Tuesday night’s matchup between No. 7 Hartselle and Muscle Shoals gave fans an early Christmas present. The teams battled in a hard-fought, back and forth game all night long.

Hartselle came out on top as they defeated the Trojans 60-53 in a battle of two of the top 6A boy’s teams in North Alabama. The win was the Tigers second over Muscle Shoals in the last two weeks.

In the first half, the largest lead either team would have was four points. The Tigers held an 18-16 lead after the first quarter but saw Muscle Shoals outscore them by six in the second to take a 30-26 lead at halftime.

The Trojans jumped out to a 37-30 lead to start the third. Hartselle closed the quarter on a 12-5 run to tie the game at 42-42.

The back and forth play continued in the fourth as Hartselle would take three-point leads on two different occasions only to have the Trojans battle back to tie the game. Muscle Shoals took their final lead of the game a little over three minutes remaining at 51-49. From there it was all Tigers as they went on an 11-2 run to close out the game with all 11 points coming from the free-throw line.

“This was a good win,” said Hartselle coach Faron Key. “We had a bad game but found a way to pull out a win.”

Hartselle (11-3) was led by the trio of Brody Peebles, Tad Sivley, and Trent Wright. Peebles finished with a game-high 22 points, Sivley added 17 points and 10 rebounds, and Wright scored 11. The three combined for 12 of the Tigers 17 steals.

Muscle Shoals (7-2) was led by Nick Griffith who finished with 15 points and Mikey McIntosh who added 13. The two combined for 21 points in the first half but was held to just seven in the second half.

Girls

Muscle Shoals 51, Hartselle 48: Hartselle fell 51-48 to Muscle Shoals on Tuesday night. The Trojans rallied back from two separate five-point leads in the fourth quarter by the Tigers.

It was Muscle Shoals who led 17-6 at the end of the first and 24-20 at halftime. The Tigers made it close in the second as they started the quarter on a 9-0 run to cut the lead to 17-15.

Jessica Jarrett pulls down a rebound over a Muscle Shoals’ defender. Photo by James Meadows.

Hartselle outscored Muscle Shoals 22-13 in the third to take their largest lead of the game at 42-37.

Hartselle (7-7) was led by Masyn Marchbanks’ 12 points, while Carrington Hogan added 12. Lillyanna Cartee finished with 10 points, six rebounds, and three blocks.

Muscle Shoals (7-5) was led by Sara Puckett who scored a game-high 23 points while Makiyah Harrison finished with 11 points.