COUNTY TOURNEY (Varsity Girls): Willoughby, Eagles hold off Raiders for 48-44 win, first title since 2010

Published 11:50 pm Wednesday, January 27, 2016

HANCEVILLE — Tom Drake Coliseum has served as a rather nightmarish venue the past two seasons for Cold Springs.

Two straight county tournament finales … two straight heartbreaking losses.

On Wednesday evening, however, the scene was much, much different for the third-seeded Eagles.

And that’s just fine by them.

Emme Willoughby netted a game-high 30 points, the Blue and Gold recorded some late defensive stands and coach Tammy West’s team outlasted No. 4 Good Hope 48-44 to take home the 2016 Cullman County Basketball Tournament varsity girls championship.

The Eagles couldn’t even begin to hold in their excitement as the clock expired on the thrilling triumph.

Not that they were trying.

“It’s the greatest feeling like … ever,” said an elated Bailey West. “It’s big for us and all the seniors. We hadn’t won one on varsity yet.”

Although Willoughby went beast mode during the contest, the junior couldn’t help but heap praise on her teammates following the victory.

“It was definitely a team effort tonight,” she said. “It was a great, great win. Our seniors have been awesome all year. They’re the reason we were able to win this thing.”

Both squads flashed offensive skills in the first quarter, but West and Camryn Crider dropped in a few deep 3’s to help Cold Springs grab a slim 15-13 lead.

Willoughby’s dominance didn’t begin ascending until the second quarter.

But ascend, it did.

The two-way player scored the last four points of the first frame before reeling off 26 of her team’s final 33 points in the bout.

Tammy West, who’s told her star player to shoot more all season long, was hardly surprised with what happened when Willoughby finally listened.

“She started off slow, but Emme knew her teammates were looking for her,” the coach said. “There isn’t a jealous bone on the team. They all kept telling Emme, ‘Hey, you have got to shoot. You have got to do more.’ It finally took just more than me telling her to realize what she needed to do. I’ve got some great, great girls.”

Despite Willoughby’s outstanding performance, Good Hope didn’t even come close to folding.

The Raiders — led by Kaylee Maddox and Kate Kent — matched the Eagles step-for-step throughout the highly contested title bout and trailed by only two points heading into the fourth quarter.

It didn’t stop there, either, as the Red and White duo continued to pour in baskets to counter Willoughby’s production on the other end.

Good Hope coach Michael Oldacre chalked it up as “a great basketball game.”

“We had some runs, they had some runs,” he said. “We missed a few shots there and some second, third shots we could’ve made. I thought our girls played hard. About all you could ask for.”

With Cold Springs clinging to a one-point lead late, Willoughby drove to the basket, got fouled on the way up and hit the deck hard.

When she stood, blood trickled from her chin — and drained from Tammy West’s face — as she raced to the trainer for a quick bandage prior to her free throw attempts.

Willoughby’s thoughts? Not a worry in the world.

“I mean, I was hoping I’d be OK, but I knew Bo (Shirey) would take care of me,” she said of the local athletic trainer. “I was going back in.”

Her coach was a different story.

“I was sick,” recalled Tammy West. “I didn’t know what was wrong at first. When I knew she’d be OK, I sat her on the bench and told her the same thing had happened to a few of my former state championship players in big games before. I said, ‘You’re just like those girls.’ And she is. It was awesome to watch.”

Willoughby, who later celebrated with a trip to the hospital for a few stitches, responded by sinking a pair of huge free throws — Crider made two at the 1:40 mark to put her team in front — that padded the cushion to four points with less than a minute to play.

From there, the Blue and Gold came up with two defensive stands that all but sealed their first county title since claiming four in a row from 2007-10.

“When Emme made those free throws, I knew we were going to win,” Bailey West said. “It helped us get those stops on defense. They’re a really good team that played us really tough. It’s definitely a huge win we won’t forget.”

West and Crider provided eight points apiece for Cold Springs, while Kaleigh Merring tossed in two.

For the Raiders, Maddox (15 points) and Kent (13) contributed double digits. Kelly Pickett (nine), Miriam Oldacre (four) and Micah Oldacre (three) rounded out the scoring.

In the end, though, Michael Oldacre couldn’t do anything but tip his cap to Willoughby and the Eagles.

“She’s a mismatch,” he said. “With her height, you put a post against her, but she’s so quick and can shoot outside. I’ll give her credit. She played awesome tonight. When somebody plays that way, you just have to say good game.

“I was proud of my team to get here. It’s something to build on. We’ve continually improved over the course of the year.”

Willoughby, West and Crider were selected to the All-Tournament Team, while Maddox, Kent and Pickett made it for the Raiders.

Holly Pond’s Melissa Clingman, Ruth Horton and Taylor Tankersley comprised the rest of the honorary squad culled single-handedly by Johnny Thornton.

The All-County Team was comprised of Cold Springs’ Willoughby and West, Good Hope’s Maddox and Kent, Fairview’s Taylor Ann Yeager, Abbi Taylor and Dalys Mullican, West Point’s Bailee Yearwood and Jeri Beasley, Holly Pond’s Clingman and Horton, and Hanceville’s Taylor Hollingsworth.

Bailey West was chosen as this year’s Bill Shelton Award winner, while Hanceville’s Taylor Hollingsworth was bestowed the Charlotte Cummings Memorial Scholarship.

While Tammy West was excited to celebrate her seventh county crown, she couldn’t help but let the mom in her shine just a little bit.

Who could blame her?

“All these titles are special, but this is my first one as a momma, too.” she said with tears in her eyes. “Bailey’s mine, but she’s a great girl. She’s a role model. She’s always trying to please everybody. She’s been sitting next to me on the bench since she was 3 years old, so for her to win county and then the Bill Shelton Award, it’s wonderful for me. I’m very proud.”

For the younger West, the honor came as a complete surprise.

“I had no idea I’d win,” she said. ‘I think Georgia (Myrex) won it the last time we had one. I remember sitting on the bench and thinking, ‘I’d like to win that one day.’ And it’s really cool that I did. It’s definitely an honor.”

Cold Springs will return to action Thursday against Vinemont for Senior Night, while Good Hope will welcome in Winston County on Friday.

Despite the short turnaround, don’t expect the celebration to end simply because it’s a school day.

“Oh, we’ll enjoy this one,” Bailey West said. “Area’s big, but this one is great.”