HANCEVILLE, Ala.- The Cullman County Basketball Tournament kicked off with a semifinal matchup between no. 5 Holly Pond and no. 1 Fairview, who got a bye in the first round. Propelled by the interior presence of forward Lilly Allbright and the relentless slashing of Mallory Hartline, the Lady Broncos held off Fairview for a 39-29 upset to advance to the JV Girls championship.
Holly Pond’s physicality was on display early, with Allbright seemingly always in the right place to grab a board. She nabbed four of them in the first quarter, then tossed them over to let guard Dallas Mayfield run the offense. It got cooking early, with a pair of free throws by Hartline and a Mayfield layup to answer a Fairview bucket by Makaylee Lotero. Closing out a low-scoring first was a deep three by the Lady Broncos’ Bella Gambrill to take a 7-3 lead into the second.
The second period saw the beginning of a great all-around game from Lady Aggie Acelyn Cruce, who would sink a layup and take a couple trips to the line to combat another Gambrill three early. After Fairview pulled it to a 9-7 deficit, Holly Pond went on a hot streak, scoring eight straight on the back of Hartline’s slashing. She sunk a couple lays, but when she wasn’t hitting the shots, she was finding ways to draw contact and get to the line. In addition to her scoring from the floor, scored three from the line in the second. On the other end, it was all Allbright, who out-rebounded Fairview singlehandedly in the quarter to help Holly Pond take a 16-7 lead into the half.
After another free throw by Hartline opened the half, Fairview began finding their footing. Responding to an Allbright putback bucket, Emma Bryan hit a big three to pull the Aggies to just a 19-11 deficit. It was all the momentum they needed, and went into their half court press defense to put pressure on the Lady Broncos. The tides began shifting, as Mayfield was pickpocketed three times, with all three Lady Aggie possessions resulting in scores. The defense’s disruption led Fairview to a 6-0 stretch, brining them within three, only down 20-17. Holly Pond’s resilience showed, calming down after a timeout. An Allbright putback and a massive three-ball from Hartline got them back in a groove.
The fourth quarter was back-and-forth body blows, with the no. 1 seed clinging on to life. Cruce opened the quarter with a pair of floaters, the beginnings of an incredible quarter of basketball for the Fairview guard. She’d go on to score every bucket of the period for Fairview, keeping them in it until the buzzer. On the other end, Allbright’s rebounding and the Lady Broncos ball movement on offense sealed the deal in the end, with a pair of Allbright free throws closing out the massive upset of Fairview. The Lady Broncos will go on to face the winner of no. 2 Cold Springs vs no. 3 Good Hope in the JV Girls championship.
Leading Holly Pond in scoring was Hartline with 14 points. She also added, three rebounds and an assist. Allbright’s big rebounding day ended with 15 boards, complemented by 12 points and a pair of steals. Gambrill scored nine and recorded an assist, and Mayfield scored just four but four rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block.
Cruce led the Lady Aggies and the game with 18 points and added four rebounds and a steal.
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