By Russell Frye

For The Enquirer

Hanceville, AL – Danville travelled to Wallace State Community College on Monday for a Northwest Regional semifinal matchup with the Deshler Lady Tigers.

Both teams are familiar with Wallace State and Tom Drake Coliseum this time of year. The Lady Hawks were making their sixth regional appearance since 2010 while Deshler was making their seventh appearance.

This is the third Northwest Regional meeting for the teams since 2015. The previous two were Regional Championship games with Deshler winning both.

The Lady Hawks, coached by JJ Hill, were looking to for history to not repeat this year.

The first quarter ended tied at nine as both teams combined to go 7-28 from the field including 0-11 from the three-point line.

The teams began to heat up in the second quarter. Deshler outscored the Lady Hawks 21-20 to give them a one-point advantage heading into halftime, 30-29. Danville hit four 3-pointers in the quarter to keep the game close.

Deshler built some separation in the third by outscoring Danville 10-5, giving them a 40-34 lead.

The fourth quarter started with a Deshler 4-0 run to increase their lead to 10, 44-34. Danville battled back by outscoring the Lady Tigers 9-2 to cut the lead to three, 46-43, with 3:10 left but they couldn’t get any closer. The Lady Hawks leading scorer, Jolee Cole, fouled out at the 4:20 mark as they were cutting into the Deshler lead.

Deshler finished the game by scoring seven of the final nine points to give them the victory, 53-45.

Danville (19-9) was led by Cole who finished with 17 points while Madison Cartee added nine points and nine rebounds.

Deshler (23-9) was led by Chloe Siegel who finished with a game-high 18 points to go along with Abbi Holley’s 15 points and seven assists.

The Lady Tigers advance to the Northwest Regional final where they will meet the Rogers Lady Pirates who defeated Priceville earlier in the day.

Final Game

Today’s game marked the final time that Cole, a Faulkner signee, and Kayla Compton will take the floor in a Lady Hawks’ uniform. The two seniors have been a part of the varsity team since their freshmen season in 2015-16. They graduate having been a part of 77 wins over their four-year career.

Earlier this season Coach JJ Hill had the following to say about his two seniors,

“They are both great athletes but even better human beings.  They are wonderful leaders and their teammates look up to them.  They are first to practice and last to leave. We are going to miss them tremendously! There is zero doubt in my mind that they will both go on to be successful and outstanding adults.”