By Staff
Priceville's Bedwell scores 30 in Bulldogs' win over Tigers
Justin Schuver and Clif Knight, Hartselle Enquirer
Priceville's Andrew Johnson hit one of two free throws with six seconds left and Hartselle players missed two chances to tie the game late as the Bulldogs left Pettey Center Friday night with a tough 56-54 win over the Tigers.
Hartselle ended the third quarter with a 40-38 lead but Priceville tied the game just 15 seconds into the fourth quarter on a field goal by Stephen Hardiman. The fourth quarter remained close the entire game, and Hartselle led by one point with just 2:57 left in the game.
That's when Josh Bedwell went to work. Bedwell, who finished with a game-high 30 points, nailed a three-pointer with 1:38 left to put Priceville up 52-49. He also hit two key free throws with 18.5 seconds left to give Priceville a 55-52 lead.
Steven Chop scored on a layup with 9.3 seconds left, and Hartselle quickly called timeout with the score 55-54 in favor of the Bulldogs. The Tigers then fouled Johnson on the ensuing inbounds play, and the junior guard helped increase the lead to two points.
Hartselle immediately raced down the court, and Victor Stansberry drove into the paint and tried a finger roll that would not go down. Tyler Young picked up the offensive rebound and tried to score as the buzzer sounded, but again Hartselle could not get the shot to fall and Priceville celebrated its victory.
"We didn't do a very good job defending tonight," said Hartselle coach Johnny Berry, whose Tigers fell to 1-10. "Bedwell's a great player but we let him get to the goal too much. Our post play was good, but I was a little disappointed in our guards; I didn't think they played as well as they could.
Jackson Holmes shined for the Tigers, finishing the game with 16 points. After being outscored 27-24 in the first half, Hartselle made a concerted effort to get the ball in the post more in the second half. Holmes delivered, and also finished six-for-six from the foul line in the second half.
"I thought our post players did some good things," Berry said. "We kept going inside because we thought we had an advantage there. I thought Jackson Holmes played great. He went to the goal; he got some buckets; he did a good job at the foul line."
As a team, Hartselle shot 80 percent from the free throw line (20-of-25), a far cry from the team's average of 58.6 percent going into Friday night's game. In the first half, 13 of Hartselle's 24 points came off free throws.
Stansberry added 14 points for Hartselle, and Justin Billings and Young each had eight. Alex Cannon added 11 for the victorious Bulldogs, who improved to 7-5 on the season.
Hartselle girls 74
Priceville girls 44
Lauren Drake scored the 1,000th point of her career in the third quarter as Hartselle cruised to an easy 30-point victory over the visiting Lady Bulldogs Friday night.
Hartselle led by 16 after the first quarter and never looked back while improving to 8-4. Drake became the second Hartselle player this season to break the 1,000-point mark – Shan Jones accomplished the feat Nov. 29 against West Morgan.
Drake finished the game with 13 points. Jones led the Lady Tigers with 22, Jessica Andrews added 11 and Anna Reeves finished with 10. Keila Hamlin led the way for Priceville with 17 points, followed by Adrianna Delatorre with 10.
Danville girls 43
Good Hope girls 38
Danville's Lady Hawks came back from a five-point deficit at halftime to defeat the Lady Raiders at Danville Friday night.
Lauren Simmons led the way for the Lady Hawks with 16 points, followed by Kristen Sparkman with 10 and Bethany Evans with eight. Simmons and Sparkman each finished the game with eight rebounds and Evans added five steals.
Jessica Raper led Good Hope with nine points, followed by Heather Buchanan and Brittany Fowler with seven each.
Danville improved its overall record to 7-2 and 4-1 in area play with the victory.
Danville finishes 1-1 at Decatur Heritage Mountain Dew Shootout Saturday
The Lady Hawks finished second at the Decatur Heritage Mountain Dew Shootout Saturday, defeating Phil Campbell 64-59 before falling to champion and host Decatur Heritage 58-38.
Against Phil Campbell, the Lady Hawks trailed eight points at halftime before rallying for the victory. Lauren Simmons led Danville with 21 points and Alaina Fitzgerald added 15.
Danville's record stands at 8-3 for the season.
Decatur boys 57
Brewer boys 37
Decatur's Red Raiders outscored Brewer's Patriots by 15 points in the second half and went on to defeat the Patriots 57-37 in a home game Friday.
The Red Raiders were ahead 14-10 after one period and led 25-20 at halftime.
Matt Nielsen led Brewer with 16 points.
Brewer girls 60
Decatur girls 45
Andrea Crawford scored 21 points to lead Brewer's Lady Patriots to a 60-45 victory over Decatur's Red Raiders in a road game Friday.
The game was tied at 14 after one period and Brewer was up 28-24 at halftime and 37-34 after three quarters.
Genie Browning followed Crawford in scoring with 13 points.
Falkville girls 45
West Morgan girls 27
Emily Dabbs continued her solid season, scoring 21 points to help lead the Lady Blue Devils to a win over Class 3A West Morgan Saturday night. The game was originally scheduled for Nov. 15 but was postponed because of inclement weather on that day.
Falkville boys 39
West Morgan boys 38
Heath Alford scored 23 points as Falkville held on for a nail-biting victory over the Rebels Saturday. With the win, the Blue Devils improved to 6-3 on the season.