By Erik Harris
TRUSSVILLE – The Hewitt-Trussville girls basketball team trailed Fort Payne at the conclusion of each of the first three quarters, but struck late to claim a 57-54 win in the championship game of the Bryant Bank Thanksgiving Classic on Tuesday night at Hewitt-Trussville High School.
It was free-throws that told the story late. The Huskies went to the line 11 times in the closing minutes of the contest, making 13 of their attempts to secure the first-place hardware.
“It wasn’t pretty, but we’ll take it,” said Hewitt-Trussville coach Tonya Hunter. “I’m just so excited that we get to practice. We get to go back to the drawing board and correct a lot of stuff.”
All of Hewitt-Trussville’s final ten points came from the charity stripe. Their last field goal came from Bailey Berry, who finished with seven points, with 5:20 remaining in the game.
Hunter’s girls had to overcome multiple Wildcat surges, and put the brakes on a red hot offense in the second frame. After allowing 18 Fort Payne points through the first eight minutes of play, Hewitt-Trussville held the visitors to only four second quarter points. The Wildcats took a 22-20 lead into the break.
They later constructed a 8-2 run to open the third quarter, but a defensive adjustment from Hunter sparked a momentum swing.
“I think they got four turnovers in a row and we scored off of it, so that was huge for us when we made the adjustment with the press,” said Hunter.
Four timely buckets from Gabby Hill, Cierra Taylor and Berry cut Fort Payne’s lead to one point late in the third. Guard London Coleman got the final frame started with a baseline triple that put the Huskies on top, 40-38.
Another Coleman lay-in followed by Berry’s bucket set the stage for the 13 freebees.
Coleman led the offensive charge with 18 points. Morgan Kirk added another 13 while Gabby Hill and Taylor dropped eight each.
Hewitt-Trussville finished the tournament 3-0 with wins over Pelham, Briarwood and Fort Payne.
On the guys side of the tournament, Clay-Chalkville took a 38-36 decision over Hewitt-Trussville on Tuesday night in the losers bracket. The Cougars also got a 42-38 win over Hueytown and a 57-52 loss to Oak Mountain to finish the tournament 2-1.
The Huskies finished with a 1-2 record after dominating Fayette County, 65-32, in the opener on Saturday.
Pinson Valley also finished the three-day tournament with a 1-2 record. The Indians put an end to their run with a 54-35 loss to Minor on Tuesday afternoon.
Erik Harris is the Sports Editor for the Trussville Tribune. Follow him on Twitter @jeharris2 or email him at jmseharris2@gmail.com.