By Staff
Tigers fall to Cullman, while Lady Tigers triumph 58-46
Nick Johnston, Hartselle Enquirer
CULLMAN – Justin Hollingsworth was unstoppable.
The Cullman senior scored 34 points, as Hartselle fell to the Bearcats 78-65 Tuesday night.
It was the typical Cullman vs. Hartselle game – a lot of complaining about the officiating by the visiting team.
In girls action, Greg Adams' Lady Tigers defeated Cullman 58-46.
"It was ugly but it's a win," Adams said.
Hartselle's next scheduled game is Friday night at Athens.
Cullman 78, Hartselle 65
Fans voiced their displeasure all night with the officiating, especially in the second quarter.
Head coach Johnny Berry did not want to discuss it.
"The officials didn't beat us," he said. "I don't usually comment about officiating after a game. We had a bad second quarter, and part of that was our fault."
Which part is yet to be determined, but the Bearcats ended the second quarter with a 15-2 run, giving Cullman a 36-24 lead at halftime. The teams were tied at 15-all at the end of the first quarter.
Zac Ward, who scored a team-high 29 points, put the Tigers within nine at 38-29 with 6:48 remaining in the third, but Cullman responded with a 12-0 rally.
Hartselle trailed by as much as 22 early in the fourth quarter before a late rally cut the Bearcats' lead to 64-57.
But Hollingsworth and Michael Rutledge proved too much down the stretch to preserve a Cullman win.
Tyler Reeves scored 18 for Hartselle and Marlon Chapman added eight.
Rutledge ended the night with 22 points, while Joseph McPhillips scored 15.
For the game, Cullman shot 32 free throws, while Hartselle shot six.
Hartselle 58, Cullman 46
Girls
Greg Adams said his team is starting to build a little confidence after two consecutive big wins.
"We are building a little confidence," he said, "but if we are going to begin getting better, we have to shoot the ball better."
Adams and the Lady Tigers swept into Cullman for a 58-46 win, landing three players in double figures.
Regan Sandlin led the charge with 13 points, Paige Chatman had 11 while freshman Shan Jones scored 10.
Hartselle held the lead for good after Jones' layup with 2:13 remaining in the first half.
"Last year, if we had played this bad, we would have got beat," he said. "But, we're 75 percent of the way to last year's win total."
Hartselle is 6-4.
In other Hartselle games…
Hartselle 54, Austin 38
Girls (Saturday)
It's been a long time coming for Greg Adams and his Lady Tigers.
For the first time since 1997, the Lady Tigers defeated Austin 54-38 Saturday.
"We really worked on some things in practice this week," Adams said. "Our thing (Saturday) night was offensive execution."
Though the execution, perhaps, was not there early in the contest, Hartselle rebounded for the big win.
See HARTSELLE, B-3