Lady Tigers advance to finals
Caleb Suggs
Hartselle Enquirer
With the games postponed a day due to weather, the semi-finals of the Morgan County tournament took place on Sat., Jan 23, and featured the Hartselle Lady Tigers taking on the Falkville Lady Blue Devils.
Falkville jumped out early to a 5-0 lead behind baskets from Makenzie Smith and Emily Mickelson. Lindsay Berry would get the Tigers first points on the board but Falkville would extend their lead to 7-2. Early on, the Lady Tigers had trouble moving the ball inside and were forced to take tough deep shots. Jordan Finn would cut the lead to 7-4, but Jacie Andrews would extend it back to 10-4.
For much of the first quarter, every time the Lady Tigers tried to cut the lead down Falkville would surge back ahead. The Blue Devils once held a 13-6 lead. Anna Mathis would get the Tigers back in the game by cutting the lead to 15-9, at the end of the first quarter.
In the second quarter, both teams would trade runs. Hartselle would cut the lead to 15-13 behind baskets from Mathis and Finn. However, Falkville would surge back ahead to 21-14 with scores from Mickelson and Autumn Eddy.
By this point, the Tigers had had enough. The Tigers would go on a 9-2 run to close the half and tie the game behind baskets from Mathis, Finn, Kayla Key and Mary Jane Wooley. Mathis would hit the tying basket with 1.5 seconds left in the half to tie the game 23-23.
Hartselle would take control of the game in the second half. Mariah Taylor would hit a three-pointer right out of the gate to make the game 26-23. Mathis and Wooley would follow that up with 9 points to make the game 35-27. However, Falkville wasn’t giving in just yet. Bailey Anders would nail a three-pointer just before the buzzer to cut the lead to 35-30 at the end of the third quarter.
Despite Falkville’s great effort, Hartselle would finish the game in the fourth quarter. The Tigers went on a 9-0 to start the quarter to make the lead 44-30. Falkville’s first points in the quarter wouldn’t come until the 2:30 mark. Hartselle would finish the Blue Devils, 52-39, and advance to the finals of the Morgan County Tournament. The Tigers played the West Morgan Rebels Mon., Jan. 25.
Player of the game: Anna Mathis. The Tiger’s start in the game was not pretty at all and they were in desperate need of someone to come in and shake things up. Mathis did just that as she came off the bench and provided the Tigers with the baskets and gritty play that sparked them to go on to their eventual win.