Tigers win opening night, 83-68
By Staff
Hartselle splits games as Lady Tigers fall to the Eagles
Nick Johnston, Hartselle Enquirer
TRINITY – Hartselle split its opening games with the East Lawrence Eagles Saturday night.
The Tigers came away with an 83-68 win, while the Lady Tigers fell victim to turnovers and low-percentage free throw shooting in a 61-46 loss.
Hartselle 83, East Lawrence 68
Zac Ward's near triple-double lifted the Hartselle Tigers to an 83-68 win over East Lawrence.
Ward scored 20 points, had 13 rebounds and nine assists, as he led four Tigers in double figures.
Marlon Chapman scored 20 and had five rebounds, scoring 10 points in the final stanza to help put away the Eagles. Logan Whitlow scored 14 and pulled down nine rebounds, while Tyler Reeves also scored 14.
Whitlow scored seven points in a row in the second quarter, putting Hartselle ahead 29-23. The Tigers extended that margin to nine by the end of the half.
The Tigers pushed the advantage to 14 at 57-43 by the end of the third quarter. A balanced scoring attack in the stanza and a 10-2 run at the beginning of it gave Hartselle a 48-31 lead.
East Lawrence closed the gap at the end of the third quarter and reached within four points midway through the fourth quarter.
Hartselle hit just one field goal in the first 4:21 of the fourth and only led 66-62.
Fortunately for the Tigers, East Lawrence connected on only two field goals in the final 3:45, as Hartselle hit 9 of 11 free throws down the stretch.
East Lawrence 61, Hartselle 46
Girls
Jessica Young was too much to handle in the paint as East Lawrence outscored Hartselle 61-46.
Young scored 21 points and pulled down a bevy of rebounds in the win, while Sophia Hood scored 14 for the Lady Eagles.
Perhaps what hurt the Lady Tigers the most was free throw shooting.
Hartselle hit 18 of 41 (44 percent), while East Lawrence hit 22 of 38 (58 percent).
Despite the poor shooting, Hartselle led 16-15 with 6:57 remaining in the first half, however, East Lawrence regained control with a 9-0 run.
Hartselle eventually trailed at halftime by five, but not before a 5-0 run by the Lady Tigers made the intermission score 30-25.
That run carried over into the second half, as Hartselle got within one on Ashley Orr's layup.
Again, the Lady Tigers fell victim to another rally by the Lady Eagles. This time, an 11-1 spurt gave East Lawrence a 41-30 advantage.
Hartselle only hit two field goals in the third quarter.
The Lady Tigers trailed by as many as 17 in the fourth quarter.
Paige Chatman, a sophomore, led the Lady Tigers attack with 13 points, while Regan Sandlin scored nine. Yevonne Patterson scored eight, while Sarah Whitlow notched 7.
