HANCEVILLE, Ala.- The Holly Pond Broncos opened up day two of the NW Regionals with a 9 a.m. matchup against the no. 2-ranked Mars Hill Panthers on Wednesday morning with a trip to the Elite Eight on the line.
The Panthers, led by the 2028 no. 1 girls basketball recruit in the state in Belle Hill, got out to a quick lead and more than doubled up the Broncos in paint points and second chance points on the way to a 68-38 win.
The Broncos struggled to contain Hill, who holds offers from Tennessee, Alabama, Auburn and Michigan State among many other top programs. She’d go on to score 41 points, grab 14 rebounds, dish two assists and notch four blocks and steals each.
She got out to a hot start, scoring six in the Panthers 10-0 run to open the game. The Lady Broncos finally found their first bucket on a mid-range jumper from Ava Thomas. After another bucket from Hill, who muscled her way through the Broncos interior defense, Holly Pond got a three to fall from Maggie Nail and a layup from Thomas that bounced in at the buzzer to make it a 16-7 Mars Hill lead at the end of the first.
After starting to settle down, make better reads and take open shots when they seldom came, the Broncos found some offensive rhythm in the second. A three and a driving lay from Thomas got points on the board, but Holly Pond was still unable to slow down Hill, who scored 11 straight for the Panthers to stretch the lead to 29-15 mid-way through the second. A three from Madison Butts and a pair of free throws and a jumper from Sadie Nail closed out the half for Holly Pond, who went into the break trailing 34-19.
The entirety of the second half went much like the second, with Holly Pond finding buckets on occasion, namely from Thomas and Maggie Nail, but responding runs by Hill all but nullified them. In the end, the Lady Broncos fell 68-38 in the Sweet Sixteen match, ending their season after a 13-15 campaign.
Leading Holly Pond was Thomas with 14 points, and six rebounds, followed by Maggie Nail with nine points, four rebounds and three assists.
