HANCEVILLE, Ala.- In her first year at the helm, Paige Adams is taking the Lady Eagles to Birmingham.
Opening up the NW Regional Championship games on Monday morning, the no. 10 Lady Eagles played a feisty Belgreen team for a trip to State Semifinals. It was a tone-setting, gritty matchup, with Belgreen knocking Cold Springs off their axis in the first half, but Lady Eagles’ star Ella Dickerson righted the ship in the second, eventually sealing a 45-42 victory with a pair of free throws. Dickerson continued racking up her senior season accolades, adding NW Regional Tournament MVP to her resume after a 28 point, four rebound performance.
Cold Springs’ first half was uncharacteristic, to say the least. A usually steadfast, consistent offense was playing ahead of themselves, missing open looks and turning the ball over.
After a back and forth first quarter, featuring beautiful feeds from Paizley Whitlow to Dickerson for layups in addition to two threes, the Lady Eagles trailed 11-10. It took some time for Belgreen to get their feet under them, only hitting one shot in the first four minutes, but once they did, they rode that momentum right into the second.
A layup by Belgreen guard Randi Terry opened the period, and Lady Bulldogs head coach Chad Green sent his team into a hard press defense. Again, uncharacteristically for Cold Springs, they were rattled, coughing up the ball on three straight possessions, two of which led to scores. The run led to a quick 17-10 lead for Belgreen, which was broken up by a Whitlow deep ball and a timeout that calmed the team down. A three from Aleah Addison and a bucket from Dickerson, who scored 11 in the first half, combatted a well-oiled Bulldog offense that continued to find their shots and took a 25-20 lead into halftime.
A shaky start to the second half followed for Cold Springs who gave up two steals early, leading to a quick three buckets and a 31-22 lead for Belgreen. With three first half fouls, senior Hollyn Bruer started the half off on the bench, with Kaydence Williams filling in. Williams, who had a quiet but extremely impactful seven-point and six-rebound performance, finished off an old-school three point play after being fouled on a layup to break the streak. Cold Springs grabbed some momentum of their own, with Dickerson hitting three layups and nailing a deep three to take the lead, but Belgreen’s Makenna Fisher would tie the game back up at 36 with just eight minutes of basketball to go.
The fourth quarter was a low-scoring slow burn, with Belgreen once again taking the lead, and Cold Springs responding with a run to jump ahead 43-40 that was capped off by a Whitlow three. Tight defense and a pair of Dickerson threes would seal the 45-42 win and a trip to Birmingham for Cold Springs.
“Well, I’m glad it’s over. I thought we battled, got in our head a little bit made some risky mistakes that could’ve cost us late. But, I thought we were dogs on defense, executed our game plan well, and proved in the end that they wanted it. I’m just really really proud of how we finished. It wasn’t pretty but we’ll take it,” Adams said after the win.
Dickerson led the game with her 28 points on 10-16 shooting, including 3-3 from deep. Upon sinking the winning free throws and receiving the Regional Championship trophy, Dickerson was visibly emotional.
“Our ultimate goal is to get to Birmingham, especially for the seniors you know- this last ride. I’m just so thankful for coach Adams for pushing us so hard the last few weeks, making us better every day and, just my teammates, for pushing each other and encouraging one another and I’m just so proud of how they played today,” Dickerson said.
The Lady Eagles move on to play Lanett on Monday, March 2 at 3 p.m. at the BJCC in Birmingham for a shot at the State Championship game.
