Good Hope's Bailey Keef puts up a shot as West Point's Patton Fell defends.

HANCEVILLE — Patton Fell sank a pair of clutch free throws late, West Point’s junior varsity girls played dynamite defense down the stretch, and the Warriors defeated Good Hope 33-29 in the championship game of the Cullman County Basketball Tournament on Saturday afternoon.

No. 3 West Point battled the top-seeded Raiders throughout the clash, eventually easing ahead 30-29 following a free throw by Camryn Faulkner with 2:02 remaining.

Despite missing a couple of free throws late, the Warriors stayed in front with their defense — holding Good Hope without a point in the final three minutes of the contest.

Jaelyn Faulkner eventually drained a free throw with 12.6 seconds left to make it 31-29 and, following a defensive stand, Fell stepped up to the charity stripe with a chance to seal the deal.

Two makes and 4.4 seconds later, she and her teammates were in full celebration mode.

“It was very exciting,” Fell said. “I was really nervous and praying I’d make ‘em — and I did. I really did it for my team. I didn’t want us to lose, because we’ve been working really hard. It’s exciting that we get to be here and play and win, especially a county tournament when no one thought we’d be here.”

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Top Scorers

West Point: Patton Fell (11), Jaelyn Faulkner (10), Carsyn Blankenship (4)

Good Hope: Reese Fox (9), Bailey Keef (7), Zoey Keller (5)

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Coach Speak

“I’m incredibly proud of them. This year has been crazy with Covid, and they’ve worked hard to be here. There have been a lot of games where we didn’t have our whole team, so being out here with everyone is pretty special. And they were determined. When they saw in the paper a few weeks ago they weren’t projected to be in the finals, they got pretty mad (laughs). They proved themselves out here tonight.” — West Point’s Hayden Voce

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All-Tournament Team

Alana Phillips, Holly Pond

Caitlee Simmons, West Point

Emma Thompson, Good Hope

Reese Fox, Good Hope

Presli Carr, Holly Pond

Darby Nichols, Fairview

Camryn Faulkner, West Point

Jaelyn Faulkner, West Point

Patton Fell, West Point