PREP BASKETBALL: McDonald’s 3 sinks Cold Springs at buzzer; Lady Eagles breeze past Good Hope
Published 9:44 pm Tuesday, December 20, 2016
- Cold Springs' Camryn Crider splits two Good Hope defenders for two of her career-high 27 points on Tuesday.
GOOD HOPE — The last possession for the Raiders was perfect in its imperfection.
Tied with Cold Springs late, Good Hope had around 10 seconds to run the play coach Drew Adams settled on during a timeout.
Five seconds into the set, however, fate took over and the rest was history.
Stymied at the right wing, Matt Cofer whistled a pass over the heart of the Eagle defense into the waiting hands of Isaac McDonald, who then launched a deep 3-pointer from the opposite wing as time expired inside D.E. Ryan Gymnasium.
Bang.
The junior’s shot tickled the twine with ease, sending the Red and White faithful into a frenzy and the Raiders into Christmas break with a fine 42-39 win over their county rival on Tuesday night.
Just like Adams didn’t draw it up.
“Well, we were going to set a double screen and get Isaac on the block for a layup,” he said. “The play didn’t work, though. We were nervous, then I wanted Matt to drive. He made a risky pass. Both squads deserved this one. The last thing I’d want there is a 30-footer, but we made it. The shot could’ve gone in. The shot could’ve rimmed out.”
Although the play didn’t go according to plan, it didn’t stop McDonald from being stoked about his first-ever game-winner.
“Once-in-a-lifetime feeling,” he said with a smile. “I give it all to my teammates. Thank God Cofer looked my way. He dropped a dime to me at the wing. It wasn’t supposed to happen like that, but it did. I knew it was wet as soon as I let go of it.”
Neither team found much offensive rhythm throughout the night.
Cold Springs closed the first half on a 9-0 run to nab a 21-18 lead heading into the locker room. Good Hope (11-4) whittled the deficit down to three points entering the final frame thanks to some big-time offensive rebounding by Cohen White and Cofer, who each had a putback in the final minute of the stanza.
The Eagles, who led by as many as eight points in the second half, held cushions of three and four points during the tightly contested fourth quarter but could never quite stretch it out more than that.
Five missed free throws and a handful of costly turnovers certainly didn’t help.
Not that Adams is complaining now.
“You never want to face a deficit, but I was proud of how my guys responded each time,” he said. “We came out flat and could’ve quit, but we didn’t. Cold Springs has beaten us badly the past five or six seasons. I respect them and coach (Tim) Willoughby. My dad always told me that when you coach long enough, you’re going to be on the good side and the bad side night in and night out. We won’t take this one for granted, because it could have gone either way tonight.”
McDonald led all scorers with 14 points, while Cofer (13) and Blake Lyle (eight) also contributed.
Cold Springs was paced by Hunter McClendon’s 15 points. Jesse Lee and Blake Wood added 11 and 10, respectively.
The Blue and Gold’s loss was their sixth outing of the season decided by eight or fewer points.
“We didn’t want them to take the last shot but once it got down to 10 seconds, we just played our base defense,” Willoughby said. “I think our defense was solid all night. When their guy caught it, Blake was in position and closed out well. They just made the shot. It’s disappointing to lose like that, but we went 4-2 in our last six games, which were all on the road. I’m satisfied with that.”
% Holly Pond 78, Hanceville 37: The Class 3A No. 2 Broncos galloped to another blowout victory against a county rival.
Drew Jones spearheaded a balanced scoring effort with 11 points, while Mckinley Garrett (10), Andrew Shaw (10) and Griffin Morris (nine) all got in on the action.
The Green and White improved to 15-0.
Hanceville’s Brendan Flanigan led all scorers with 20 points.
% Spain Park 74, Cullman 58: The Bearcats dropped to 6-10 with a tough consolation loss to the 7A Jaguars during the Buffalo Wild Wings Christmas Challenge at Wallace State’s Tom Drake Coliseum.
Nick Williams led Cullman with 10 points, while Dylan Finch secured eight. Trey Tucker, Drew Morton and Reese Harbison all contributed six points in the loss. Tucker was named to the All-Tournament Team.
Varsity Girls
% Cold Springs 67, Good Hope 36: The 2A No. 4 Eagles stayed spotless heading into Christmas with a dominant road victory against the Lady Raiders.
Camryn Crider blazed for 27 points, while Elizabeth Hill helped Cold Springs move to 13-0 overall with 17 points.
The Blue and Gold broke open a tight game early with a 25-7 run to close the first half.
“I was glad that we went into the break with a win like this,” coach Tammy West said. “I thought we played well, especially Camryn. That’s big for us moving forward.”
Kate Kent scored a team-high 11 points for Good Hope (5-8), while Sadie Abbott (eight), Leyton Seal (seven) and Erika Woodall (seven) also scrawled their names in the scoring ledger.
% Holly Pond 54, Hanceville 36: Revenge is a dish best served cold.
And the Lady Broncos served it up plenty in a quality home triumph versus the Lady Bulldogs.
Ruth Horton corralled 22 points for the Green and White (5-11), while Presley Marks was good for 11. Molly Gambrill tossed in eight.
Hanceville’s Karmen Johnson garnered 19 points. Desi Hackney tallied 10.
% Addison 46, Meek 44: The Lady Bulldogs squeaked by the Lady Tigers for their second razor-thin victory in as many nights.
Macey Butler spearheaded Addison (9-1) with 21 points, while Kaylee Brummet notched 11. Kendra Tyree collected 12 rebounds.
