COUNTY BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT: Holly Pond boys, Fairview girls secure top varsity seeds

Published 6:15 pm Wednesday, January 10, 2018

Holly Pond’s boys and Fairview’s girls have the loveliest view at this year’s Cullman County Basketball Tournament.

The Broncos and Lady Aggies officially wrapped up the top varsity seeds at Wednesday’s drawing ceremony, which took place at the Cullman County Board of Education, after producing the best overall records in county games with seeding implications.

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For the fifth straight year, seeding was based on first contests among the seven county schools. Brackets were also determined by the county’s basketball coaches.

The annual tournament — which takes place at Wallace State’s Tom Drake Coliseum — will begin on Saturday, Jan. 20 and conclude on Saturday, Jan. 27.

Defending champion Holly Pond (5-1) will take a first-round bye on the boys side. West Point (5-1) earned the No. 2 seed followed by Good Hope (4-2), Fairview (4-2), Hanceville (2-4), Cold Springs (1-5) and Vinemont (0-6).

The Broncos have garnered the top seed in four of the past five draws — nabbing two county crowns in the process— and accomplished the task this season by claiming a tiebreaker over the Warriors.

Coach Mitch Morris, however, doesn’t see a whole lot of benefit this time around.

“This year, Fairview’s beat us, West Point’s played us tough, Good Hope’s played us tough, and Hanceville’s played us tough,” he said. “We’re fortunate to have the top seed, but it may be a curse again. We’ve got four or five squads, I think, that can get hot and win this thing. It’s going to be a lot of fun, and I’m looking forward to it.”

Fairview and Hanceville will kick off the varsity boys action Jan. 22 at 7:30 p.m. Rounding out the first-round tilts are Good Hope and Cold Springs (Jan. 23 at 7:30 p.m.), and West Point and Vinemont (Jan. 24 at 7:30 p.m.).

Meanwhile, the Lady Aggies — less than a year removed from their first county title since 1982 — will get a coveted rest in the first round before attempting to match their championship performance from a season ago.

West Point (5-1) corralled the second seed followed by Cold Springs (4-2), Hanceville (3-3), Good Hope (2-4), Holly Pond (1-5) and Vinemont (0-6). The Purple and Gold was a perfect 6-0.

“The girls are playing well right now,” Fairview coach Mary Hartline said. “With a senior squad, you can never go out and guarantee anything, but you would hope they’d have the confidence from last year’s success to handle anything involving pressure. I’m proud of them for getting to this point.”

West Point and Vinemont will jumpstart the varsity girls bonanza Jan. 22 at 6:15 p.m. Cold Springs and Holly Pond (Jan. 23 at 6:15 p.m.), and Hanceville and Good Hope (Jan. 24 at 6:15 p.m.) comprise the other first-round outings.

A complete schedule will be posted in print later this week.

See below for seed and first-round matchups for the junior varsity boys, junior varsity girls and ninth-grade boys:


Junior Varsity Boys

Seeds: 1) Holly Pond 2) West Point 3) Fairview 4) Hanceville 5) Vinemont 6) Good Hope 7) Cold Springs

Matchups: Hanceville vs. Vinemont, Jan. 20 at 2:15 p.m.; Fairview vs. Good Hope, Jan. 20 at 4:45 p.m.; West Point vs. Cold Springs, Jan. 20 at 7:15 p.m.

Championship: Jan. 27 at 4 p.m.

Defending Champion: Good Hope


Junior Varsity Girls

Seeds: 1) Cold Springs 2) Fairview 3) West Point 4) Hanceville 5) Good Hope 6) Holly Pond

Matchups: Hanceville vs. Good Hope, Jan. 20 at 3:30 p.m.; West Point vs. Holly Pond, Jan. 20 at 6 p.m.

Championship: Jan. 27 at 2:30 p.m.

Defending Champion: Fairview


Ninth-Grade Boys

Seeds: 1) Fairview 2) West Point 3) Vinemont 4) Holly Pond 5) Good Hope

Matchups: Holly Pond vs. Good Hope, Jan. 20 at 1 p.m.

Championship: Jan. 27 at 1 p.m.

Defending Champion: West Point