‘TAKE THAT NEXT STEP’: Broncos eager for return to big stage following regional final loss to Lauderdale County

Published 11:47 pm Friday, February 14, 2025

HANCEVILLE — The outcome might not have been what Holly Pond’s varsity girls had in mind, but that didn’t stop third-year coach Mary Hartline from accentuating the big-picture positives for her program.

Sure, the Broncos suffered a 42-28 defeat at the hands of Class 3A No. 1 Lauderdale County on Friday, ending their tremendous season at the Northwest Regional Tournament just one win shy of the school’s first Final Four appearance since 2014.

But there were no tears afterward. No regrets, either.

After all, No. 8 Holly Pond certainly had nothing to hang its head about — not after fighting tooth and nail with one of the most historically dominant programs in the state.

“Lauderdale County is a beast to reckon with — and we knew that all year,” Hartline said. “But I felt like our girls did such a good job of carrying out our game plan, which was to keep them in the half-court as much as possible. These girls did everything I asked of them. We just didn’t have enough offensive firepower.”

Hartline’s team hung tough from the outset, battling the Tigers to a 12-all tie after the first period before entering halftime trailing by just four points.

That trend continued across the final 16 minutes of the clash, thanks in large part to a zone defense that held the Tigers to 30 percent shooting and a season-low 42 points.

Unfortunately for Holly Pond, the Lauderdale County defense produced a more complete performance, holding the Broncos scoreless for 8:14 of game time spanning the second and third quarters, and forcing 29 turnovers that led to 19 points.

And while Holly Pond shot the ball well enough (50 percent), it was limited to just 22 field goal attempts.

“It really did suck that our offense didn’t go the way we wanted it to, because we stay after practice and shoot and put up extra shots and work on all of our motions,” junior Maggie Nail said. “We knew this game wasn’t going to be easy, because we all know who Lauderdale County is. But I thought we worked as hard as we could on defense to hold them the way that we did. I couldn’t be prouder about that.”

Added Hartline: “I know some people may think I sound crazy when I say this, but I told the girls it’s better to throw it out of bounds than to let them steal it — we at least get to set up our defense. I know we had 29 turnovers, but a lot of them were dead-ball turnovers. Their defensive pressure is insane and we are down our leading scorer (Ava Thomas), so we had to rely on our defense.

“It takes a selfless player to throw it out of bounds, because some people are going to think bad of you or look down on you, but you do it for the team to compete — and we did compete.”

Millie McBee recorded a team-high 16 points for Holly Pond, while Madison Butts (six), Nail (three), Sadie Nail (three) and Blakely Baggett (two) rounded out the scoring.

Butts and Nail were named to the All-Tournament Team.

Despite Friday’s unwanted result, the Broncos are set up nicely for the future — at least, on paper.

They claimed 21 victories and an area championship this season en route to reaching the Elite Eight for the first time in 11 years — and they did so with just one senior (Alana Phillips).

Color Nail excited for what’s to come — and hungry to make it happen.

“To get as far as we did is pretty great, but I’m sure everyone is going to want to get back in there tomorrow and work even harder to take that next step,” she said.

That kind of tireless determination is something Hartline, a fierce competitor herself as a player, thinks will pay dividends down the road.

“There were so many little kids from Holly Pond in the stands today, so it doesn’t end with our eighth-grade group,” she said. “Our girls — my children — look up to these girls so much. The fact they got to see this … and big thanks to our principal Nate Ayers. He brought buses to both games and supported us. It means a lot for the team, the community and all the way down.”