Battle rivals-County tourney opens with bang

By By Todd Thompson, Hartselle Enquirer
FALKVILLE - The shots weren’t falling for Hartselle in the quarterfinals of the Morgan County Basketball Tournament at Falkville High School Monday night.
Fortunately, for the Lady Tigers, Hartselle was getting plenty of shots to find their shooting touch in a 55-46 victory over Priceville.
Hartselle scored 13 points on second-chance baskets to overcome an early deficit to advance to a semifinal matchup with rival Brewer in the semifinals Thursday at 6:15 p.m.
Priceville led 12-5 early before Hartselle climbed back into the game with a strong run at the end of the first quarter that carried over into the second quarter.
The Lady Tigers led 28-24 at the half.
Priceville regained the lead briefly before Hartselle took control of the game in the second half.
Alex Holmes led Hartselle with 14 points and Katie Young added 13. Shelton added 10 points and seven rebounds off the bench as the Lady Tigers set up a rematch with top-seeded Brewer in the semifinals. The teams have split their two prior meetings this season.
Priceville’s Presley Darling finished with nine points and 10 rebounds. Jordan Crow added nine points, while Melissa Johnson finished with eight points.
Priceville was hampered by 20 turnovers, many that resulted in easy Hartselle baskets.
Boys’ game
Brewer 54, Danville 32
Brewer took care of business early Monday in the first round of the varsity boys divison to beat Danville 54-32.
The Patriots ran to a 33-19 lead after two quarters and coasted to a 22-point win over the Hawks, who are coached by former Brewer assistant Doug Oldacre.
Brewer advanced to the varsity boys’ semifinals Thursday where the Patriots will face top-seeded West Morgan.
Jordan Bowling scored 16 points to lead the Patriots. He scored 11 points in the first half before spending much of the fourth quarter on the bench with the Patriots holding a large lead.
Brandon Murray added 14 points - with 12 coming in the first two quarters - and Brett Lavender added 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Danville’s Erick Cordova and Dylan Woods both finished with nine points in the loss.
The Hawks scored just 13 points in the second half.
Hartselle rolls past Blue Devils
By Todd Thompson, Hartselle Enquirer
FALKVILLE - Sam Fleischman took his game inside to send Hartselle to a 55-38 win over Falkville in the first round of the 2010 Morgan County Tournament Tuesday night at Falkville High School.
Fleischman made 13 of his 18 shots in the win and finished with 33 points for the Tigers.
With the win, Hartselle advanced to the semifinals in the boys’ varsity division. The Tigers will face second-seeded Priceville at 7:45 p.m. Friday.
Falkville held close in the first half of the game before Hartselle went on an 18-7 run in the second quarter to take the lead for good.
Jeremy McNatt led Falkville with 14 points after hitting four of his nine shots from the floor. McNatt also led the Blue Devils with eight rebounds.
Chad Kirkpatrick also finished with eight rebounds for Falkville.
Tyler Anders had seven points, while Kirkpatrick added six points.
Hartselle shot 65 percent from the field in the first half and carried a 28-17 lead into the third quarter.
Terry Wiggins had six points for the Tigers, while Malcom Fossett, Tres Austin and Aaron Wooley all had four points.
Girls’ game
Danville 43, Falkville 26
The Danville Lady Hawks, ranked second in Class 3A, picked up a 43-26 victory over Falkville in the opening round of the girls’ varsity division Tuesday night.
Ashley Nance led the Lady Hawks with 13 points, while Hannah McClung added eight points. Sarah Terry chipped in seven points for Danville.
The Lady Hawks improved to 19-4 overall with the win.
Falkville’s Sarah Goodman led all scorers with 16 points. Samantha Davis added four points in the loss.
Danville opened up a 25-14 lead at the half, but struggled offensively in the third quarter against the Falkville defense before pulling away for the win.