By Staff
Staff Reports, Hartselle Enquirer
PRICEVILLE – A battle of Top 10 girl's teams, Hartselle (ranked No. 8, Class 5A) won a tough road game over Priceville (No. 9, 2A), 55-46.
The Lady Bulldogs held an early 11-point lead, but the Lady Tigers fought back to take a second period lead, only to lose control and trail by five points at halftime.
"Every thing they put up early in the game went in," Hartselle head coach Greg Adams said. "You have to give Priceville a lot of credit. They came out ready to play."
During the second half, the Lady Tiger defense took con
trol and Hartselle grabbed the lead for good with 1:07 to play in the third period.
"Our girls played hard. But, we just seemed to run out of steam in the second half," Priceville head coach Stacey Lovett said. "We just didn't make the baskets we needed at the end."
Jessica Andrews' three-point shot gave the Lady Tigers a 43-41 lead. In the final nine minutes of play, the Hartselle defense allowed only five points to the Lady Bulldogs.
Hartselle coach Adams said a week-and-a-half layoff affected the Lady Tigers' performance.
"A 10-day layoff hurt us," Adams said. "You can't simulate games in practice. It showed in the first quarter, we didn't play defense. We give up 21 points in the first period and only 25 points in the final three.
"It just took our defense a while to get back up to game speed. But in the second half I think our defense wore on them and they turned it over a few times in the fourth period that kept them from getting back into the game."
In the final period Lauren Drake scored seven points and Andrews added six more as Hartselle extended a one-point lead with four minutes to play to nine as the game clock expired.
Shan Jones scored a game-high 16 points, while Andrews scored 14 and Drake added 13 more.
Mary Virginia Reeves scored 10 and Anna Reeves had two. The Lady Tigers improved to 9-2, while the Lady Bulldogs' record slipped to 10-2.
Kristy Barker led Priceville with 13, followed by Tiffany Smith with 11, Emily Jenkins and Adrianna Delatore scored five each. Jessi Smith and Lauren Bowen scored four each, while Sumer Boyd had two points.
Hartselle played without Tiffahne Orr, who tore her ACL in practice on Tuesday and is out for the season.
Tigers 55, Bulldogs 46
Hartselle used a 24-14 run over the final 10 minutes of play to hold off Priceville, 55-46.
After Priceville's Alex Cannon sank a jumper with two minutes left in the third period to give Priceville a 32-31 lead, the Tigers went on the game-deciding run. Keith Rodgers, Samuel Massey and Alex Thompson keyed the run combing for 17 of the 24 Tigers points down the stretch.
The win was the fifth in 13 games for the Tigers.
Rodgers finished with 18 points, followed by Massey with 17, Thompson with nine, Eric Norwood added five and Steven Chop and Daxton Maze scored two each.
Stephen Hardiman scored a game-high 20 for the Bulldogs, followed by Alex Cannon with 14, Dale Taylor with nine and Andrew Johnson with three. Priceville's record slipped to 6-8.