Hartselle Sophomore Trace Hill. | Caleb Suggs

Caleb Suggs

Hartselle Enquirer

It has been a rough few years for the Hartselle boys basketball program as the Tigers have not posted a winning season since 2008. However, Hartselle head coach Faron Key, who is in his third year, has the Tigers on the upward trend. Hartselle came in to Tuesday’s matchup with a 4-2 record including win a win over Cullman for the first time since 2011 and an area win over Decatur for the first time since 2014. Their only two losses were too Athens and Florence, two of the better 6A teams in the North. Hartselle hoped to make an emphatic “we’re back” statement when they welcomed the undefeated sixth ranked Austin Black Bears, a team they had not beat since 2008.

The two teams traded scores to start the game. Javan Johnson and Josh Birdsong notched scores for the Bears while Trace Hill and Seth Garner scored for the Tigers. Anthony Mason got a three-point play and Johnson added a three pointer to make the lead 10-4. Hill cut it to 10-6 but a three-point play by Jason Scott sparked a 9-2 run by the Black Bears as they took a 19-8 lead at the end of the first quarter.

In what looked like a sure blow out, Hartselle weathered the storm and mounted a comeback in the second quarter. The Tigers hit an 8-0 run, which included two three pointers from Hill and Isaac Taylor, to cut the lead to 19-16. Austin closed the half on a 9-4 run which ended with a monster dunk by Anthony Mason as Austin took a 28-20 lead into halftime.

Hartselle tried to reclaim the lead in the second half. Eric Stephenson and Keondre Swoopes helped cut the lead to 30-25. However, every time the Tigers cut it in close, the Bears extended it back out. Baskets from Swoopes and Levi Lanier along with a three pointer from Hill cut the lead to 44-38, but this would be the closest the Tigers came for the rest of the game. Birdsong extended Austin’s lead to 10 and the Black Bears went on to win 61-49.

The Tigers came up short, but put up a much better effort against the Bears than they have in previous seasons. “We wanted the W.” Hartselle coach Faron Key said. “We’re not going to quit getting better.”

Trace Hill finished the game with 19 points for the Tigers. Isaac Taylor and Seth Garner both had 10 while Keondre Swoopes finished with five. Josh Birdsong and Anthony Mason led the Black Bears with 18 and 16 points respectively. Fabien Bell had nine and Troy commit Javan Johnson had eight.

Hartselle fell to 4-3 on the season and 1-1 in area play. The Tigers will meet Austin again on January third.