By Staff
Tigers win first county title since 2003; defeat Priceville in final
Justin Schuver, Hartselle Enquirer
The Tigers put the finishing touches on a strong run through the Morgan County tournament bracket with a 56-36 win over Priceville in the championship game Saturday night at Priceville High School.
Hartselle, the No. 3 seed in the bracket, defeated No. 2 Falkville 59-53 Friday evening to make it to the championship game and No. 5 Priceville knocked off No. 1 West Morgan 56-52 in overtime in the other semifinal.
"It was a very balanced county from top to bottom," Priceville coach Darrell Haynes said. "The way we did the seeding it was really anybody's tournament to win."
The Tigers' county title was their first since 2003. It was an especially sweet championship for Hartselle, which won just two games in the 2005-06 season.
"You just really want to recognize these guys because of what they went through and the way they handled it," Hartselle coach Johnny Berry said. "Last year, they could have quit or given up and they didn't. They believed in what we were doing and this title is a testament to all that hard work."
In the championship game, Hartselle held a 22-17 lead after halftime and came out blazing to open the second half. The Tigers went on a 8-0 run before the Bulldogs scored on a K.C. Green free throw with 3:56 left in the third quarter.
Hartselle led 36-23 after three quarters and opened the fourth quarter with an 11-2 run to put the game out of reach for Priceville, which was attempting to win its first county title since the school re-started its varsity program in 2001.
A key to Hartselle's victory was the Tigers' defense, particularly senior Ryne Lindsey who was given the defensive assignment of guarding Priceville's star guard Josh Bedwell. Lindsey held Bedwell to 10 points.
"Ryne is one of those seniors who went through that tough year last year," Berry said. "He did a great job on Josh and really our whole defense stepped it up tonight."
Hartselle senior Jackson Holmes scored 12 points to lead the Tigers in the championship game on the way to being named the county's most valuable player. It was the first county title of any kind for Holmes, who transferred to Hartselle from Falkville as a 10th grader.
"This was huge for not only me but also for all the seniors," Holmes said. "It's really nice to be playing this well at this time of year."
Victor Stansberry and Alex Brown each added 11 for Hartselle (15-12). Tyler Young had nine points and Lindsey scored eight.
Green was the leading scorer for Priceville (13-13) with 14 points.
The two teams faced off again Monday night at Hartselle's Pettey Center in a regular season game.
Semifinal games
Hartselle boys 59, Falkville boys 53
Hartselle's Victor Stansberry was 6-of-6 from the free throw line to help the Tigers hold on in the fourth quarter against Falkville in a semifinal game Friday evening.
The Tigers led 41-38 after three quarters of play and the teams exchanged leads several times in a wild fourth quarter. Falkville's Heath Alford hit a lay-up with 12 seconds left in the game to cut Hartselle's lead to 56-53 but Stansberry hit two free throws 2 seconds later to help close out the game.
Stansberry led Hartselle with 16 points, followed by Holmes with 12 and Alex Brown with 10. Luke Bole and Tyler Young each added nine for the Tigers.
Falkville was led by Alford with 20 points, while Steven Lindsey and Joseph Lacy each added 10 for the Blue Devils (11-11).
Priceville boys 56, West Morgan boys 52 (OT)
The Bulldogs upset top-seeded West Morgan in overtime Jan. 25 at Priceville High School, coming back from a 12-point halftime deficit along the way.
Priceville was behind 28-16 after one half of play and continued to trail for most of the second half. The Bulldogs took their first lead of the game with 3:16 left in the fourth quarter when Josh Bedwell hit a jumpshot to put Priceville up 43-42. The teams exchanged leads several times before Bedwell hit a pair of free throws with 17 seconds left to tie the game at 50-all and send it into overtime.
Priceville won the opening tip of the extra period and scored the first basket when Bedwell hit a three-pointer 31 seconds in. The Bulldogs never trailed the rest of the way.
"The guys decided at halftime that we wanted to cut into that lead and we were able to get it tied," Priceville coach Darrell Haynes said.
Bedwell led the Bulldogs with 21 points. Micah Randolph was the leading scorer for the Rebels with 18 points.
First round game
Hartselle boys 77, Danville boys 39
The Tigers had 11 players score at least a point in their opening round victory at the Morgan County Tournament Jan. 23.
Hartselle led 32-19 at halftime and opened the second half on a 12-0 run to put the game out of reach early.
Jackson Holmes led Hartselle with 13 points and Luke Bole added 10.
Zack Orr finished with 23 points for Danville (2-18).