West Point's Camryn Faulkner reacts after fouling Good Hope's Charly Johnson.

HANCEVILLE — Good Hope’s varsity girls opened their title defense with a decisive victory Thursday night, defeating West Point 72-38 in the semifinals to advance to the championship game of this year’s Cullman County Basketball Tournament.

The top-seeded Lady Raiders (27-0) drilled seven 3-pointers in the first half — though the No. 4 Lady Warriors (15-10) knocked down five treys of their own to somewhat negate that production — to corral a 40-26 halftime lead inside Wallace State’s Tom Drake Coliseum.

Good Hope, however, dialed up the defensive pressure in the third quarter, forcing 10 turnovers in the period — West Point had 27 in the game — to build a 60-34 cushion entering the final stanza.

All told, coach Justin Aby’s squad — ranked No. 1 in Class 4A — outscored West Point 32-12 in the second half.

Top Scorers

Good Hope: Ivey Maddox (26), Heather Tetro (12), Charly Johnson (12), Bailey Tetro (9), Rudi Derrick (8)

West Point: Liberty Shadix (16), Laklin Shadix (7)

Player Speak

“They kind of torched us in the first half from the outside. I think we really got after it in our full-court man (in the second half) and forced a lot of turnovers to get the score up. We’re ready for a repeat, and we’re hoping to come out (Saturday) and play how we know how to play and win.” — Ivey Maddox

Coach Speak

“It was a good game. I’m proud of the girls.” — Justin Aby

Up Next

Good Hope will play No. 2 Cold Springs or No. 3 Fairview on Saturday at 5:30 p.m.