Hartselle falls to Trojans

By Staff
Todd Thompson, Hartselle Enquirer
Hartselle head coach Johnny Berry has seen just about enough of Muscle Shoals’ Ralston Turner.
Turner hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 49 seconds left to send Muscle Shoals to a 57-54 Class 5A sub-regional victory Friday night at Hartselle.
Turner, who finished with a game-high 29 points, averaged 23 points per game in the Trojans’ three meetings with Hartselle this season.
But the 3-pointer that erased a 53-52 Hartselle lead might have been his biggest points of the season. Turner took advantage of Hartselle’s defense to pull back and hit the shot.
He added two free throws with 18 seconds left to finsh off the Tigers’ season.
Hartselle’s season comes to an end with the loss, while Muscle Shoals advances to the Northwest Regionals will its second straight sub-regional win over the Tigers.
Turner finished 10-of-14 from the field in the win with three 3-pointers.
Rodney Stansberry, one of four Hartselle players to finish in double figures, scored 18 points. Alex Brown and Jeremy Roper each added 11 points, while Manquez Jones had 10 in the loss.
Hartselle finished the season with an 18-14 record.
The Tigers trailed by as much as four points in the second quarter, but Brown scored with 1:05 remaining in the half to tie the game at 22-22.
Stansberry followed with a bucket with 1.5 seconds left in the half that sent the Tigers into the half with a 24-22 lead.
After two ties in the second half, Hartselle got a free throw from Roper and Sam Fleischman followed with a bucket off an assist from Wesley Clemons to take a 47-44 advantage.
Hartselle held the three-point margin until Muscle Shoals’ Denzel Brown hit both ends of a one-and-one with 1:10 remaining in the game.
After Hartselle missed a free throw with one minute left, Turner took advantage of Hartselle’s defense looking for him to drive the lane and the sophomore nailed the 3-pointer to put the Trojans in front for good.