Off and running

By Staff
Priceville teams open county tournament with wins
Justin Schuver, Hartselle Enquirer
The Morgan County Tournament got under way Monday evening at Priceville High School's gym as both host teams advanced with wins. The Lady Bulldogs opened the varsity girls bracket with a 70-35 win over Falkville and the boys followed with a 55-35 win over Brewer.
Unfortunately, the press schedule only allowed for coverage of the opening games Monday evening. Check next week's issue of the Enquirer for full coverage of the remaining varsity girls and varsity boys tournament games.
Priceville girls 70, Falkville girls 35
The Lady Bulldogs prevailed in a game that was physical and included 43 fouls. Priceville led 17-7 after the first quarter and increased its lead to 24-11 with about five minutes left in the second quarter. But the Lady Blue Devils would not go away, going on a 9-0 run – most of those points on free throws – to keep the game close.
Priceville responded with a 9-0 run of its own, however, to go into halftime with a 37-20 lead. The Lady Bulldogs would cruise from there.
"We had a meltdown there in the first half by letting [Falkville] shoot too many free throws," Priceville coach Stacy Lovett said. "That's where most of their points came from, and we discussed it at halftime.
"We were also happy to take advantage of our own free throw chances when we got them."
Priceville shot 76 percent from the free-throw line.
Allison White paced the way for the Lady Bulldogs, finishing with 22 points and 10 rebounds. Priceville (13-10) also got dominating performances from Sumer Boyd (nine points and 10 rebounds) and Marissa Chambers (11 points). Keila Hamlin added eight points and also had a team-high eight assists.
Katrina Wildmon scored 14 points to lead Falkville.
Priceville advances to face Class 5A No. 2 Hartselle in the tournament semifinal Thursday evening at 6:30 p.m.
"We've got to work on making more of our shots because we know Hartselle is going to put up plenty of points of their own," Lovett said.
Priceville boys 55, Brewer boys 35
Priceville coach Darrell Haynes is used to seeing senior guard Josh Bedwell shoot well from behind the three-point line, but Bedwell wasn't the only Bulldog lighting it up from outside Monday evening.
The Bulldogs scored 10 three-pointers in the game, with five players making at least one three-pointer – Bedwell had four, K.C. Green and JaColby Reid each hit two and Andrew Johnson and Robert Varner had one each.
"When we win, we have guys step up and hit some shots and we certainly had that tonight," said Haynes, whose Bulldogs had been on the road for their past 10 games dating back to the Oneonta Christmas Tournament. "I think finally being at home again might have helped us as well."
Bedwell led Priceville (12-11) with 26 points as the Bulldogs knocked out the three-time defending county champion. Green added 10 points and Reid had eight.
Brewer and Priceville split their earlier regular season matches, with each team winning at home.
"They had some guys hitting open shots and we couldn't just sit back on Bedwell," Brewer coach Sam Brown said. "Plus, [Priceville] really had some kids battling underneath for rebounds."
The two teams played a close first quarter, with Bedwell hitting a three-pointer with 6 seconds left in the period to give Priceville an 11-10 lead after one quarter. The Bulldogs then held Brewer off the scoreboard in the second quarter, and Priceville held a 22-10 lead at halftime.
"We missed three or four lay-ups in that quarter and that really hurt us," Brown said. "And by lay-ups, I mean wide open shots."
Brewer opened the second half with a 5-0 run, but Priceville staved off any hope of a Patriot comeback by responding with an 8-0 run of its own. The Bulldogs led 45-26 after three quarters.
A dunk by Brewer's Rusty Boyd with 4:51 left brought a loud cheer from the Brewer fans, but that dunk only cut the lead to 45-30 and would be as close as the Patriots would get the rest of the way.
Boyd had 16 points to lead Brewer (10-13).
Priceville advances to face No. 1 seed West Morgan in the tournament semifinal Thursday evening at 8 p.m. The Bulldogs defeated the Rebels 50-42 on the road in a Dec. 4 game earlier this season.