HOLLY POND — As Mitch Morris walked off the court following Tuesday’s county clash against West Point, the longtime Holly Pond basketball coach quickly coined a phrase to describe his team’s road win.

“It wasn’t pretty, but we’ll take it.”

The Broncos struggled at times with the Warriors but ultimately made enough plays down the stretch to come away with a 76-64 victory and improve to 3-0 on the season.

Bailey Smith (21 points), Drew Jones (19) and Matt Cahoon (14) spearheaded the Broncos’ attack — especially in the fourth frame — to turn a four-point lead into a double-digit triumph.

“We always know West Point is going to play us tough,” Morris said. “We had some big runs that got us some leads, but then we’d have some bad possessions and their guys just kept making plays to keep it close.”

For Smith, Tuesday’s outcome came down to one thing.

Defense.

Although the Green and White are known for their fast-paced attack on offense, Smith and Co. turned up their relentless pressure during the decisive final quarter to force a few turnovers, which, in turn, led to some transition buckets.

“We just stopped reaching and kept them in front of us,” Smith said. “We really worked our tails off in those final minutes. There’s really no doubt that’s what won us the game. We just all stepped up.”

Leading 62-58, Jones completed a three-point play and a layup on back-to-back possessions to extend his squad’s cushion to nine points. With West Point unable to solve the Broncos’ defensive Rubik’s Cube, Smith was able to ice the contest with six free throws during an extremely impressive final three minutes.

“We’ve got guys who can make some plays,” he said.

Added Morris: “We made our adjustments and stuck with them. We didn’t make enough free throws late, but we made just enough.”

Caleb Jones and Dawson Foust added eight and seven points apiece, respectively, for the Green and White, which will host Darlington, Ga., on Thursday night.

West Point’s balanced offense was paced by Andrew Shaw (15 points), Tanner Rusk (13), Cameron Moore (11) and Brandon Farley (10). Seth Parker tallied nine points, while Kobe Smith was good for six.

The Warriors travel to Cullman on Thursday.

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Varsity Girls

Holly Pond 50, West Point 40

When her Lady Broncos headed into the locker room for halftime, senior Melissa Clingman couldn’t believe the scoreboard.

The Warriors held a 28-19 lead — and all the momentum — over Holly Pond.

Rather than sulk, however, the speedy point guard instead chose to make huge plays, scoring nine of her 11 points in the second half to lead her team to a come-from-behind victory over the Maroon and White.

“I don’t know what happened in the first half,” Clingman said. “We just weren’t playing like we know how to play. Things changed in the second half, though. We caught a second wind there in the fourth quarter and just started to play really good defense.”

Trailing 36-27, Clingman netted her squad’s final seven points of the third quarter to slice the deficit to four.

In the ensuing frame, Ruth Horton drained a long 3-pointer after a pair of layups to stake the Broncos to a one-point lead.

It was all defense after that, as Scott Adams’ group didn’t allow a single point over the final five minutes of the game.

Not too shabby.

“Melissa’s points there in the third were big,” Adams said. “But my goodness, I was just so frustrated early with our intensity level. We’ve just got to keep getting better. I was proud of the effort we showed late, though.”

Horton led all scorers with 20 points, while Taylor Tankersley (eight), and Haley Higginbotham and Molly Gambrill (five) also contributed.

For West Point, Bailee Yearwood sank four treys to end her night with a team-high 12 points. Olivia Ball (nine) and Jeri Beasley (six) had solid games as well.

Holly Pond moved to 2-1 with the win, while the Warriors fell to 1-2.