Brewer’s McCarley Northway drives around Hartselle’s Allie Mayfield. | Caleb Suggs

Brewer girls avenge county title loss to Hartselle

Caleb Suggs

Hartselle Enquirer

Most people figured they would see a rematch of the Morgan County girl’s championship the following week when Brewer traveled to take on Hartselle. However, they didn’t figure that it would be Brewer going for revenge. Brewer was the odds on favor to win the 2017 tournament, but Hartselle upset them 47-45 to win their third straight title. Therefore, the Lady Patriots would get their final opportunity to take revenge on the Tigers.

Brewer opened the game by taking a 6-2 lead with baskets from Jacie Andrews, McCarley Northway and Madisen Adams. Moriah Taylor cut the lead to 6-5 with a three point shot, but Northway extended it back with a three pointer of her own. The Tigers went on a 6-0 run from there to take an 11-8 lead. Brewer’s Leisha Steger tied it up with a three point shot, but Taylor gave the Tigers the lead 13-11 with a shot just before the first quarter buzzer.

Hartselle opened the second quarter on a three point frenzy as they hit three in a row, two from Taylor and one from Lindsay Berry, to take a 22-11 lead. Steger and Andrews helped trim the lead to 25-17 but the Tigers managed to take the lead into halftime 31-22.

The third quarter looked like it would be much of the same as Hartselle opened on a 8-3 run to push their lead to 39-31. However, six points from Jacie Andrews helped spark an 11-2 run that cut the lead to 41-38 at the end of the third. Katelyn Childs put the finishing touches on the run with a three point shot just before the buzzer.

From there, it was all Lady Patriots. Brewer outscored Hartselle 14-6 in the final quarter en route to a 52-47 win.

Brewer’s head coach Ron Smith was pleased with the way his team bounced back. “We finally made a couple shots and our intensity was just better in the second half.” Smith said. “We passed the ball around better in the second half and started cutting better and that helped.” Smith didn’t shy away from excitement of beating Hartselle as well. “Any time you beat Hartselle, especially when we just lost to them Saturday, it gives you confidence because it’s a rivalry game.”

Jacie Andrews finished the night as the team’s leading scorer with 16 points. McCarley Northway was second with 15 and Leisha Steger finished with 12. Moriah Taylor led the Tigers with 22.