Hanceville Bulldogs lose both varsity games to Holly Pond

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Holly Pond 61, Hanceville 57 OT

Overtime! The nemesis of the Hanceville Bulldogs for the 2011-2012 season. Three overtime games and not one single win to show for it. Holly Pond was down by as many as 10 points on three separate occasions during the game, including a 53-43 deficit with 3:22 left to play in regulation. However, Holly Pond was able to pull the upset and took sole possession of the lead in area play with a 61-57 victory.

The Bulldogs could only manage two points the last four minutes in the fourth quarter on a shot by Diamond Simmons to push Hanceville’s lead out to 55-49 with just over a minute left in the game.

Holly Pond then got two miracle shots to fall on two long-range shots by Colby Adams and Bryant Sparks. Adams hit his 3-pointer from well beyond the college arc, as the game was being held in Wallace State Coliseum for a home game to the Bulldogs. The Broncos was then able to force an errant throw by Lance Twitty to gain possession on the turnover by Hanceville.

The Broncos then worked the ball around to find the open look, as the Hanceville defense frantically made attempt to stop the shot by Holly Pond. Sparks then found the open look with five seconds left on the clock and drained the bottom of the net to send the game into overtime, as Hanceville was unsuccessful to win it with a shot attempt at the buzzer by Simmons.

The overtime saw Holly Pond strike first on a trey by Gunter Morris, which gave the Broncos nine-unanswered points and a 3-point advantage. Hanceville had opportunities to carve into the lead on their next possession down the floor when James Dingler was fouled on his shot attempt, but missed on both free throw attempts.

On Dingler’s second missed free throw, Lance Twitty grabbed the rebound and was fouled by Thomas Hays as he attempted to put the shot back up. Twitty; however, could manage no better than Dingler and missed on both charity shots. Sparks was later fouled and pushed the Broncos lead out to five points with a 60-55 lead. Twitty dropped in a shot for the Bulldogs with time winding down, but could not pull out the win.

There were seven players in the game with double-digit scores on the board; four for Holly Pond and three for the Bulldogs in this highly-contested contest. Hays led the way for the Broncos with 18 points, Morris and Sparks each finished with 14 points, Adams added 13 points and Gunner Lemons chipped in with two points.

Hanceville was led by Brontae Harris in the losing effort as he knocked down a game-high 23 points. Chris Smith followed with 17 points, Simmons dropped in four points and Twitty had two points. Broc Malcom had 11 points in the game before going out with an ankle injury early in the fourth quarter with 6:43 left to play on a hard foul by Sparks. Malcom did not return the remainder of the game.

Holly Pond 80, Hanceville 22

From the word go, Holly Pond Lady Broncos controlled every aspect of the game when they travelled to Wallace State Coliseum – temporary home of the Hanceville High School – to take on the Lady Bulldogs of Hanceville. Hanceville was shutout the first quarter and the Lady Broncos posted a 28-0 lead heading into the second quarter.

Hanceville could not manage a single point for nearly 12 minutes of game time, when Macey Knight finally dropped in a shot for the Lady Bulldogs with 4:12 left in the first half and Holly Pond already holding a 40-0 advantage. The Lady Broncos went on to win the game 80-22 with Taylor Terry, Natasha Holcombe and Courtney Deese paving the way.

Terry had 15 points, while Holcombe and Rowell each added 13 points. Also scoring for Holly Pond was Meg Gambrill and Kendall Rowell each with eight points, Kendra Moore added seven points, Lacy Malone and Taylor Rowell each contributed with six points, Lexi Lynn had four points.

Hanceville was led by Brittani Armstrong and Knight each with a team-high five points. Macee Hollis, Madison Norman, Amberly Robinson and Taylor Chambers each chipped in with two points and Danielle Powell had four points.