Cold Springs’ varsity girls had their backs against the wall Monday night.
Clinging to a two-point lead midway through the fourth quarter — and with Locust Fork riding a wave of momentum — the Class 2A No. 4 Eagles needed to steady the ship quickly against the No. 3 Hornets.
And like the resilient group they are, that’s exactly what happened.
Ella Bruer drained five first-half 3-pointers en route to a team-high 19 points, Ciara Calvert registered 14 points and Cold Springs capped the Area 11 Tournament championship with big play after big play to defeat Locust Fork 58-49 and improve to 24-4 on the season.
“I’m so proud of them,” said Eagles coach Tammy West, who earned her 24th area tournament title with the program. “These girls do exactly what you ask them to do. If you draw it up, they’re going to go out there and run it just like you drew it up. Their execution is great and they work extremely hard.”
The Eagles produced 17-4 and 33-18 cushions in the first 16 minutes, but the Hornets (19-5) slowly chipped away at that deficit during a back-and-forth second half — thanks in large part to a 25-point performance from Faith Evans — and trailed just 46-44 with a little less than five minutes remaining.
But it was all Cold Springs from there.
West’s squad, which went 8 of 10 from the free-throw line in the final quarter, scored the next eight points and closed the contest on a 12-5 run — Locust Fork hit a 3 just ahead of the buzzer — to secure the hardware.
“I thought we regained our composure late and ran a couple of sets to take advantage of some mismatches inside,” West said. “We also hit a crucial shot or two late and got some stops defensively when we had to have them.”
Added Bruer: “It was just great to come together as a team and not get too upset, even when they were coming back.”
Maci Brown (13) and Malaya Taylor (10) joined Bruer and Calvert in double figures, and Kenady Graves rounded out the scoring with two. All five players were named to the All-Tournament Team.
Cold Springs will host a sub-regional matchup this Friday against a yet-to-be-determined opponent. A victory would send the Eagles back to the Central Regional Tournament in Birmingham as defending champions.
Class 6A, Area 14 Tournament
Cullman 63, Decatur 62 (OT)
Ally Sharpe hit a game-winner floater with 2 seconds left to lift the Bearcats to a huge win on Monday night.
Sharpe, who scored a team-high 25 points, also made a clutch shot at the end of regulation to force the extra period, where the Black and Gold trailed by as many as seven points before completing the comeback.
Kadence Hanback added 13 points for Cullman, which improved to 15-14 on the season and will face Hartselle in the championship game on Wednesday at 6 p.m.
“We’ve been a team that’s been in close games all season,” Cullman coach Jessica McBrayer said. “In 90 percent of those, we’ve fought to the end and haven’t figured it out. Tonight, we did. Our core values all season have been empty the tank, leave it all on the floor and make them earn it. We did that tonight. Our bench was amazing and our energy was good. Ally came up huge for us as well. When the lights come on, she just shows up. We’re glad to continue our season and we’re looking forward to playing Hartselle on Wednesday.”
Varsity Girls
Class 1A, Area 13 Tournament
Meek 48, Addison 36
Sumiton Christian 42, St. Bernard 26
Class 2A, Area 13 Tournament
Decatur Heritage 58, Holly Pond 45
Ava Thomas: 13 points
Madison Butts: 12 points
Emma Earl: 11 points
Class 5A, Area 14 Tournament
Scottsboro 65, Fairview 39
Jayla Gorham: 16 points
Lexi Golden: 9 points
Darby Nichols: 8 points
Fairview finishes season 6-19
Varsity Boys
Class 2A, Area 13 Tournament
Decatur Heritage 60, Holly Pond 44
Kollin Brown: 23 points
Sawyer Olinger: 15 points
Class 5A, Area 15 Tournament
Lawrence County 69, West Point 59
Jay Lamar: 20 points
Jacob Harbison: 13 points
Kolten Perry: 11 points
West Point finishes season 18-11