By By Todd Thompson, Hartselle Enquirer
ATHENS - LeCresha Horton scored 21 points to lead Athens to a 56-41 victory over Hartselle Saturday in the Class 5A, Area 15 championship at Athens High School.
Athens improved to 23-7 overall with the win, while Hartselle dropped to 15-15.
Hartselle will face J.O. Johnson Thursday on the road in a Class 5A sub-regional game. Athens will host Butler.
J.O. Johnson beat Butler 51-43 in the Class 5A, Area 16 championship game.
Katie Young led Hartselle with 15 points and eight rebounds. Taylor White added 11 points with three 3-pointers in the first 16 minutes of the game.
After trailing at the end of the first quarter, Hartselle moved in front 19-4 with a strong run of six straight points.
The Lady Tigers led 25-23 at the end of the first half.
Hartselle added a 3-pointer to open the third quarter to run the lead to five points before Athens took control of the game down the stretch.
Hartselle 40, Russellville 34
Hartselle took advantage of a six-minute Russellville scoring drought to advance to the area tournament championship with a 40-34 victory over Russellville’s Lady Tigers.
Taylor White scored 11 points to pace the Lady Tigers, hitting thee of her five 3-point attempts in the game.
Alex Holmes added 10 points for Hartselle. She also had a team-high seven rebounds.
Russellville had a 14-2 lead in the first quarter, but the Lady Tigers scored just once more in the first half.
Hartselle went on a 18-2 run over a span of 8:42 to grab a 20-16 lead at the half.
White keyed the run with all three of her 3-pointers in the opening four minutes of the second half.
After several lead changes, Hartselle went in front 38-32 with 3:09 left in the game. The seven-point advantage was Hartselle’s largest lead in the game.
Natasha West scored with 1:02 remaining to make it a four-point game, but Hartselle forced a turnover with 23.6 seconds left to seal the win.
West finished with 16 points to lead Russellvile, while Erin Reynolds added 15 points.
Only three Russellville players scored in the game.