By Erik Harris
MOUNTAIN BROOK – The Hewitt-Trussville girls fell to 1-2 in Class 7A, Area 6 play with a tough loss at Mountain Brook on Tuesday night.
The Spartans went on a third-quarter tear that put them on the right side of a 42-34 final. After going through three scoreless minutes of third-quarter play, Mountain Brook placed together an 11-0 run that gave it a 27-22 lead with 1:30 remaining in the third period. That surge was finalized by a Kate Bumgarner 3-pointer that took flight uncontested.
Huskies’ head coach Tonya Hunter pointed to her team’s repetitive second half troubles.
“We have an issue with third quarters,” said Hunter. “That’s where are issues come from.”
Hewitt-Trussville’s Bailey Berry passed Mallory Posey open for an open lay in that slowed the bleeding, but the home team won the third by a count of 15-5 and that was too much to overcome.
Hewitt-Trussville struggled at times on the defensive boards in the opening half. A pair of offensive rebounds gave Mountain Brook’s Janie Branch an opportunity to drive the baseline and finish off the glass to give her team a 10-9 advantage with 1:30 remaining in the opening quarter.
However, Huskies’ guard Gabby Hill found a rhythm at that point, scoring nine points before the half was out to help Hewitt-Trussville to a 19-16 lead. Hill struggled to score in the second half, finishing the game with 11 points.
Hewitt-Trussville made offense look easy in the early minutes of the contest, sinking five of their first seven shot attempts to claim a 14-12 lead going to the second quarter.
Walker Poe finished the night with a game-high 16 points for the Spartans. Sara Carr added another 12 points to the host’s efforts. For the Huskies, London Coleman delivered 10 points in the loss.
“We’re just going to focus on the next game and hopefully by the area tournament, we’ll have it all together,” said Hunter.
Hewitt-Trussville will visit Area 6 foe Spain Park on Friday night.
Erik Harris is the Sports Editor for the Trussville Tribune. Follow him on Twitter @jeharris2 or email him at jmseharris2@gmail.com.