By Staff
Scot Beard
HANCEVILLE – The season came to an end for the Belgreen varsity girls basketball team Friday as the Lady Bulldogs fell to Hazlewood 74-63.
Belgreen struggled to stop the potent Hazlewood offense in the first half before rallying in the second, but were unable to pull ahead before time ran out.
"They have quick hands and we're not used to that. We are not used to people getting our passes," said senior Deborah Billingham. "They are very quick and that is something we had to adjust to."
In the first quarter, Belgreen fought back from a five-point deficit to take a 10-9 lead before Hazlewood ended the period on a 13-2 run to take firm control of the game.
The Lady Bears continued to dominate in the second quarter, hitting three 3-pointers in the period and ending the half on a 10-0 run to take a 49-30 advantage into halftime.
Belgreen chipped away at Hazlewood's lead in the third and, thanks to a pair of 3-pointers from Katelin Barber, cut the deficit to 12 points heading into the final quarter.
The Lady Bulldogs continued to rally and reduced Hazlewood's lead to 66-62 in the closing minutes of the game on a basket by Billingham.
Hazlewood's Alex Gholston scored and Amber Jones added a pair of free throws to extend the Lady Bears' advantage to eight points.
Loren McVicker added a free throw with less than a minute to play to finish the scoring for Belgreen. Hazlewood added three free throws and a basket in the final 30 seconds to put the game out of reach.
"It's hard at this level to be down 20 and come back they pulled within four, they did an outstanding job," Belgreen coach Shauna Humphries said. "I couldn't be more proud of them."
Barber led the Lady Bulldogs with 18 points while McVicker added 16 and Billingham scored 14 points. Also scoring for Belgreen were Martha Billingham with nine points and Amber Smith with six points.
Jones led the scoring effort for Hazlewood with 33 points, 21 of which came in the first half. Gholston added 16 and Zena Harris scored 11.
Belgreen ends the season with a 24-4 record. All of the Lady Bulldogs' losses came against teams that reached the Northwest Region Tournament – two losses to Red Bay and one loss to both Hackleburg and Hazlewood.