Hartselle, Brewer share wins on court

By Staff
Charles Prince, Hartselle Enquirer
It was a night of mixed emotions for the fans that attended the Pettey Center Friday night.
First the home fans were feeling good after the Hartselle Lady Tigers whipped Brewer high 74-65 to win their seventh straight contest. Then the visiting fans had something to cheer about as the Brewer boys topped the Tigers 55-39.
Hartselle girls 74, Brewer 65
The Lady Tigers (14-7) trailed after three periods 44-43, but then opened the final period on a 14-5 run to take command. When the run ended the Lady Tiger led 57-49 with 4:57 to play.
The Lady Patriots (13-6) responded and cut the lead to five at 63-58 when Courtney Scott scored on a put-back with 2:22 to play. Hartselle then got baskets by Jessica Lindsey and Mary Virginia Reeves to pull out to a 10-point lead at 68-58. The Lady Tigers closed out the contest by converting seven-of-nine free throws in the 49 seconds.
"I'm pleased with the way the girls played so very hard in the second half," Hartselle head coach Greg Adams said. "We found the right people in the key spots for easy baskets when they were trying to press us in the fourth period."
The win forced a three-way tie for the 5A-Area 15 lead between Hartselle, Brewer and Athens. All three teams finished area play with 4-2 records.
Hartselle was led by the one-two scoring punch of Freshman Lauren Drake with 25 points and Sophomore Shan Jones with 21. Brewer featured two double-digit scorers in Jessica Thompson with 17 and Whitney Childers with 15.
The first half of play, that featured seven ties and six lead changes, ended tied at 28.
Brewer scoring – Jessica Thompson 17, Whitney Childers 15, Heather Gore 7, Courtney Scott 6, Joellen Nay 6, Brittany Childers 6, Andrea Persle 5, Andrea Crawford 3
Hartselle scoring – Lauren Drake 25, Shan Jones 21, Mary Virginia Reeves 9, Jessica Lindsey 9, Jessica Andrews 6, Brittney Jackson 2, Tiffahne Orr 2
Brewer 12 16 16 21 – 65
Hartselle 14 14 15 31 – 74
Brewer boys 55, Hartselle 39
The Patriots used an 8-0 run to start the third period to take control against the Tigers. Brewer trailed 19-18 at halftime, but Austin Mooney sank a pair of three-pointers and then Robert Shelton scored on a put-back to give the Patriots a 26-19 lead with 4:22 left in the period.
Keith Rodgers, who finished with a game high 18 points, nailed a pair of jump shots before the period ended to keep Hartselle close.
Brewer then began the fourth period with 9-4 run that put the game out of reach at 41-28 with 2:41 left to play.
Brewer (11-9) controlled the boards in the final period ending any hopes of a Hartselle comeback.
The Patriots grabbed 12 fourth period rebounds to only five for Hartselle.
Brewer coach Sam Brown cited strong rebounding as a key to the win.
"We had several second shots in the fourth period and they didn't get any second shots," Brown said. "We didn't shoot the ball as good from the outside as we usually do, but our kids scored around the goal on put backs, that was the big difference."
The Tigers (8-12) and the Patriots both finished 2-4 in 5A-Area 15 play.
Brewer scoring – Dustin Scott 13, Robert Shelton 10, Matt Nielsen 8, Austin Mooney 8, Matt Eslick 6, Wes Graham 4, Travis Boyd 3, Matt Cobbs 3
Hartselle scoring – Keith Rodgers 18, Adam Cryer9, Samuel Massey 8, Alex Thompson 4
Brewer 8 10 15 23 – 55
Hartselle 14 5 4 16 – 39