HARTSELLE – The Hartselle varsity girls basketball team dominated from start to finish and opened its 2017-18 postseason run with a decisive 80-33 victory over Decatur on Tuesday night.

Anna Mathis battles for position against Decatur during the opening round of the 6A Area 15 Tournament.

The Lady Tigers opened the game with a 27-10 run, extending their lead all the way out to 49-12 at halftime. Head coach Gary Orr has been pleased with his team’s offense in recent games, but he was happy to see them lock in on defense.

“I thought we did a really good job with our pressure defense,” Orr said. “When we switched to the pressure, it changed the tempo of the game for us. The competition is going to keep getting tougher so we got to be able to do our job on the defensive end of the floor.”

Moriah Taylor led the way for Hartselle with a team-high 22 points, including draining four threes in the first half. Taylor cited last year’s lost to the Red Raiders as a motivating factor for tonight’s effort.

“Before we left the locker room we talked about remembering what happened here last year,” Taylor said. “That was definitely a motivating factor for us tonight.”

Anna Mathis chipped in 14 points for the Lady Tigers. Kalli Cartee and Turner Fentress each pitched in 10 in the victory.

Hartselle advances to play Austin 6 p.m., Thursday in the 6A Area 15 final.

Justin Jefferies @JJSports_HE

Sports Editor

Hartselle Enquirer