Tigers finish week with two victories in three games
The Hartselle Tigers extended their win streak to four games after defeating Shelby County and Briarwood Christian. However, the streak ended with a loss on Friday to Mountain Brook.
“The team is showing growth each and every game with someone different stepping up in difficult situations,” coach Josh Golden said. “It seems like we have someone new every night that is stepping up to lead the team. It is not always leading the team in scoring, but by doing the little things or showing tremendous energy.” Hartselle 73, Shelby County 26 The Tigers opened the week with an in-school matchup with visiting Shelby County. The Hartselle student body showed up to help pack the stands.
Hartselle outscored Shelby County 16-6 in the first quarter before holding the Wildcats to just two points in the second quarter, while scoring 22 to extend their lead to 38-8 at halftime.
The Tigers continued to pull away in the third quarter, outscoring Shelby County 23-15 to take a 61-23 lead into the fourth quarter. They closed out the game by holding the Wildcats to just three points in the final quarter, while adding 12 more points to make the final score 73-26.
Reed Springer and Ty Odom each had 11 points to lead 11 Tigers in the scoring column. Rhett Boyd finished with nine points, seven assists, six rebounds and two assists. Carter Sheats added eight points and four assists.
Hartselle 69, Briarwood Christian 53 The first half between the Tigers and Briarwood Christian was a battle with Hartselle take a two-point lead, 27-25, into halftime. The teams were tied at 15-15 following the first quarter.
The Tigers and Lions’ defense stole the show to start the third quarter by holding each other to just two points midway through the period. However, the offenses woke up to close out the third as Hartselle outscored Briarwood Christian 19-14 to take a 48-41 lead into the fourth quarter. Hartselle continued to pull away in the fourth quarter outscoring the Lions 21-12 to get the 69-53 win.
Odom finished with 31 points and six rebounds to lead the Tigers. Gray Bennich added 10 points, while Aiden Pointer had nine points and five steals off the bench. Boyd finished with seven points and six rebounds.
Mountain Brook 55, Hartselle 41 The young Tigers faced a difficult challenge to close out the week as perennial state power Mountain Brook came to town.
Hartselle fought hard but the Spartans’ experience was too much to handle in the long run.
The Tigers lead in each of the first and second quarters, including coming from seven points down in the second to grab the lead before a 13-4 Mountain Brook run gave the Spar-tans a 26-18 lead at the half. Mountain Brook outscored Hartselle 22-16 in the third to take a 48-34 lead into the final quarter. Both teams finished with seven points in the fourth as the Spartans held on for the 55-41 win.
Springer led the Tigers with 11 points, while Odom and Bennich each finished with nine points. Boyd added seven points.
