West Point turned up the defensive pressure in the second half of Saturday afternoon’s ballgame at Wallace State Community College to advance to the second round of the JV County Tournament with a 37-31 victory over Good Hope.

With the game tied at 20-all entering the halftime break, the Warriors held the Raiders scoreless in the third quarter and hung on in the final period for a six-point triumph.

“At this point of the season, any win is a good win,” said West Point coach Randy Jones. “Anytime you move into the next round, you feel lucky.”

West Point meets top-seed Holly Pond in the semifinals on Monday at 5:30 p.m.

“Holly Pond isn’t the top seed for no reason,” Jones added. “They haven’t lost a county game this season. We are going to have to play our best game to have a chance to win.”

The Warriors’ Garrett Smith scored six points in the third frame to help his team extend its lead to 30-20 entering the final frame.

Good Hope’s chances to get itself back into the game in the final period were aided by Will Yates, who drained a trifecta and a free throw. But the Raiders failed to connect on numerous chances at the free-throw line down the stretch.

West Point point guard Chris Coggins had a stellar first half with eight points on a pair of long-range bombs and two charities.

“Chris has played well all season,” Jones said. “He is our main man to setup the offense and handle the defensive pressure. He does the stuff that you don’t see in the stats.”

The Raiders’ Matt Blackmon scored five first-half points, all on free throws, to help his team erase a 10-8 deficit after one quarter for a halftime tie. Smith finished with 10 points to lead the Warriors, while Coggins notched nine and Stuart Miller six. Chance Asherbranner added five, Josh Hinkle three and Austin Preiss two to finish up the West Point scoring.

Good Hope was led by Blackmon with nine points and Tyler Sellers with six. Chris Sharpe and Yates each tossed in four markers, while Chris Bates and Josh Moody added three and two, respectively.

– Vinemont 52, Fairview 42: Vinemont outscored Fairview 18-11 in the third quarter to pull away for a 10-point victory in the JV County Tournament.

The Eagles led 15-7 after one period of play and 22-16 and 40-27 after the next two frames of play as they advanced to meet Cold Springs on Tuesday at 5 p.m.

T.J. Pope led Vinemont with 18 points, while Daniel Rusk chipped in 10. Kyle Johnson added eight points while Cameron Smith notched six. Dustin Jernigan and Cody Copeland added five apiece.

Fairview was led by Derek McElroy with 10 points and Zach Smith with nine. Al Young and Johnathan England each poured in seven, while Jed Hadley and Rodney Smith scored five and four, respectively.

– Cold Springs 56, Hanceville 33: Cold Springs’ Charlie Calvert stole the show in the Eagles’ runaway victory over Hanceville in the nightcap of Friday’s JV county tourney.

Calvert scored 18 points with a trio of 3-pointers and an old-fashioned 3-point play.

The Eagles led 9-4 after the first period, 23-15 at intermission and 36-25 after three quarters of play.

Cold Springs opened the fourth period on a 9-2 run to put the game away.

The Eagles were led by Clint Rice and Anthony Vinston with eight points each. Cody Rice and Nick Self added six and five, respectively, while Jeremy Franks, Matt Garmon, Dustin Baker and Josh Whaley each scored a deuce. Josh McCormick drained a 3-pointer.

Hanceville was led by Marcus Kay with 15 points, including four 3-pointers. Almon Gibson 12, Skyler Twitty four, Justin Ragsdale two and Jeremiah Hogeland two rounded out the Bulldog scoring.