Danville rallies to win area title

By Staff
Clif Knight, Hartselle Enquirer
DANVILLE - Danville High School’s Lady Hawks basketball team pulled out a 44-39 decision over Good Hope Saturday night to claim the 3A, Area 11 Tournament title and move on to the sub-regional round of the state playoffs. The winners will host Sumiton Christian Thursday (today) at 7 p.m.
In a tough, physical home game that kept partisan fans on pins and needles, the Lady Hawks had to fight from behind in the final minute to come out on top.
Alaina Fitzgerald made a 6-foot floater with 1:05 left to give her team a 40-39 advantage and Lacey Evans canned four straight free throws to put the game on ice.
The Lady Hawks (21-9) scored the game’s first four points and held a 12-7 advantage after the first period. Good Hope came on strong in the second period and held a 22-20 lead at halftime. The score was tied at 29-all at the end of the third period thanks to a lay-up by Fitzgerald at the buzzer.
Fitzgerald led the Lady Hawks in scoring with 16 points. She also had 15 rebounds. Ashley Nance scored 11 points and converted seven of eight free throw attempts. Cross finished with 8 points and had eight steals.
The Lady Hawks made 17 of 20 free throws.
Raper paced Good Hope with 12 points.