Priceville finishes second, makes playoffs
A small but tenacious team with a dead eye for perimeter shots and free throws stole the show in the final game of the Class 4A, Area 13 girl’s basketball tournament at Priceville High School Gym Saturday night as Good Hope (27-4) pulled off 74-65 win over Priceville (19-10) to advance to the sub-regional round as area champions.
The Lady Bulldogs go on the road Thursday to play Haleyville in a sub-regional game.
Adding to the dramatic finish was the performance of Nina Mills, the smallest player on the court. The 5-3 Good Hope point guard swished the nets for 41 points.
The Lady Raiders led 7-5 after one quarter, 24-21 at halftime and 44-36 after three quarters. They also jumped out to a 14-point lead at the 5:21 mark in the final period before Priceville mounted a strong comeback and pulled to within two points, 63-65, with 1:14 left.
During the 3:07 run, Sydney McLendon scored 5 points, Presley Darling, 3, Morgan Ponder, 2 and Amber Smith 2.
Mills iced the game by hitting on 7 of 8 of eight shots from the foul line in the last minute of the game.
“We also dug ourselves a hole early in the game and then got behind by 14 in the fourth quarter,” said Catrina Mason, Priceville head coach. “However, my girls never quit. They played hard and gave it everything they had all the way to the end.”
Mason indicated that there may still be a battle to fight between them before the season is over.
“We’ll see them again in the regional finals,” Mason predicted.
Leading scorers for Priceville were McLendon with 25 points. Molly Thompson with 21, and Morgan Ponder and Amber Smith with 20 each.