The Cold Spring’s boys avoided a letdown Friday night while the Lady Eagles dominated their Hanceville counterparts.

Coming off a double-overtime victory over Vinemont Thursday night, the Eagles held off an upset-minded Bulldog bunch for a 63-58 victory.

The Lady Eagles continued their Cullman County dominance with a 79-29 pounding over Hanceville thanks to incredible efforts from Natalie Mullins and Dustin Harbison.

Cold Springs 63, Hanceville 58 (boys): The Eagles’ full-court pressure defense and a steady dose of Justin May in the third quarter erased any chance Hanceville had of upsetting Cold Springs.

Trailing by 10 points midway through the second quarter, Eagle head coach Tim Burleson put his team into a pressure defense that took the Bulldogs out of any rhythm.

“The press is definitely what turned the game around,” said Burleson following the game. “We had a hard time scoring early, but we got it going, as we created some turnovers. The press got us into an up-tempo game and that favored us tonight.”

Cold Springs’ press turned a 10-point deficit into a one-point disadvantage at 22-21 entering the half and a 10-point lead at 47-37 heading into the final frame.

The offensive fireworks during the third quarter stretch came from junior center May who scored 11 points in the period.

“They spread their zone out on our shooters, so that opened up the low block,” Burleson said. “Justin was able to just take over during the third quarter.”

Sophomore shooting guard Jared Hogeland joined in the second half offensive parade with eight in the momentum changing third stanza.

Hanceville seemed on pace early to pull the upset as two-guard Rodney Hall scored 10 first half points.

The Bulldogs managed to draw within three points at 51-48 midway through the fourth quarter on a Tristan Purifoy bank-shot 3-pointer from the top of the key.

But solid free-throw shooting from the Eagles sealed the victory over the final minutes.

“We’ve got to cut down on our turnovers down the stretch,” Burleson said. “Our team has got to get better at protecting a lead. But I am proud of this team to get a win.

“This was a dangerous game tonight with us coming off a double-overtime victory last night and playing another big game on Tuesday (at West Point). I’m just glad we had tonight’s game at home. Hanceville has really improved this season.”

May and Hogeland finished with 21 points each while K.C. Dickerson chipped in eight. Rounding out the Eagle scoring were Coltin Stricklin with five, Keith Gann and Heath Field with three and Matt Williams with two.

For Hanceville, Hall finished with 19 scoring tallies while Tristan Purifoy added 11. Greg Dulz had nine points, Nathon Freeman seven, Xavier Malcolm five, Corey Flanigan three and Preston Smith and Demtrius Hall two.

Cold Springs 79, Hanceville 29 (girls): Cold Springs got a tune up game for Tuesday night’s clash with county rival West Point against an up-and-coming Hanceville squad.

The Lady Eagles flexed their muscle early-and-often as they jumped out to a 23-5 first quarter lead and expanded it to 47-12 at the half.

Mullins and Harbison came out on fire with 13 points each in the first half while Jaclyn Carden chipped in 10 points.

“My girls played very hard tonight,” said Cold Springs’ coach Tammy West. “We worked on our rebounding all week in practice and it really showed tonight. Rebounding killed us in our two losses this season.”

Carden and center Tiffany Campbell showed their extra board work paid off as each player pulled down 17 rebounds.

While Hanceville never managed to put up much of a fight, the Lady Bulldogs played hard throughout the contest as Amber Miller scored 12 points with two shots connecting from long range.

Cold Springs led 65-22 after three quarters of play and extended its lead to 50-plus points in the final quarter thanks to 10 fourth frame points from Harbison.

Harbison finished with a game-high 25 points, while Mullins chipped in 19 points despite not playing from the five-minute mark of the third quarter.

Carden added 14 with Campbell nine, Beth Brasher eight and Keisha Rice four rounding out the Lady Eagles’ scoring.

Hanceville’s Sheena Nation scored six points while teammates Laken Pitts and Jessica Helms added three. Kristen Taylor and Sarah Washington notched two points with Heather Brockman scoring one.

Hanceville hosts Danville on Tuesday night while both Cold Springs’ teams battle for county bragging rights against top-nemesis West Point.

“I don’t think anything has to be said about Tuesday night’s game,” West added. “The girls are ready for the game. It’s something that we have circled on the calendar. You don’t have to do a lot of motivating for that one.”