| Tom Chappell

Hartselle wins big as they advance to sub-regional

Caleb Suggs

Hartselle Enquirer

It was a big game atmosphere, as the Hartselle Lady Tigers took on the Decatur Lady Red Raiders at Austin high school in the first round of their area tournament. Hartselle had been playing some of their best basketball towards the end of the season as their young team had grown and had gotten healthy. However, The Tigers had still not managed to beat Decatur yet this season.

Hartselle took the advantage early on. Kayla Key started the game with 5 points to give Hartselle an early 5-2 lead. Decatur would cut it 6-4 but Anna Mathis would extend it back to 8-4 and then Mariah Taylor would knock in her first three pointer to make it 11-4. Key would close out the quarter with a long three pointer to give the Tigers a 16-6 lead at the end of the first.

Hartselle would continue the onslaught in the second quarter. Mathis would start off with 5 points to make the score 21-6 and then Taylor would knock in her second three to make it 24-6. Decatur would cut the lead to 24-10 but another Taylor three pointer would extend it back to 27-10. Decatur would manage to close the second quarter with five straight points but they would still be down 31-15 at the half.

At the start of the second half, scores from Taylor, Key and Mary Jane Wooley would give Hartselle a 36-17 lead. However, Decatur would then go on a 9-4 run to cut the lead to 40-28 at the end of third quarter to give their team a fighting chance in the fourth quarter.

The two teams traded baskets to begin the quarter, but it would be Hartselle that would take the advantage. Mariah Taylor would make the lead 50-33 and put the final nail in the coffin as Hartselle went on to win 60-36 and advanced to the championship of the area tournament as well as sub regionals.

Player(s) of the game: The team. This game was a complete team effort. From start to finish, the Tigers dominated the game on both sides of the court and completely decimated the Red Raiders.