By Staff
Justin Schuver and Clif Knight, Hartselle Enquirer
Six losses worth of frustration finally came to an end Friday night for the Hartselle Tigers, as they picked up their first win of the season with a 39-32 win over Brewer, who fell to 6-5 for the season.
"They're just so ecstatic," Hartselle coach Johnny Berry said. "These guys have worked so hard. They've been so resilient, they continue to believe in what we've been telling them. There's not been one practice where we've had to say, 'Guys, you've got to pick it up.'
"They haven't been walking around frustrated, they've been doing what we've asked them to do and they've been doing a great job. It was nice for them to finally get a reward for that work."
The Tigers used a stifling defense to their advantage, holding Brewer to just 11 points in the first half and two points in the second quarter. Hartselle led 22-10 after the first half, but the Patriots mounted a comeback by outscoring Hartselle 13-8 in the third quarter.
A Hartselle assistant coach told the Tigers "Finish the job!" before the start of the fourth quarter, and the team responded. Brewer cut the lead to just five points with 2:35 left on a three-pointer by Brandon Franks, but the Patriots could get no closer.
Johnny Jones was fouled after grabbing a rebound, and hit a pair of free throws to put Hartselle up 37-30 with less than two minutes left. Matt Nielsen hit a field goal for Brewer with 49 seconds remaining, but it was too little too late for the visiting Patriots.
Although Hartselle took the win, their coach was less than pleased with the team's efforts at the free-throw line. The Tigers made just seven of 18 shots from the charity stripe, including 7-of-13 in the fourth quarter.
"We shoot always shoot a bunch of free throws (in practice)," Berry said. "But you don't shoot them in front of a big crowd with a five- point lead in a big rivalry game and you're 0-6. You don't get that kind of scenario in practice.
"We've got to keep playing and working and keep working on our foul shots.
"Some of those guys who missed them, now they've had to shoot them in a key situation, and maybe they can step up and make them when it counts on the road."
Tyler Young led the Tigers in scoring with nine points, followed by Victor Stansberry and Jones with eight each. Jones and Justin Billings each pulled down six rebounds for Hartselle.
Brandon Franks led the Patriots with 12 points, all of which came on three-pointers. Matt Nielsen added nine and Rusty Boyd had six. Nielsen also led the team with 10 rebounds.
Hartselle girls 66
Brewer girls 48
Hartselle out-rebounded the Patriots 36-18 as the Lady Tigers improved their record to 7-2 with a 66-48 win over their county rival Friday night at the Pettey Center.
Before the game, Hartselle senior Shan Jones was honored for scoring her 1,000th career point in a game earlier this season against West Morgan. Jones was presented with a game ball and a plaque by Lady Tigers coach Greg Adams.
The game remained close through the first half, with the Lady Patriots holding a 25-24 lead at halftime. In the third quarter, Hartselle outscored Brewer 29-9 behind the pinpoint shooting of Jessica Andrews and Anna Reeves.
Andrews finished the game with nine points, all on three-pointers and all in the third quarter. Reeves finished with 15 points after nailing five three-pointers.
"I knew that if we could get the ball inside to our post players that we could open up some shots on the perimeter," Adams said.
Mary Virginia Reeves led the Lady Tigers with 16 points and Jones added 14. Lauren Drake finished with 12.
Drake finished the game with a double-double, pulling down 15 rebounds to lead the team. Reeves added 11 rebounds and Jones led the team with seven assists.
Andrea Crawford led Brewer with 17 points.
Cullman boys 52
Hartselle boys 34
Hartselle's winning streak was short-lived as the Tigers fell in a tough game Saturday against Cullman. The Tigers were just 11-of-39 shooting and had 27 turnovers.
"Against Brewer we only had six turnovers and Saturday we had 27," Berry said. "When you turn the ball over and you don't shoot well, that's a combination that's not going to win you a lot of ball games."
Justin Billings led Hartselle with eight points, followed by Johnny Jones with seven. Jackson Holmes had a good night rebounding, finishing with 10 to lead the Tigers.
Cullman girls 50
Hartselle girls 49
The Lady Tigers led by eight points at the start of the fourth quarter, but saw that lead collapse down the stretch as they fell at home to Cullman Saturday night.
Hartselle failed to get off a shot on two of its final four possessions.
Mary Virginia Reeves led the way for Hartselle with 17 points.
Falkville girls 49
Randolph girls 38
Falkville's Lady Blue Devils had three players score in double figures as they defeated area opponent Randolph 48-38 at home Friday night.
The Lady Blue Devils were ahead 10-2 after one period and led 24-19 at the half and 36-31 after three periods. The win was their fourth in seven games and first win in area competition.
Emily Dabbs led the Blue Devils in scoring with 13 points.
Falkville boys 61
Randolph boys 32
Falkville's Blue Devils logged a 29-point third quarter blitz and went on to score an impressive 61-32 win over area opponent Randolph at home Friday night. The win improved the Blue Devils' record to 5-2 overall.
The Blue Devils led 12-9 after one period, 23-13 at the half and 52-20 after three quarters.
Heath Alford led the victorious Blue Devils in scoring with 23 points.
Danville girls 49
J.B. Pennington girls 39
Danville had little difficulty in picking up its third area win of the season as the Lady Hawks defeated the Tigers.
Kristen Sparkman led the way for the Lady Hawks with 19 points and also pulled down seven rebounds. Lauren Simmons led the team with nine rebounds and added nine points.
Danville boys 57
J.B. Pennington boys 52
Chris Vest's 22 points helped lead Danville to a five-point victory over area opponent J.B. Pennington. Roger Smith added 12 points for the Hawks, who improved to 6-3 overall.
Priceville girls 58
Catholic girls 23
Keila Hamlin outscored Catholic by herself, finishing with 24 points as the Lady Bulldogs picked up an area win Friday night. Brittany Shelton led Priceville with 10 rebounds and scored six points.
Megan Smith scored 14 for Catholic in a losing effort.
Priceville boys 59
Catholic boys 35
Eleven different Bulldogs scored points Friday night as Priceville picked up an area win over Catholic.
Alex Cannon led the way for Priceville, finishing with 12 points. Josh Bedwell scored 11 points and Stephen Hardiman added 10 for the Bulldogs.