HANCEVILLE — Murphy’s Law plagued Cold Springs on Monday afternoon.

Simple enough.

Anything that could do wrong, did go wrong for the No. 5 Lady Eagles in the Class 2A Northwest Regional Tournament championship against No. 3 Tanner at Wallace State.

On top of all that, everything else went exactly according to plan for the Lady Rattlers, who rolled to a 66-47 victory inside Tom Drake Coliseum to punch their ticket to the state tournament for a second straight year.

The Green and White outshot (50 percent to 37 percent), outrebounded (40-23) and outperformed Cold Springs from the opening tip, sending the Blue and Gold into the offseason with a final record of 28-5.

“I really don’t know where to start,” coach Tammy West said. “We couldn’t score to start the game. Tanner played great, tight defense against us that we haven’t seen much. We also had some turnovers. They dominated the boards … we didn’t get any second-chance points. I don’t remember any, at least. We got one shot and that was it. It’s just how it goes.”

Both squads started out slow, which led to 9-8 Lady Rattlers’ lead after the first quarter.

Then coach Larry Greene’s group took the bull by the horns and never looked back en route to a truly dominant performance.

Tanner outscored the Blue and Gold 17-5 in the second frame — Kirstin Brown, Jessika Milton and Nautica Noble all provided baskets during the pivotal stretch — to build a 13-point advantage heading into halftime.

Any adjustments West made or tried to make were quickly undone by the Lady Rattlers’ quickness and excellent offensive rebounding.

Despite treys by Camryn Crider and Neely Ellison, along with Emme Willoughby’s contributions, the Lady Eagles never cut their deficit below double digits in the third stanza.

“We expected them to be good on the boards, and they had so many of them,” the latter said. “They ran the floor on us. I really wasn’t expecting them to have so many easy layups. It was just a rough one all the way around for us. They’re a really good basketball team.”

The Green and White didn’t allow for even the slightest glimmer of a comeback, either, stretching their lead to as many as 25 points in the final frame before both benches were emptied in the waning moments.

“We knew they would push the ball up and down the floor,” West lamented. “We hadn’t had a problem with it all year … until tonight. We also haven’t seen a team like that, though, many times. They’re different. We couldn’t get it going, and they couldn’t do anything wrong.”

Willoughby finished the final contest of her outstanding prep career with a team-high 22 points. Crider (eight), Elizabeth Hill and Prisca McAnnally (six each), Ellison (three) and Aubrey Negron (two) wrapped up the scoring for Cold Springs. Willoughby and Hill were both selected to the All-Tournament Team following the loss.

West took a brief — and prideful — moment afterward to reflect on what the star senior has meant to her program since an exemplary emergence dating all the way back to her freshman season.

“We’re going to miss Emme like crazy,” she said with a smile. “And not just on the basketball court. She’s a role model for every single student at Cold Springs. She’s really as good as they come. She deserves everything she gets.”

Willoughby will graduate in May and begin her collegiate career at UAH in the fall.

Don’t think for a minute, however, the oft-smiling, kindhearted teenager won’t be returning to Jesse George Gymnasium to support the coaches, teammates and community who’ve given so much to her over the past few years.

“It’s definitely been an honor and a blessing,” she said. “I’ve enjoyed every single minute of it. Being able to play for coach West, Cold Springs and this entire group of people, it’s just been great. I thank God for the opportunity he gave me. I’m really going to miss it.” 

Brown paced Tanner (27-2) with 23 points and 15 rebounds. Milton added 18 points, while Noble (12) and Nahriyah Timmons (11) also contributed.