HANCEVILLE, Ala.- In the first matchup of championship Friday, the no. 2 Cold Springs Lady Eagles took on no. 5 Holly Pond to finish the JV girls bracket. After a hot start Holly Pond made it interesting in the second, but Cold Springs’ defense and the prolific scoring of Hagen Ellis led to the Lady Eagles pulling away in the second half. They’d go on to finish the game 66-34 to take the 2026 Cullman County JV girls championship.
The Lady Eagles came out on a tear, with scoring from four different players from all three levels of the court fueling a 15-0 start to the game. After the run that included a pair of layups from Ellis and three from beyond the arc from JJ Creel, Kalloway McKinnon and Joli Williams, the same grit that got fifth-seed Holly Pond to the championship came to light. Guards Dallas Mayfield and Bella Gambrill began rattling the Lady Eagles, picking off passes and going coast to coast for a pair of buckets to start a 12-1 run that would get the Lady Broncos to just a 16-12 deficit heading into the second.
Opening the second, Cold Springs’ went into a hard press defense, hoping to hold off the comeback. Ellis, with active hands on defense, nabbed a steal, took it down the court and bounced it to Williams, who drained a three from the right wing. After an Ellis lay on the next possession, she poked out a Holly Pond pass and took it coast to coast for a lay to put Cold Springs up 23-12. Continuing the big quarter, Alabama Light scored on two straight possessions, then Zoe Miller traded buckets with Holly Pond’s Lilly Allbright, with Cold Springs taking a 31-16 lead into halftime off the back of their five steal quarter.
Coming out of halftime, Cold Springs played determined basketball, with Ellis’ seemingly endless energy on offense pushing them to a 15-1 run. Williams took the ball to the paint, stopped and bounced a dime to Ellis, who layed it in, then replicated the same play one possession after Ellis nailed a deep three. The All-Tournament guard would go on to score 13 points in a quarter that only saw seven scored by Holly Pond, and headed into the final frame with a strong 48-23 lead.
Holly Pond fought in the fourth, having their best offensive quarter since the end of the first, and saw Gambrill, Mallory Hartline and Lizzy Adams all hit threes. On the other end, however, Cold Springs was still rolling. With strong ball movement and action on the boards, the Lady Eagles scored 18 in the period. A fitting ending, Ellis put the final touches on the game with a pair of three-pointers, ending a 66-34 rout of Holly Pond and a chance to lifting the JV girls championship trophy.
Ellis led the game with 27 points, and added three rebounds, four assists and seven steals. Williams scored eight and dished out five assists. Miller ended the game with seven points, adding three boards and a steal.
For Holly Pond, Bella Gambrill led the team with 10 points and a trio of rebounds. Behind her, Mallory Hartline scored seven and grabbed four boards and had two assists.
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