HANCEVILLE — The Cullman County Tournament’s top-seeded curse nearly claimed its latest victim Thursday night.

Cold Springs staved off yet another strong effort from Holly Pond and did just enough to avoid the upset, though, squeaking by the Lady Broncos 54-50 to keep its hopes of a varsity girls repeat intact.

The Class 2A No. 5 Lady Eagles and 5A No. 10 Fairview will face off for the championship Saturday at 5:30 p.m. at Tom Drake Coliseum.

Emme Willoughby and the Blue and Gold might use all the time in between to calm their nerves after Thursday’s instant classic.

“That was rough,” said the UAH signee, who netted a game-high 19 points. “That was scary. The whole game, it was scary. We luckily got out of it with a win.”

For the third time this season, Holly Pond definitely did its part to make Cold Springs sweat to the bitter end. Hot starts by Taylor Tankersley, Ruth Horton and Kolby Holcombe had the Green and White up 19-14 and 29-27 at the end of the first two quarters.

The Eagles didn’t wait long after halftime to take the lead for good, however, garnering the slightest of cushions on a Neely Ellison drive and personal four-point spurt by Elizabeth Hill. The Broncos continually drew within one before back-to-back 3-pointers by Kinley Campbell and Willoughby finally created some distance early in the fourth quarter.

Still, the Broncos refused to go down without a fight, closing the deficit to just 53-50 in the final minute on a Presley Marks make from long range.

Sadie Terry was there to ice the triumph for Cold Springs, though, sealing the victory with a free throw on the back-end of a double bonus with 6.3 seconds to go.

Only then was Tammy West able to let out a sigh of relief.

If you actually think the oft-anxious coach is capable of feeling relief, at least — especially after a nail-biting finish that still went her way despite having two key players foul out in the fourth quarter.

“We can come out and manhandle certain teams, but all three times against them, it’s been that way,” she said. “We came through and won at the end. That’s about all I can say. I’m proud of them.”

Hill joined Willoughby in double figures with 13 points. Ellison was perfect on all four free throws in the fourth quarter and finished with seven points. Camryn Crider and Terry were both good for six.

Cold Springs will be looking to hand West her eighth county championship in Saturday’s final.

“That’s where we needed to be, and that’s where we are,” she said.

As the Lady Eagles’ lone senior, Willoughby would love nothing more than to leave her last county tourney carrying another title trophy.

“Yeah, I want it pretty bad,” she said.

Despite Thursday’s semifinal defeat, the Lady Broncos had no reason to feel dejected. They shot lights out while easily eliminating Hanceville on Wednesday and nearly pulled off what would’ve been the tourney’s biggest shocker the following night.

First-year Holly Pond coach Paige Adams couldn’t have been any prouder of her girls.

“They’ve been a completely different team in this tournament than they’ve been all year,” she said. “We had opportunities. We played our hearts out, and I couldn’t ask for anything more.”

Horton topped the Broncos with 16 points, raising her two-game total to 46. Tankersley kicked in 13 points, and Holcombe and Molly Gambrill each added nine.

Tankersley (three), Holcombe (three) and Horton (two) teamed up for eight 3-pointers.

“Against Cold Springs, you can’t take a play off or afford to get behind,” Adams said. “Some shots didn’t fall, and we had a couple of turnovers. We can walk away with our heads held high. We played a great game and gave them a great run.”