HANCEVILLE — West Point’s freshmen boys aren’t likely to forget Saturday’s third quarter any time soon. Holly Pond would prefer to erase it from their memories right away.

Following a back-and-forth first half, the Warriors opened the floodgates with 15 unanswered points in the third quarter, sending them well on their way to a 55-47 win in the Cullman County Basketball Tournament championship at Wallace State.

The ninth-grade title was the Maroon and White’s fourth in a row. They accomplished the feat as the second seed and avenged two previous losses this season to the No. 1 Broncos.

West Point’s Dalton White was visibly emotional as he strolled to the locker room after he and his basketball brothers accepted their championship hardware. The big man pounded away for a team-high 13 points and was named to the All-Tournament Team with fellow Warriors Riley Hawkins and Kolton Easterwood.

“I came a long way this year,” a misty-eyed White said. “I just want to thank my teammates, especially this guy here beside me.”

“This guy” was none other than Austin Dubberly, who dedicated the triumph to a very specific set of folks. According to the teen, this one was for “the haters.”

“It feels amazing,” said Dubberly, who drubbed up 10 points. “They said it was luck, but that’s hard work and dedication right there.”

Both teams played championship-caliber basketball in the first half — Holly Pond entered intermission up 21-19 after 10 lead changes — but West Point took complete control with a third-quarter shutout and 19-0 stretch that extended to the early stages of the fourth stanza.

Jake Harris finally ended the Broncos’ second-half drought with a drive at the 5:11 mark in the final quarter. Holly Pond’s smothering press resulted in one last furious rally, but the Warriors sank their last 12 free throws to stave off any serious threat.

“Our coach pulled us through,” White said of Jimmy Harbison. “He had a great gameplan for us — just come out and fight and never let up on defense.”

Harbison made his biggest impact on the boys at halftime, reminding them West Point’s varsity (Randy Jones) and junior varsity (Scott Brown) coaches were watching and that “you’re going to have to pick it up if you want to play for them.”

“The kids responded and we got a win,” Harbison said. “The kids have been playing well ever since Christmas, and we kind of hit our stride in the county tournament.”

Dubberly and Easterwood rounded out the Warriors’ double-digit scorers with 10 points apiece. Hawkins and Coby Sullins came close with eight each. Dante Callahan, Noah Gammon and Matt McDonald all added two points.

Harris desperately tried to claw Holly Pond back into contention with 14 of his game-high 20 points in the fourth quarter. Griffin Morris, who beat the first-quarter buzzer with a 3 and dazzled with a slick, behind-the-back assist, piped in with nine points.

Other contributors for the Broncos were Mason Hays, seven points; Reid Hollis, five; McKinley Garrett, three; Brandon DeSilva, two; and Dustin Stancil, one.

Morris and Garrett were named to the All-Tournament Team, which was rounded out by Fairview’s Klay Knop and Scoot Bennett.

Harbison had all the respect in the world for Holly Pond, which entered Championship Saturday with four teams scattered throughout all five levels.

“It’s a tribute when you can beat a team like Holly Pond,” he said. “It shows what a good program they are.”

The Warriors aren’t exactly shabby in their own right. They’ve now claimed four straight crowns in arguably the toughest division to repeat, simply because the roster changes every single season.

White chalked up West Point’s ninth-grade dominance to its coaches being the “best in the county.”

Harbison had his own reasons.

“You tell them from Day 1, you’ve got to buy into our mentality,” he said. “You’re going to play as a team, play with class and sportsmanship, and the wins will take care of themselves.”