Underdog Hartselle leads at halftime before falling to No. 1 Hazel Green

Caleb Suggs, The Decatur Daily, Ala.
·1 min read

Feb. 24—HANCEVILLE — Not many people gave the Hartselle Lady Tigers a chance in their Class 6A Northwest Regional final against No. 1 Hazel Green today.

But Hartselle made it closer than expected before falling 32-25 this morning.

"They've been in this situation before," said Hartselle head coach Gary Orr. "Even when we got down early, there was never a doubt that we would come back. This is a great team and they've had a great year. I'm very proud of them."

Hazel Green took an early 14-4 lead, but Hartselle went on a 15-3 run and by halftime led 21-20.

The Tigers' defense held the Trojans to just 12 second half points, but unfortunately for them they were held to just four, including just a single field goal.

"I thought we took good shots, except for maybe a couple. The right people were taking them in the right situations," Orr said. "It was just one of those nights where the shots weren't falling. We held them too, which gave us a chance at the end. But sometimes you have games where they just (don't) go in, and I guess today was that one for us."

Masyn Marchbanks led the Tigers with six points, Alyssa McMinemon finished with five.

The Tigers end their season at 25-3. It's been an amazing run for them as they had won 23 in a row heading into Wednesday's contest.

"This a special group of ladies. I told them they've been super this year," said Orr. "The leadership we had between Lillyanna (Cartee), Masyn and Hailey (Holshouser) was just superb. Those three and everyone else just made for a great team. I couldn't be prouder of them."