HANCEVILLE — Holly Pond’s junior varsity boys have officially arrived at this year’s Cullman County Basketball Tournament.

After Monday’s 66-50 win over Hanceville, they’ll be here all week.

Top-seeded Holly Pond blitzed the No. 4 Bulldogs for 27 points in the first quarter to punch their ticket to Saturday’s championship game. Caleb Jones, Dylan Morton and Michael Lambert were the Broncos’ main culprits in a torrid opening stretch that ultimately allowed them to stave off Hanceville.

The Dawgs matched Holly Pond point for point the last 21 minutes after trailing 27-11 entering the second quarter.

Coach Bob Kusz wasn’t completely positive but thought the Broncos might’ve scored on every possession in the first quarter, either on initial attempts from the field or after pulling down offensive rebounds.

“Twenty-seven points in a JV game in a quarter is pretty stout,” he said. “That’s really what we rode the entire game because we never really extended the lead after that first quarter.”

Monday’s meeting at Wallace State’s Tom Drake Coliseum came a week to the day after Holly Pond’s and Hanceville’s last one. The Bulldogs hung more points (57) on the Broncos in that matchup than any other opponent this season, prompting Kusz to harp on defense in the rematch.

It didn’t stick.

Hanceville’s J.K. Davis and Tyler Turner took advantage of several easy opportunities to post 16 points apiece.

“They killed us in the lane,” the coach said of the Dawgs. “They were killing us in the paint. First half, they had nine baskets right down the middle of the lane.”

Fortunately for Kusz, he had a few players who could slice and dice around the basket, too. Jones did the most damage with 20 points, followed by Lambert with 13 and Morton with 10. Dawson Foust nearly made it a double-digit quartet with nine points.

Other Holly Pond contributors were Kelby Alexander, six points; Tanner Duke, four; and Jordan Creel and Mason May, two each.

Ethan Yarbrough joined Hanceville teammates Davis and Turner in double figures with 11 points. All but two came from behind the arc. Cameron Brockman (five points) and John Messersmith (two) rounded out the Bulldogs’ respective scorers.

With their spot in in Saturday’s title tilt — tipoff is scheduled for 4 p.m. — already secured, the Broncos now await the winner of Tuesday’s bout between second-seeded West Point and No. 3 Cold Springs.

The Warriors are responsible for Holly Pond’s lone loss this season, and the Eagles played the Broncos extremely close in their second go-round.

Kusz said Holly Pond has a bit of work to do no matter who it plays.

“First thing is we’ve got to stop the penetration in the lane,” he said. “We play good perimeter defense but we don’t play good inside defense. Either one of those two, they’re going to exploit it if we don’t get it cleaned up between now and Saturday.

“It’s a good thing we have a four-day break because we’re going to need it.”

Kusz doesn’t have a preference for who he’d rather see opposite the Broncos in Saturday’s championship.

The same could not be said for Foust.

“West Point,” he said. “We want revenge.”