Haynes
Danville Hawk Andres Cordova looks for an opening to move the ball down court in the semi-final game of the Morgan County Tournament. Kyle Haynes and Marc McLendon of Priceville are blocking his attempt. Priceville won the contest with Danville and went onto win in the final game defeating West Morgan 60-57 taking the county
trophy. | Tammy Haynes

Caleb Suggs

Hartselle Enquirer

The last semi-final game to take place in the Morgan County Tournament featured the Priceville Bulldogs taking on the Danville Hawks. It was standing room only as these two teams delivered a thriller of a game.

The game started slow. Kyle Haynes would give Priceville the first lead at 3-0 but Preston Shelton would quickly cut the lead to 3-2. Early on in the game, the Bulldogs struggled to hit free throws. The two teams went back and forth for most of the game. Drew Fitzgerald would give Danville their first lead at 6-4 and then again later at 11-10 with a big three-pointer. Austin Smith would give the Bulldogs a 16-15 lead with just seconds remaining in the half. However, Danville would manage to retake the lead 17-16 just before the buzzer to take the lead into halftime.

The back and forth game would continue in the third quarter. Smith, Marc McLendon and Kyle Haynes would lead the charge for the Bulldogs while Fitzgerald and the Cordova brothers, Alan and Andres, provided the big baskets for the Hawks. Priceville would gain control of the first cushion by taking a 30-26 lead. However, after a free throw, Drew Fitzgerald would hit a huge deep three-pointer to tie the game 30-30 going into the fourth quarter.

In the fourth quarter, Priceville would begin to take control of the game.

The Bulldogs would take a 38-32 lead behind baskets from McLendon, Haynes and Parker Gwin. Preston Shelton would cut the lead to 38-34 but Haynes would extend the lead back to 42-34 with four free throws. At this point, the Bulldogs had taken control of the game and would go on to win 50-43.

Player of the game: Kyle Haynes. The senior leader showed out in this game with plenty of great baskets. However, his most important contribution came from behind the free throw line as his accuracy gave the Bulldogs valuable points, especially towards the end of the game.

Game stats:

Kyle Haynes led the Bulldogs with 22 points. Noah Fortner was the next leading scorer with 8 points and Mark McLendon had 7 points. Parker Gwin had 5 points and Austin Smith had 4 points and 6 rebounds. Jared McKelby and McClain Thompson each brought in 2 points.

Drew Fitzgerald led the Hawks with 21 points. Andres Cordova added 8 points for the Hawks with Preston Shelton adding 7 points and Alan Cordova adding 6 points.