Hanceville's Chris Smith tries to knock down a pass during a fast break Monday night at the Cullman County Tournament.

When Hanceville wants to speed things up, they have no problem turning on the jets and letting loose.

The No. 6-seeded Bulldogs used their athleticism and quickness to take care of No. 7 Good Hope 58-48 in the varsity boys play-in game Monday night at the Tom Drake Coliseum.

The win marked the third time Hanceville has beaten the Raiders this season, including a 53-41 decision just last Thursday.

“You have to play to your strengths,” Bulldogs’ coach Daniel Wakefield said. “Our strength is getting the ball and flying up and down the floor. That’s what we try to do every night — make it as fast a game as possible. When we do that, we like our chances most nights.”

Chris Smith came out hot and scored Hanceville’s first eight points. The sophomore, who wound up with a game-high 19 points, said he had something to prove considering how he’s felt about his performance up to this point.

“I was just trying to make a statement,” Smith said. “All these bad games I’ve had throughout the season, I had to come out and make it up.”

Lance Twitty was booed loudly by the Raiders’ fans every single time he touched the ball, but it only seemed to fuel the Bulldogs’ center. The senior big man contributed a lot in the paint and even ran the floor multiple times to score layups on fast breaks. He finished the night with 14 points.

“It was good to see Lance, especially with him being a senior, step up and play in the county tournament and have that type of night,” Wakefield said.

Twitty wasn’t the only senior who made an impact against Good Hope. Diamond Simmons scored eight of his 13 points in the second quarter, all layups, to help Hanceville take a lead that was never relinquished.

Brontae Harris is usually the Bulldogs’ leading scorer, but he only had seven points Monday. That wasn’t a problem for Wakefield

“Your leading scorer can’t always be your leading scorer every night,” he said. “Sometimes other people need to step up and put the ball in the hole.”

Behind six points from Andrew Cofer, five from his cousin Alex and a 3-pointer from C.J. Ridgeway, the Raiders concluded the first quarter tied 14-14, but they were only able to score seven points in the second compared to Hanceville’s 16.

Andrew Cofer made a late trey and swished two free throws in the fourth quarter, and Ridgeway knocked down a shot from the charity stripe to draw the score to 50-41, but that was as close as the Raiders would get.

Down by 14, Andrew Cofer stole the ball and made a nifty behind-the-back pass to Levi Allred, who laid it in.

Dylan Mooney and Broc Malcom each contributed two points for the Bulldogs, and J.J. Washington had one.

Andrew Cofer led the way for Good Hope with 17 points, and Alex Cofer added 16. Eli Marty netted six points, Allred scored five and Ridgeway had four.

Hanceville advances to play No. 3 Holly Pond today at 7:30 p.m.

“I told the guys we need to play with a whole lot more effort and intensity tomorrow night,” Wakefield said after Monday’s game.

 

* Rob Ketcham can be reached at 256-734-2131, ext. 257 or at robk@cullmantimes.com.