Lady Tigers trounce Patriots
Caleb Suggs
Hartselle Enquirer
Two of the best girls teams in Morgan County squared off in the opening rounds of the Morgan County Tournament when the Hartselle Lady Tigers took on the Brewer Lady Patriots. The Tigers are the defending county champions while the Patriots hold the most county championship victories.
The game started out fast as Brewer took the lead with a Brooke Childers three-pointer. The lead wouldn’t last long though as Anna Stinson quickly tied the game with a three-pointer of her own. Hartselle would then take control of the game as freshmen star Mariah Taylor hit three straight three-pointers to help the Tigers take the lead 12-3. Brewer would climb back in the game behind three-pointers from Temera Chatman and Presley Craft to cut the lead to 12-9. Anna Mathis would close out the quarter with another three-pointer to make the lead 15-9 at the end of the first quarter. All the points in the first quarter came from three-pointers.
To begin the second quarter, Brewer would use scores from Chatman and Bri Flack to cut the Tigers’ lead to 16-13. Two free throws from Chatman would cut the lead even closer to 16-15.
Just when it looked like Brewer might retake control of the game, Hartselle would surge forward again. Anna Mathis and Mariah Taylor knocked down two more three-pointers to make the game 24-17. McCarley Northway would cut the lead to 24-22 with a three-pointer but Hartselle would finish the quarter on a 6-0 run to hold the 30-22, at halftime.
As the second quarter started, both teams traded baskets back and forth. Victoria Roberts would come up with five straight points to cut Hartselle’s lead to 38-31. Temera Chatman would hit a three-pointer to cut the Tigers lead to 40-34. However, this would be the closest the Patriots would come for the rest of the game. Hartselle would push their lead to 45-34 to end the third quarter.
In the fourth quarter, down 47-36, Brewer decided to turn up their full court press in an attempt to slow down the Tigers. However, it would come up short as the Tigers continued to pad the scoreboard in the fourth quarter. Big scores from Lindsay Berry and Anna Mathis kept the Tigers ahead of the Patriots en route to their 57-43 win.
Player of the game: Mariah Taylor. In her first game back from injury, Taylor wasted no time in reinserting herself back into the Tigers lineup. Taylor was on fire behind the three-point line, which included knocking three in a row in the first quarter. Having her back and healthy will be key for the Tigers going forward.