By Staff
3rd time's the charm: Brewer knocks off Hartselle in girls' championship
Justin Schuver, Hartselle Enquirer
The Lady Patriots felt they were good enough to defeat No. 2 Hartselle after playing the Lady Tigers close in two previous regular season matchups. Saturday evening, they proved they were good enough.
Brewer won the Morgan County Tournament with a 66-50 win over Hartselle, giving the Lady Patriots their fifth county title in the last six years. Hartselle, the 2006 champion, was the only team to break up Brewer's dominance.
"We felt that the first two times we played them we were maybe a little nervous," Brewer coach Ricky Allen said. "The key is that we just came out there relaxed this time. This was a really special win for our seniors, because they were heartbroken last year (when Hartselle beat Brewer in the county final 69-52)."
In previous games against Hartselle this season, Brewer lost 44-40 on Jan. 12 and 51-45 on Dec. 8.
Brewer senior guard Andrea Crawford led the Lady Patriots with 17 points and was named the most valuable player of the tournament. Crawford also won the award in 2005 as a sophomore.
Each of the 10 Brewer starters scored at least one point in the win.
"We've always been a team that's going to play all 10," Allen said. "Every one of those girls brought something to this win."
Hartselle led 28-23 after halftime but Brewer eventually moved in front 31-30 on Emily Dabbs' two free throws with 3:30 left in the third quarter. The Lady Patriots closed out the third quarter with a run and led 40-33 heading into the fourth quarter.
It was a tough loss for Hartselle (22-4), which dropped its first game this season against a Class 5A team. The Lady Tigers' previous defeats came at the hands of two Tennessee teams and Class 6A No. 2 Bob Jones.
The two teams will possibly meet again in the area tournament at Hartselle, which begins Feb. 8.
"I think it came down to our shots weren't falling and theirs were," Hartselle coach Greg Adams said. "When you get two evenly-matched teams, a lot of times that can be the difference.
"It won't be hard getting my girls motivated if we end up playing them again at the area tournament."
Emily Dabbs added 16 points and five rebounds for Brewer (16-7), which also got 13 points and seven rebounds from Courtney Scott.
Lauren Drake had 19 points to lead Hartselle, followed by Mary Virginia Reeves with 11. Jessica Andrews added nine for the Lady Tigers.
Semifinal games
Brewer girls 102, Danville girls 41
Brewer's offense put on a show for fans at the Morgan County Tournament in a semifinal win Friday night.
The Lady Patriots opened the game with a 15-2 run and never looked back, leading 47-19 at halftime and 69-27 after three quarters. Five players scored in double figures for Brewer and the Lady Patriots shot 15-of-29 from three-point range in the win.
"These girls really wanted to play Hartselle (in the final)," Brewer coach Ricky Allen said. "But we never brought it up during the week at practice; we wanted to focus our attention on this game and taking care of business."
Morgan Crawley's three-pointer with 12 seconds left put Brewer over the 100-point mark and sent the Lady Patriots' fans into a frenzy.
Andrea Crawford led Brewer with 22 points, followed by Emily Dabbs with 19 including four three-pointers. Crawley added 16 and Courtney Scott and Genie Browning each added 10 points.
It was tough sledding for Danville (14-11), who will host the Class 3A, Area 11 tournament after winning the regular season area championship. The Lady Hawks were led by Alaina Fitzgerald's 14 points and Lauren Simmons added nine.
Hartselle girls 52, Priceville girls 28
The Lady Tigers closed down Priceville defensively in a semifinal matchup Jan. 25 to move into the championship game.
Hartselle led 27-10 at halftime and 34-15 after three quarters.
Lauren Drake led the Lady Tigers with 15 points and 14 rebounds. Jessica Andrews finished with 13 points and seven assists and Mary Virginia Reeves added seven points and eight rebounds.
For Priceville (13-11), Melissa Johnson and Abbie Harris led the way with eight points each. Johnson added six rebounds and Adrianna Delatorre led the Lady Bulldogs with seven rebounds.
First round game
Danville girls 43, West Morgan girls 30
Danville moved into the semifinal with its win over the Lady Rebels Jan. 23.
The Lady Hawks pushed their lead to 11 points after three quarters of play and cruised from there.
The Lady Hawks were led by Alaina Fitzgerald's 14 points. Lauren Simmons added 10 for Danville, which led 22-14 at halftime.
Mikaila Etheredge led West Morgan with eight points.