Wins put teams in the county semifinals
By Staff
Todd Thompson, Hartselle Enquirer
Hartselle has grown accustomed to its streaky style of play recently.
The Tigers used a hot hand in the first half to dominate Danville 53-33 in the first round of the 2008 Morgan County Tournament at the Pettey Center Monday night.
The win sets up a semifinal matchup between Hartselle and Brewer Thursday.
The Tigers finished the night 22-of-36 from the field after hitting 72 percent of their shots in the first half.
Danville had just five points in the second quarter and was faced with a 32-14 deficit at the half. But the Hawks played pretty even with Hartselle in the second half.
Rodney Stansberry scored a team-high nine points for Hartselle, while Manquez Jones and Jeremy Roper both finished with eight points.
Danville’s Roger Smith led all scorers with 14 points, while Erick Cordova finished with 11 in the loss. David Long had 10 rebounds for the Hawks.
W. Morgan 62, Priceville 56
Whitlee Potter’s third quarter barrage proved too much for Priceville in the first round.
Potter, who finished with 19 points, hit five 3-pointers in the third quarter as West Morgan rallied to beat Priceville 62-56.
Melissa Johnson scored 14 points to lead Priceville, while Callie Cox and Presley Darling added 12 and 11 respectively.
West Morgan’s Hayden Hamby led all scorers with 20 points.
The Lady Rebels finished with 13 three-pointers in the win.
After trailing 10-0 at the opening, Priceville powered to a 31-22 advantage at the half.
Potter hit a pair of 3-pointers in the first two minutes of the second half, but Priceville answered with buckets from Adrianna Delatorre and Darling to hold off the run.
But Potter nailed three more 3-pointers in the quarter to ignite the Lady Rebels. Kelly Seal and Lauren Seibert also had 3-pointers in the third quarter.
Tuesday games
Hartselle 59, Falkville 16
Hartselle held Falkville to just eight points in the first half on the way to an easy 59-16 victory over the Lady Blue Devils Tuesday night.
The win sends the Lady Tigers to a Friday semifinal matchup with Danville.
Hartselle’s win ups their season mark to 13-10 overall.
Anna Reeves paced the Hartselle offense with 13 points, while Heather Speegle added 12. Alex Holmes finished with eight points.
Hartselle struggled early offensively, but still managed to take a 27-8 halftime lead.
The margin grew to 43-8 after Hartselle went on a 16-0 run in the third quarter.
Holmes scored the first seven points of the third quarter to get the Lady Tigers’ offense off toa strong start in the second half.
Paige McCarley scored five points to lead Falkville.
Falkville 55, Priceville 48
Falkville reached the semifinals of the boys’ bracket with a seven-point victory over Priceville Tuesday night.
Jake Randolph scored 26 points to lead the Blue Devils. He was 10-of-16 from the field in the win.
Justin Blanchard added nine points for Falkville.
Priceville’s Kristian Barker scored 14 points and 13 rebounds.
Priceville trailed by six points at the half, but opened the third quarter with a 22-11 run to take a 39-34 lead in the first few minutes of the fourth quarter.
The Blue Devils battled back to tie the game and Randolph completed a three-point play after being fouled to go up 45-42.
Falkville increased the lead to 12 points down the stretch to secure the win.
