BREMEN, Ala. – The Cold Springs Eagles hosted this year’s Class 2A, Area 11 Tournament in both the girls’ and boys’ division, and both teams faced off against Falkville in their respective area championship games. In the varsity girls’ game, Cold Springs got out to a double-digit lead and added to it as the game went on. Behind their balanced scoring and suffocating defense, the Lady Eagles ended up knocking off the Lady Blue Devils, 51-22, to claim this year’s area championship. In the varsity boys’ game, it was a tightly contested first half, as Cold Springs held a five-point lead at the break. The Eagles quickly pushed their lead out to 15 late in the fourth quarter. Despite Falkville cutting the lead down to five, Hill took over after that, as he helped Cold Springs get past the Blue Devils, 60-49, to win this year’s area championship.
Cold Springs 51 – Falkville 22 (Varsity Girls Area Championship)
It only took Falkville three seconds to hit the first basket of the game. Cold Springs would respond as Hollyn Bruer split her free throws, Aleah Addison nailed a deep three from the top of the key and Bruer found Ella Dickerson down low for two points to give Cold Springs a 6-1 lead. Addison split from the free throws, and Dickerson scored five straight points, including a three from the right wing, to widen the Lady Eagle lead to 12-4. The Lady Blue Devils hit a basket in the paint to cut it to 12-6 late in the first quarter, but Paizley Whitlow banked in a high floater, and Bruer knocked down a trey from the right wing to put Cold Springs ahead 17-6. Falkville added a late free throw to trim it to 10 at 17-7 going into the second.
Both defenses took over in the second quarter. Another basket by the Lady Blue Devils in the paint cut it to 18-9 early in the second, but Whitlow quickly took it up the court and went coast-to-coast for the driving layup to give the Lady Eagles a 20-9 lead. Dickerson added a driving layup of her own and later added a rebound and putback to make it 24-9, then Bruer’s three from the left wing made it 27-9. Falkville got fouled while attempting a three and ended up hitting two of three to cut it to 27-11 at the half.
Cold Springs quickly added onto their lead in the second half. Off of a miss in the paint, the loose ball was gathered up by Macie Huffstutler, who found Whitlow in the right corner for a trey, to increase their lead to 30-11 early in the third quarter. Later in the third, Whitlow drove to the lane and laid it in to put the Lady Eagles ahead, 32-14. Addison added a three from the right wing, Dickerson collected a rebound and putback, and Addison nailed a short jumper just before the buzzer to give Cold Springs a 39-16 lead going into the final period.
Falkville cut it to 39-19 early in the fourth, but Bruer found Dickerson for two points on back-to-back possessions to make it a 43-19 lead. Later in the fourth quarter, Dickerson laid it in, and Addison added a driving layup to put the Lady Eagles ahead, 48-19. Hagen Ellis’ trey from the right wing put the finishing touches on a 51-22 win for Cold Springs, as they took the Class 2A, Area 11 championship.Â
Dickerson finished with a game-high 19 points for the Lady Eagles. Addison added 11 points. Whitlow put in 10 points, and Bruer collected eight points in the win.
Cold Springs will host the Class 2A, Area 10 runner-up, Red Bay, in their Sub-Regional game on Friday night at 6 p.m.
Cold Springs 60 – Falkville 49 (Varsity Boys Area Championship)
Breydon Hallmon got the scoring started for Cold Springs with a rebound and putback. It went back-and-forth between both teams for several possessions. A rebound and putback by Falkville gave them a 7-6 lead. Cash Dickerson drained a trey from the right corner to give the Eagles a 9-7 lead. Later in the opening period, a three by the Blue Devils tied the game up at 11. Lindan Hill drove to the basket and laid it in to put Cold Springs ahead, 13-11, then Ayden Black and Wyatt Barker each added a free throw to keep the Eagles ahead, 15-13, going into the second.
The Eagles looked to separate themselves from the Blue Devils to start out the second quarter. Hill knocked down a short jumper, then Black laid it in twice, the second one off of a great pass by Ethan Day, and Day and Hill each hit a free throw to stretch their lead to 23-15 with a little over three minutes to go in the first half. A 7-2 run by Falkville, though, cut it to 25-22. Dickerson nailed a short jumper before the buzzer to put Cold Springs up, 27-22 at the half.
Hallmon started the second half out strong, hitting a trio of baskets, with two of them being rebounds and putbacks, as that gave the Eagles a 33-24 lead. Later in the third, Tycen Kilgo buried a three from the left wing to widen Cold Springs’ lead to 36-26 with a little over three minutes to go in the third. Hill knocked down a shot down low and later added a pair of free throws to keep the Eagle lead at 10 at 40-30 going into the final period. That would be the start of what would be a huge second half for Hill.
A basket by the Blue Devils made it a 42-34 game early in the fourth. Hallmon banked in a hook shot, and Black banked in a floater to give Cold Springs a 46-34 lead. Later in the fourth quarter, Dickerson knocked down a floater, and Hill scored through a foul and ended up hitting the free throw to stretch the Eagle lead to 51-36 with 3:48 remaining in the contest. Things quickly changed in the next 1:22, as Falkville charged right back into the game. The Blue Devils hit a basket down low, and Cold Springs was hit with three technicals in 15 seconds. Falkville made 5-8 from the free throw line, then added another free throw and a basket, and all of a sudden, the 15-point lead that the Eagles had was quickly swiveled down to just five at 51-46 with 2:26 remaining in the game.
Hill drove to the lane and laid it in to stop the bleeding, then later in the quarter, he scored through yet another foul and ended up completing the three-point play at the free throw line to give the Eagles a 56-47 lead. Hill put an exclamation point on the game and the area championship with a two-handed thunderous slam, as Cold Springs ended up defeating the Blue Devils, 60-49, to win this year’s Class 2A, Area 11 championship.
Hill finished with 19 points for the Eagles. Black added 13 points, while Hallmon and Dickerson each put in 10 points.
Cold Springs will host the Class 2A, Area 10 runner-up, Lamar County, in their Sub-Regional game on Saturday night at 6 p.m.
