HANCEVILLE — Good Hope’s junior varsity girls entered Saturday’s championship game with their sights set on repeating.

Behind a superb first-half effort and with just enough grit down the stretch, that’s exactly what the Raiders accomplished, picking up a 43-40 victory over Cold Springs at Wallace State’s Tom Drake Coliseum.

The No. 2 Raiders put together a masterful first half to take a 28-8 advantage into intermission.

Top-seeded Cold Springs, though, responded with a terrific third quarter to cut its deficit to 31-29 entering the final period.

But Good Hope opened the frame with a 9-0 spurt to pad its cushion and then came up with a crucial takeaway on the Eagles’ last possession to seal the deal.

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Coach Speak: “We’ve been in quite a few pressure-filled situations and what we try to preach is not getting too emotional. We’ve just got to take care of the basketball in those moments. I’m just so proud of this team. We only have a couple of girls on this team who played on junior varsity last year. The ones who returned stepped up and became leaders, and these girls all got better and worked really hard.” — Good Hope’s Nina Moss

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Top Scorers

Cold Springs: Kyleigh Graves (12), Hagen Ellis (11) Allie Light (7)

Good Hope: Gabby Richter (13), Zoe Gibbs (12), Charlotte Duren (9)

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Final Records

Cold Springs: 12-4

Good Hope: 9-6

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All-Tournament Team

Kenadi Pagan, West Point

Kensli Redding, Fairview

Hagen Ellis, Cold Springs

Kyleigh Graves, Cold Springs

Zoe Gibbs, Good Hope

Kynzlee Garmon, Good Hope

Brooklyn Merriman, Fairview

Gabby Richter, Good Hope