Holly Pond's Presli Carr shoots a jumper.

HANCEVILLE — Good Hope’s junior varsity girls came up with a pivotal defensive stop as time expired on Thursday night, holding off Holly Pond 27-26 in overtime to advance to the championship game of this year’s Cullman County Basketball Tournament.

The top-seeded Raiders entered halftime tied at 10-all with the No. 4 Broncos before Holly Pond put together a solid third quarter to build a 20-14 cushion heading into the final period.

Good Hope, however, quickly closed the gap, eventually claiming a 23-22 lead following an Emma Thompson 3-pointer with 3:01 on the clock.

The score remained the same until a Holly Pond steal led to an Emma Gurganus layup with 35.8 seconds left.

The Broncos then produced a defensive stop, and Abigail Jones tacked on a free throw to make it 25-23 with 12.9 seconds remaining.

But Good Hope wouldn’t be denied. Though the Raiders initially turned the ball over on their final possession, Thompson nabbed a clutch steal shortly afterward and scored a layup as time expired to send the outing into overtime.

Reese Fox opened the extra session with a layup, and Good Hope held Holly Pond to just one free throw the rest of the way to pull out the win.

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Top Scorers

Good Hope: Emma Thompson (13), Reese Fox (7)

Holly Pond: Presli Carr (8), Emma Gurganus (6), Alana Phillips (6)

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Up Next

Good Hope will take on No. 2 Fairview or No. 3 West Point on Saturday at 2:30 p.m.