Cullman's Ella Collum puts up a jumper.

In a crackling atmosphere befitting a heavyweight matchup, Cullman’s varsity boys emerged from Friday night’s hardcourt slugfest against Hartselle with their arms raised in triumph.

Jake Dorough registered a team-high 15 points, Garrison Sharpe pitched in 10, and the Class 6A No. 4 Black and Gold overcame a slow start with an outstanding fourth-quarter effort to defeat No. 8 Hartselle 57-49 in their Area 14 opener.

The Bearcats (17-3) trailed 21-9 after the opening period but trimmed their deficit to four at halftime (31-27) and kept it there (43-39) entering the final stanza.

And what an eight minutes it turned out to be for the home team.

Cullman opened the quarter with an 11-0 burst, including seven points from Kase Nixon, who drilled a corner 3-pointer to punctuate the critical run and send Bearcat Arena into a frenzy.

“The first 3 I hit, that’s when I knew I could hit another one,” Nixon said. “And the crowd’s a big part of that. I’m so thankful for the student section — they’re awesome. Everybody contributes on this team. No matter if you play, don’t play, who you are — everybody is contributing. I feel like once we got that momentum switched they couldn’t stop us.”

The Tigers certainly tried, though.

Coach Faron Key’s squad twice cut Cullman’s lead to three down the stretch — the final instance coming with 59 seconds to play — but the Bearcats closed out an 18-6 period from the free-throw line to put away their area opponent.

“Once we had the lead, I felt like we could keep it moving forward and not look back,” Nixon said. “They have really good shooters. They hit a lot of shots in the first half. But once we started playing better defense on them and they got tired, they couldn’t make as many shots like that.”

Nixon finished his night with eight points, while Colton Echols (seven), Tucker Cagle (six), Nate Zills (four), Evan Wilson (three), Landon Tweedie (two) and Sam Duskin (two) also contributed.

For Cullman coach Stu Stuedeman, the win represented a total team effort.

“We have guys who are champions in that locker room,” he said. “Even the ones who don’t have a championship ring are champions because of what they go through in the summer and the fall and preseason practice and regular-season practice. We always play to a standard every single time we take the floor. They have something inside of them a lot of people have but can never bring out of themselves.

“Our guys can bring it out and absolutely answer the bell every night. It doesn’t matter how good or bad they play. They are going to bring the best out of each other every night and never go away.”

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Varsity Girls

Hartselle 57, Cullman 33

The Lady Bearcats fell behind early on Friday night and never recovered, dropping their area opener against the Lady Tigers.

Ally Sharpe scored a team-high 10 points for Cullman (10-9), and Carly Mills was next in line with six.

Kadence Hanback (five), Kentley White (five), Sydni Bagwell (three), Ava McSwain (two) and Morgan Grimmett (two) also contributed.

See more local roundup below.

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Varsity Boys

Cold Springs 55, Cleveland 47

John Mark Smith: 20 points

Nic Fallin: 16 points

Seth Ingram: 9 points

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Good Hope 81, East Lawrence 40

Weston Hancock: 21 points

Kmal Bell: 16 points

Colton Lindsey: 15 points

Jacob Haynes: 12 points

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Holly Pond 54, Falkville 40

Kollin Brown: 23 points

Sawyer Olinger: 17 points

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Russellville 80, West Point 64

Jay Lamar: 31 points

Kolten Perry: 17 points

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Varsity Girls

Cold Springs 77, Cleveland 15

Ella Dickerson: 23 points

Maci Brown: 16 points

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Good Hope 69, East Lawrence 27

Ivey Maddox: 19 points

Heather Tetro: 15 points

Bailey Tetro: 12 points

Charly Johnson: 9 points

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Holly Pond 43, Falkville 31

Madison Butts: 17 points

Emma Earl: 6 points

Kamryn Tankersley: 6 points

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West Point 71, Russellville 47

Hallie Wheeler: 21 points

Camryn Faulkner: 17 points

Laklin Shadix: 12 points