Lady Tigers blocked by Cullman

Melissa Paul Hill hits a baseline jumper to spark Hartselle's 14-2 run to tie Cullman at 41. | Brent Maze

Hartselle got the ball into the hands of their best shooter with 3 seconds left in the game needing a 3-pointer to tie.

However, she just wasn’t open on the play.

Melissa Paul Hill had her last-second 3-point attempt swatted away by Cullman’s Morgan Smith as the Lady Tigers fell to Cullman 47-44, ending their season in the Class 5A, Area 13 semifinals Friday night.

Hill led the Lady Tigers with 10 followed by Katelyn Hill with 8 and 4 assists, Kaneshia Elliott with 8 points and 3 steals, and Quanesha Burks with 4 and 6 rebounds.

Jordan Quick and Shannon Mitchell led Cullman with 11 and 10 respectively while Dani Dean added 7 points and 6 rebounds.

Hartselle dug themselves in a hole during the second quarter. The Lady Tigers only scored four points in the quarter while Cullman built a 26-15 lead at the half.

That lead grew to 39-27 early in the fourth quarter, but Hartselle wasn’t done yet.

The Lady Tigers went on a 14-2 highlighted by Sarah Horner with a 3-point play, Burks who scored a lay-up off of a steal and Katelyn Hill who nailed a pair of free throws.

Melissa Paul Hill hit a 3-pointer with 3:30 left in the fourth quarter to tie the game at 41-41.

However, back-to-back lay-ups by Cullman’s Shannon Mitchell and Jordan Quick put the Lady Bearcats by four with 1:40 to play.

Then with 56 seconds left, Mitchell intentionally fouled Kensia Elliot. She made one of two free throws and Horner made a pair to cut the lead to 45-44 in that one possession.

On the other end, Mitchell pushed the lead back to three points with 26 ticks left, which proved to be the difference.

Hartselle then played for the last shot and had an out of bounds play with 3 second because of a jump ball.

Melissa Paul Hill just couldn’t get a clean look at the basket behind the 3-point line.