Cold Springs' Camryn Crider draws a foul during Monday's game.

HANCEVILLE — Cold Springs’ varsity girls had every intention of securing a trip to Birmingham on Monday.

Phil Campbell, however, had much different plans in mind — with a ferocious defense that wouldn’t be denied.

The No. 4 Lady Bobcats smothered the Lady Eagles from start to finish at the Northwest Regional Tournament, corralling a dominant 46-29 win inside Tom Drake Coliseum to improve to 27-5 this season and advance to the state tournament for the first time since 1987.

Cold Springs, meanwhile, committed 24 turnovers, missed 14 free throws and shot 28 percent (10 of 35) from the field en route to its fourth regional final loss in the past six seasons. The Blue and Gold finished 21-13 this time around following the disappointing defeat.

“That’s been our downfall,” coach Tammy West said. “We lost a regional tournament three years ago, and we missed 15 free throws. Today, it was 14. And it’s not because we don’t work on them. Obviously, we’re going to have to try something different. The turnovers were all due to their defense. I thought after playing Tanner and being able to score on them that we’d be able to score tonight. But it just didn’t happen. We don’t see this kind of defense throughout the year. We know it’s a weakness. We’re going to have to learn to handle the pressure and be more prepared when we get down here again.”

Phil Campbell nabbed a 10-7 lead after the first quarter and a 20-15 advantage at halftime before taking over with a masterful performance in the third frame.

The Lady Bobcats outpaced Cold Springs 15-5 in the eight-minute period to build a 15-point cushion heading into the final stanza.

To further complicate matters, the Lady Eagles played most of the second half without star Elizabeth Hill, who banged her elbow on the floor late in the second quarter. The sophomore star returned later but quickly found herself on the bench at the behest of her coach.

“I put her back out there, but you could tell she was in pain,” West said. “There’s no sense in leaving her out there when she couldn’t even dribble a basketball. She’s played the whole year with injuries. They all played hard today. We’ve gone through a lot this season with injuries and illnesses. I’m proud of them.”

Camryn Crider led Cold Springs with 11 points, while Hill had nine. Prisca McAnnally (five), Zoe Strawbridge (three) and Toni West (one) rounded out the scoring for the local squad.

Both Crider and Hill were selected to the All-Tournament Team.

Phil Campbell received 20 points from Kallie Allen and 13 from Darby Elliott in the victory.

With almost everyone back next season — McAnnally and Strawbridge are the team’s only seniors — Crider is already thinking about another return to Tom Drake Coliseum.

“This season definitely wasn’t a waste,” she said. “We grew so much to overcome what we did. Today didn’t go like we wanted it to go, but I know deep down this season made us stronger. We’ll come back next year, I think, 10 times stronger because of that.”

Added West: “We’re excited. Hopefully we can start off the year healthy. They play well together. They’re really a good group of very hardworking girls. They’ll be playing ball within the next few weeks I imagine.”