West Morgan silences Hartselle
By By Todd Thompson, Hartselle Enquirer
FALKVILLE - West Morgan got pretty defensive in the second half against Hartselle in the girls’ varsity championship game of the Morgan County Basketball Tournament at Falkville High School Saturday night.
Playing in front of a standing-room-only crowd, the Lady Rebels limited Hartselle to just 13 points in the second half to secure the school’s first girls’ varsity county title with a 39-29 victory.
The win was the 16th straight for West Morgan.
Hartselle led 25-23 going into the final quarter, but managed just four points over the final eight minutes of the game.
The Lady Tigers, seeking their first county championship since the 2006 season, made just eight of 33 shots in the game. Hartselle shot 29 percent from the field in the second half, allowing West Morgan to pull away down the stretch.
Katie Young scored 15 of Hartselle’s 29 points in the championship game after making four of her six shots from the field. She also added seven points from the free throw line.
West Morgan’s Hayden Hamby, the tournament’s most valuable player, led all scorers with 20 points after making nine of 10 free throws. She also added 10 rebounds for the Lady Rebels.
Christy Roewe, Hannah Harris and Kristin Workman all finished with five points each for West Morgan.
West Morgan came into the tournament as the second seed, but Harris saw the varsity girls’ bracket as a wide-open battle.
The Lady Rebels needed to dispose of third-seeded Danville in the semifinals just to earn a shot at Hartselle.
Both West Morgan and Danville are ranked in the top 10 in the latest Class 3A rankings.
But it was Hartselle who stayed in front for much of the first half, opening a 16-12 advantage at the half after shooting 42 percent from the field. That shooting touch eluded the Lady Tigers in the second half.
With a stingy defense that forced Hartselle into several critical turnovers, West Morgan stretched its lead to 10 at the end of the game - the Lady Rebels’ largest lead of the night.
West Morgan made 20 of 31 free throws.
Trailing by two heading into the final quarter, West Morgan went on a 16-4 run to seal the victory. The Lady Rebels scored the first nine points of the final quarter over a span of just under five minutes that gave the Lady Rebels solid control of the game.
