Caleb Suggs

Hartselle Enquirer

The Lady Patriots have had an up and down few weeks to say the least. Since losing star player Shyan Flack and the Morgan County championship, the Patriots rebounded with a revenge win over Hartselle and wins over Cullman and Fort Payne to clinch home court advantage in the area tournament. However, Brewer also suffered rough back-to-back losses to Boaz and Fairview in which their offense was almost nonexistent. It was anyone’s guess which team would show up for their first round area tournament game vs. Albertville.

Brewer opened the game on fire. Henslee Brindley gave the Patriots their first four points and then Jaycie Andrews and Liesha Steger delivered five and four points to give brewer a 17-7 lead at the end of one. McCarley Northway added five points of her own in the second quarter as Brewer took the lead at halftime 26-13.

In the second half, the Lady Patriots continued to spread the ball around to perfection. Katelyn Childs hit back-to-back three point shots and Abby Hufnagle added a three point shot of her own. Brewer led 44-25 at the end of the third and won the game 52-30. McCarley Northway led the balanced Patriots with 10 points.

After the game, head coach Ron Smith was pleased with his team’s performance. “We had a couple games where I don’t really know what happened but we couldn’t generate any offense.” Smith said. “We switched our lineup up some for this game and it worked good.” Smith identified the Patriot’s ability to pass the ball around as the key to their postseason success. “With Shyan out that is what we have to do.”

Brewer will play Fort Payne in the area championship on Thursday February 9 at Brewer High School at 6 p.m. The Patriots advanced to the Sub-regionals next week with the win over Albertville.