fork.Â
Thomas led the way for the Lady Broncos with 18 points. Huddleston added 13 points, and Sadie Nail collected nine points.
Holly Pond 50 – Locust Fork 45 (Varsity Boys)
Cade Allbright scored the first five points of the game for Holly Pond, as that gave them an early 5-4 lead. Five straight points by Locust Fork gave them a 9-5 lead. A rebound and putback by Asher Thrift cut it to 11-9, but another run by the Hornets helped stretched their lead to 14-9. Cash Huddleston scored down low late in the first quarter to trim it to three at 14-11 going into the second quarter.
Locust Fork quickly widened their lead to 20-11 early in the second. Meighton McParlin drilled a trey from the left wing to cut it to 20-14. A pair of baskets on the other end by the Hornets made it 24-14, and they would stretch their lead to 29-15 late in the second quarter. Ty Dunn buried a trey from the left corner to make it a 29-18 game, then Thrift scored through a foul and finished the three-point play at the free-throw line to make it a 29-21 contest. A late basket by Locust Fork gave them a 31-21 lead at the half.
Allbright started the second half on fire, as he scored the first seven points of the third quarter for the Broncos to cut it to 33-28. The Hornets hit a pair from the line to give them a 35-28 lead. Allbright split his free throws to make it a six-point game, then after Thrift got fouled, a technical foul was called on Locust Fork. Thrift ended up hitting all four of his free throws to cut it to 35-33, then his driving layup tied it up at 35 late in the third quarter. Thrift’s heroics were far from over, though, as he nailed a short jumper just before the buzzer to give Holly Pond a 37-36 lead going into the fourth quarter.
A basket down low by Allbright and a pair of free throws by Thrift gave the Broncos a 41-38 lead, but the Hornets scored on a pair of baskets on the other end to get the lead right back at 42-41. Huddleston found a cutting Dunn over the middle for a layup, and Dunn got fouled on the play. He ended up hitting the free throw to put Holly Pond ahead, 44-42, with 3:27 remaining in the contest. Allbright put in a huge driving layup to give the Broncos a 46-42 lead with a little over two minutes to go in the game. A trey by Locust Fork cut it to 46-45, but free throws by Allbright, Fox Westall and Huddleston helped put the finishing touches on a 50-45 win for Holly Pond.
Allbright finished with 18 points for the Broncos. Thrift collected 15 points, and Dunn put in six points.
Holly Pond will travel to take on Good Hope Friday night.
