Powerhouses Collide

Published 3:27 pm Wednesday, December 21, 2005

In the most anticipated county girls game of the young season, the West Point Lady Warriors used sharp shooting and a suffocating defense to clip the wings of the Cold Springs Lady Eagles 73-53 on Tuesday night.

The West Point boys did the same in the nightcap, getting revenge for a loss in the Hanceville Thanksgiving tournament earlier this season with a 75-53 win over Cold Springs.

— West Point 73, Cold Springs 53 (girls): With both schools fielding their best squads in years, players from both teams had this game circled since the beginning of the season.

Both teams came out firing on all cylinders, with West Point (9-2) holding a 29-25 lead early in the second quarter. But Cold Springs center and defending Times player of the year Tiffany Campbell picked up her third foul of the game, sending her to the bench. The Lady Warriors proceeded to go on a 21-6 run to build a giant lead they would never relinquish.

“They’re an awesome team,” said Cold Springs coach Tammy West. “They have awesome shooters and they don’t take bad shots. But absolutely the big difference was getting in foul trouble tonight.”

Campbell wasn’t the only Lady Eagle in foul trouble. Senior point guard Natalie Mullins also picked up her third foul in the second quarter, leaving the Lady Eagles without their top two players on the floor.

Sparked by Emily Blackwood’s back-to-back treys, the Lady Warriors started to pull away, building a 19-point halftime lead.

“This game was big for our girls,” said West Point coach Regina Jones. “Everyone has been talking about this game for a couple of weeks. It helped when Campbell and Mullins got in foul trouble. That’s their go-to players. But I give our girls a lot of credit. Our guards did a great job with the press and they hit some threes that helped.”

The second half didn’t get much better for Cold Springs (11-3), as Campbell picked up her fourth foul early. That’s when Amanda Scott took over for West Point.

Scott scored the first 12 points for the Lady Warriors in the second half, including all 10 of the team’s third quarter points, keeping Cold Springs from ever getting back in the game.

“We were really pumped for this game and I wanted to play well,” Scott said. “I just went out trying to play the hardest I possibly could.”

Scott finished the night with 30 points and 14 rebounds, shooting 11-for-16 from the field.

“Amanda took over tonight,” Jones said. “She played a great game.”

Kristi Kimbril added 12 points for the Lady Warriors, while Blackwood and Nikki Cleghorn each scored eight.

Also scoring for West Point were Tiffany Hinkle with five, Celina Blackwood with four, Lindsey Kent with three and Sabrina Blackwood with three.

While Cold Springs lost the game by 20 points, West said there were still some positive things that came away from the loss.

“I thought the first quarter was the best quarter we have played all season,” West said. “If we could play like that for a whole game, I don’t think we could be beat. But tonight there was no doubt we got beat by the better team.”

Mullins lead the Lady Eagles with 18 points, while Campbell finished with 12. Also scoring for Cold Springs were Jaclyn Carden with nine, Dusten Harbison with seven, Keisha Rice with four, Paige Parker with two and Baileigh Davis with one.

The two squads will tangle again on Jan. 3, this time at Cold Springs. West said her squad has work before the next matchup.

“Our zone wasn’t working with how they were shooting the ball tonight, so we tried a little man-to-man defense later,” West said. “That worked OK, but it opened us up to more points in the post. Of course, with the way they were shooting, we’ll take twos instead of threes.

“We have a lot of work to do to prepare for them in two weeks, but I think we’ll be ready.”

Scott said she knows what to expect from Cold Springs.

“Revenge,” Scott said. “They are going to come out looking for revenge. We are going to have to play hard again to beat them.”

— West Point 75, Cold Springs 53 (boys): The Warriors built an early 27-12 lead, but watched the Eagles go on a 15-4 run to start the second quarter to cut the advantage to four.

But West Point went on a 17-4 run to end the half and never let Cold Springs get within single digits.

“The shots fell for us tonight,” West Point coach Heith Yearwood said. “Our guys kept their composure in the second quarter and made some good shots. It was a great team effort and guys accepted their roles tonight.”

Chase Mosley scored 16 of his game-high 22 points in the first half to help West Point build the big lead. Mosley finished the game with six treys.

Also scoring for the Warriors were Blake Overton with 17, Justin Monk with 10, Blake Mechaw with 10, Nick Graham with two, Stefan Hulsey with three and Blake Gammon with three.

Justin May scored 10 of his 20 points in the third quarter to draw Cold Springs within 12 points. Matt Williams added 16 points for the Eagles who player without one of their top shooters, Jared Hogeland, for most of the game due to foul trouble. Hogeland finished with just one point.

Also scoring for the Eagles were K.C. Dickerson with two, Keith Gann with three and Colton Stricklin with three.

Cold Springs (11-4) is off until Dec. 27 when they host the Cold Springs Christmas tournament.

West Point (8-4) travels to Holly Pond on Thursday, before playing in the Cold Springs Christmas tournament next week.

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