Hartselle sweeps Trojans

By Staff
Todd Thompson, Hartselle Enquirer
Greg Adams was looking for some offensive production Saturday night.
The Hartselle coach got his wish and the Lady Tigers’ players threw in some tough defense to claim a 62-47 victory over Muscle Shoals Saturday in the Pettey Center.
Anna Reeves led Hartselle with 19 points, inlcuding 17 points in the first half. She finished 6-for-12 from the floor.
Jessi Smith added 15 points in the win, while Lauren Dye chipped in with 10 points. Alex Holmes contributed nine points for Hartselle.
Dye and Kaitlin Faulkner both had six rebounds.
The win was the third straight for Hartselle, now 8-5 overall.
Muscle Shoals’ Jasmine Hammon scored 16 points and Brittany Richardson added 11 in the loss.
The Lady Tigers wasted little time jumping out to a commanding lead by scoring the first eight points of the game.
Smith nailed a 3-pointer and Reeves answered with a bucket as the Lady Tigers went in front 20-11.
Reeves hit another 3-pointer in the opening minute of the second quarter to push the margin to 12 points.
Hartselle extended its lead to 50-33 in the third quarter.
Stacia Watts ended the third quarter with a 3-pointer from near halfcourt and Rydreal Howard added another 3-pointer to start the fourth quarter to get back within 11 points.
But the Lady Trojans could get no closer.
Boys’ game
Hartselle 43, Muscle Shoals 35
Hartselle’s has changed and most of the players are new this season, but the memories of a 46-point loss to Muscle Shoals still lingered almost a year later.
Not any more.
Hartselle rallied from a three-point deficit at the half to beat the Trojans 43-35 Saturday night at the Pettey Center.
Rodney Stansbury sparked a 9-0 Hartselle run in the final minute of the third quarter to give the Tigers a lead they would not relinquish.
Stansbury completed a three-point play after being fouled with 48 seconds left in the quarter and followed up with a 3-pointer just 19 seconds later that gave the Tigers a 30-26 lead.
Sam Fleishman capped the run with a 3-pointer just before the end of the quarter to push Hartselle’s lead - its first of the game - to 33-26 heading into the final eight minutes of play.
Hartselle extended the margin to eight points with just over a minute left in the game and limited the Trojans to just three points down the stretch to make amends for last year’s loss in the sub-regionals.
Hartselle’s largest lead in the game was nine at 42-33 after Jeremy Roper hit a pair of free throws with 26.8 seconds left in the game.
Stansbury finished with 18 points, with 11 of the total coming in the Tigers’ second half run.
Alex Brown added 13 points before fouling out in the second half.
Ralston Turner led Muscle Shoals with 12 points, but he was just three-for-11 from the field.