Hartselle seals win with free throws

Aaron Wooley shoots a 3-pointer over West Points Tristan Halsey. | Brent Maze

Hartselle made its last 10 free throws to defeat West Point 54-48 and advance to the finals of the Class 5A, Area 13 boys tournament.

The free throws weren’t just made by one person. Four different Tigers made their shots down the stretch including Isaiah Fowler, Aaron Wooley, Terry Wiggins and Chance Partlow.

For the game, Hartselle went 17-for-21 from the charity stripe including 14-for-16 in the second half.

Wooley led the Tigers with 14 points including a pair of 3-pointers. Partlow added 13 points and 7 rebounds. Fowler added 10 points including a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line while Wiggins had 8 points and 5 rebounds.

Rounding out the scoring for Hartselle was Matt Johnston with 5, Will Tiffin with 2 and Thomas Fleischman with 2.

The Tigers opened the game by taking a 13-7 lead through the first quarter. West Point rallied to take a four-point lead by late in the second quarter.

However, Partlow finished a 3-point play just before the half to tie the game at 22.

The Warriors scored the first bucket of the second half, but that’s the last time West Point held the lead.

Hartselle went on an 8-0 run to take a 30-24 lead. After West Point cut the lead to 1, Johnston hit from downtown to end the quarter with Hartselle leading 37-33.

That bucket was the spark of an 11-0 run that extended to the 6:40 mark of the final quarter.

The only misses in the second half were the front ends of 1-and-1s, which allowed West Point to pull within 5 points at 44-39 with 1:05 remaining.

Those would be the last free throws Hartselle would miss during the game.

The Tigers will play in the Class 5A, Area 13 championship game at Brewer Monday night at 7:30 p.m.