By Staff
Clif Knight &Charles Prince, Hartselle Enquirer
Brewer High School's Patriots and Lady Patriots both claimed championship honors of the Morgan County Basketball Tournament at West Morgan Saturday night for the second straight year.
The Patriots prevailed over the West Morgan Rebels, 61-49, in a hard-fought contest that wasn't decided until the final quarter. The Lady Patriots came out on top over Hartselle's Lady Tigers, 46-41, in a tough defensive battle.
Boy's championship
Brewer 61, West Morgan 49
The Patriots, 16-7 overall, got off to a fast start and led the Rebels, 11-11 overall, throughout the contest. They held a 20-14 advantage after one period and were up by nine points, 31-22, at halftime. The Rebels cut the lead to six points, 39-33, after three periods and pulled to within three, 44-41, with 5:05 left in the game. The Patriots staged a 12-7 run over the next three minutes and was up by 11, 56-45, with 1:55 left in the game.
Austin Mooney and Matt Neilsen each scored 17 points to lead the Patriots. Derrick Black followed with 14 points.
Stephen Korpi paced the Rebels with 12 points. Jonathan Pritchard and K.D. Mason each added 10 points.
The Patriots earned the right for a shot at a second straight county title by defeating Danville's Hawks, 62-54, in a semi-final match-up Friday night. The Rebels advanced with a 41-38 decision over Hartselle.
The Patriots led the Hawks 14-7 after one period but the Hawks bounced back to take a one-point lead, 31-30, at halftime. Brewer led by two, 45-43, after three periods and managed to hold off the Hawks in the final stanza.
Mooney, who had 16 points and 10 rebounds, led Brewer to the win. Matt Neilsen and Travis Boys followed with 15 and 11 points, respectively. Nate Orr paced Danville with 29 points.
Hartselle's Tigers, 7-14 overall, outscored the Rebels 22-19 in the first half but couldn't hold their advantage in the second half. Mason led the Revels in scoring with 14 points. Keith Rodgers paced Hartselle with 23 points.
Girl's championship
Brewer 46, Hartselle 41
The Lady Patriots trailed the Lady Tigers 10-11 after one period before they fell behind in the second period and trailed by three, 16-19, at halftime. The score after three periods was 35-24, in favor of the Lady Patriots.
The Lady Tigers clawed their way back into the game midway in the final period by cutting the lead to three, 44-41, with 1:23 left to play. They trailed by three and had possession of the ball twice in the last 15 seconds of the game. One possession ended in a turnover with 11.6 seconds left and the other ended with a three-point shot bouncing off the front of the rim with 1.1 seconds left.
Andrea Persle led the Lady Patriots with 16 points. Nichole Hayes and Andrea Crawford followed with 13 and 12 points, respectively. Lauren Drake led Hartselle with 13 points. Mary Virginia Reeves added 11 points.
Boy's opening round
Brewer 95, Falkville 37
Brewer jumped out to a 34-point halftime lead and was never challenged as they easily reached the tourney semi-finals.
Matt Nielsen paced the Patriots with 21 points, followed by Austin Mooney with 20, Tyler Shelton with 12, Alex Brown 11, Derrick Black eight, Matt Cobb and Rusty Boyd seven each, Zack Cavender six and Travis Boyd three points.
Falkville was lead by sophomore Heath Alford with 22, followed by Cody Sewell with seven, Thomas Holt with four, Coty Tapscott and Adam Dye scored two each.
Brewer improved to 14-7, while Falkville slipped to 8-14.
West Morgan 68, Priceville 60
The host Rebels held off the Bulldogs despite a late rush in the final period.
West Morgan advanced to the semi-finals with a 10-10 record, while Priceville slipped to 12-10 on the season.
Josh Bedwell scored 25 points to pace the Bulldogs, while Stephen Hardiman scored 13, Dale Taylor nine, Ryan Mouser seven and Will Stevens scored one point.
Girl's semi-finals
Brewer 82, Priceville 80
The Lady Patriots held off a second half rally by the Lady Bulldogs and advanced to the finals.
Brewer led by as many as 15 points in the opening half of play and still held a 11-point halftime advantage before Priceville's hot shooting after the half made the game a nail-bitter.
Andrea Crawford poured in 28 points, to led the Lady Pats, and followed by Courtney Scott and Nicole Hayes with 15 each. Anna Mooney scored six, Andrea Persle five, while Genie Browning and Meagan Hormel scored four each. Heather Childers added three and Ashley West scored two points.
Priceville was lead by Jessi Smith with 19, followed by Tiffany Smith with 17, Jessica Kennedy and Emily Jenkins with 11 a piece, Kristy Barker scored nine, Stephanie Hardiman six, Tiffany Bracken five and Kathryn Kirby scored two.
Brewer improved to 11-9, while Priceville, ranked No. 9 in Class 2A, slipped to 16-4.
Hartselle 58, Danville 38
The Lady Tigers raced to a 28-point halftime advantage and advanced to the finals with their second win of the season over the Lady Hawks.
Mary Virginia Reeves scored a game-high 22 points to pace Hartselle, followed by Lauren Drake with 10, Jessica Andrews with eight, Anna Reeves with six, Shauntee Smith with four and Whitney Fulmer with two.
Danville was led by Magen Linderman with 10, followed by Jessica Hazel and Lauren Simmons with six each, Bethany Evans and Mallory Alred scored five each, Kristen Sparkman scored four and Haley Hensley scored two more. Hartselle improved to 17-3, while Danville slipped to 9-9.