Teams play hard, but have problems with consistency:
GDW Analysis:
Cullman Lady Bearcats closed out the summer playday schedule by hosting their 2nd one in a span of six days.
Eight teams were on hand Wednesday with games going on inside Bearcat Arena the Cullman Auxiliary Gym next door.
Cullman went 2 & 0 for the day, routing Westminster Huntsville 61 to 12 and running away from Section 56 to 39.
The other locals managed to earn a win and a loss in their opportunity to face teams from outside the county.
Cold Springs suffered a 40 to 25 defeat to Northridge, then came back with a good effort in scoring, taking down Westminster 57 to 38.
Fairview performed to a good status in its opener, a 54 to 41 defeat of Northridge. The Lady Aggies had trouble scoring with Briarwood Christian and went down in defeat 29 to 24.
Good Hope set sail in whipping Section 55 to 35 before the Lady Raiders were outscored by Briarwood Christian 44 to 37.
In all, the locals compiled five wins in eight games in this finale. The local teams in four different playdays with a lot of games, tallied a record of 25 and 6. The locals took down an 8 & 0 record at Danville June 7, 7 & 0 from the Cullman playday June 12.
Two days of 5 wins in 8 games come from the Good Hope playday June 12 and Wednesday at Cullman High School.
Cullman played fundamental basketball in its domination of Westminster. Jessica McBrayer's Lady Bearcats soared to a 32 to 7 lead at the half as they scored off miscues by the Huntsville squad and knocked down a series of perimeter shots.
Section came from Jackson County and went toe to toe with Cullman in the first half. The Lady 'Cats left the floor leading 33 to 29 and were able to get the tempo at the start of the final half, enroute to a double digit triumph.
Providing in point production was balance from Cullman with PG Ally Sharpe, SG Cadence Hanback, F Molly Dorough, F Molly Wilson and C Rachel Hoffman.
For Cold Springs, the Lady Eagles' offense experienced difficulty in the 2nd half with Northridge after trailing 17 to 14 at the break. The Lady Eagles were outscored by the visitors from Northport 23 to 11 in the final half.
Playing with pride as they are without forward Ella Dickerson for the summer with her recovering from knee surgery four months ago, the Lady Eagles found their shooting touch in the Westminster game, hitting various treys. They led at the half 32 to 15 and added 25 to their of the scoreboard in the final stanza.
The shooting was sparked by Paizley Whitlow, Kenady Graves and Hollyn Bruer from basically the wing and baseline, outside the three point circle.
For Fairview, Chris Nichols' Lady Aggies came out hot with four treys to open a 12 to 4 lead on Northridge. However, the Lady Jaguars charged back and reduced the deficit to 24 to 23 at the half.
Fairview was able to get into a rhythm late in the game from the free throw line, hitting eight of eight with Whitney Quick, Darby Nichols, Davi Stidham and Lexi Golden sharing the honors.
The Briarwood game was a physical battle as neither side could display consistency on offense. Briarwood managed a 20 to 15 advantage by halftime. Fairview would be in a position as they stayed close before free throws in the closing seconds by Briarwood gave them a slight advantage in finishing on with the victory.
Good Hope had a solid outing to defeat Section by 20 points.
In the highly anticipated matchup with Briarwood, the two went after each other with the game tied at 18 to 18 right before intermission.
Briarwood was able to break the deadlock on free throws from Emma Kerley and eased on top 21 to 18.
Justin Aby's Lady Raiders had a three to tie the score early in the 2nd half. Briarwood then scored 8 in a row and would lead around double figures for much of the final half.
The Lady Raiders managed to score only twice from the line in the half and would have offensive letdowns several times with Briarwood able to head back to Birmingham 2 & 0 on the day with wins over Cullman County teams.
Briarwood is coached by Lorie Graves Kerley, who played for West in prep ball at Cold Springs.
Emma is her daughter, a talented player who will be a junior for the Lady Lions next season.
Photo of the Cullman Lady Bearcats getting ready for their playday game with Westminster Wednesday morning from Bearcat Arena.
GDW photo by Johnny Thornton.
