By Johnny Sanders, Sports Editor
MOODY – The Moody Lady Blue Devils looked to go 3-0 against the rival Springville Lady Tigers on Saturday evening in a game that would determine Saint Clair County’s best girls basketball team. Moody would run into an absolute buzzsaw in the lady Tigers as Springville would continue their reign of terror on the teams in the county tournament. With suffocating defense and lights-out shooting, the lady Tigers look to be hitting their stride at the right time. Those efforts gained them a win over top-seeded tournament hosts Moody and a county championship with the 61-28 win.
From the opening whistle, Springville controlled the game. On the defensive side, Springville held the high-scoring offense of Moody to just 6 points in the first quarter, led by 2 points each from Tori Pyles and Ryleigh Hodges. Springville would come out shooting, putting up 22 points in the first. Farrah Hawkins would get her great night started by leading her team with 9 points in the first, followed by 6 from Bella Bullington and 5 from Abby Byrd.
In the second, Springville would get help from several other players on the offensive side as they would put up 17 points total. Leah Bowden led the Tigers with 6 points and Audrey Talton would add 3 with a host of others contributing 2 points each. Moody would manage just one point more than what they scored in the first, putting up 7 for the quarter. Tarry Woodall would lead the Blue Devils with 3 points in the quarter to go along with 2 each from MaKayla Russell and Ryleigh Hodges. The halftime score would be 39-13, all Springville.
Coming out of the break, the lady Tiger defense would continue to smother the Blue Devils, holding them to another 7-point period of play led by Hodges who had 4 of the points. Springville would once again find success on offense, scoring 20 points in the period. Hawkins would score 7 on her own followed by 6 from Bullington to lead their team. 59-20 would be the score heading into the fourth and Springville could feel the championship in their hands at this point.
The fourth quarter would not offer much in the way of offense as Leah Bowden would score Springville’s only points on two free throws and Moody would manage just 8 points, led by Pyles with 3 and Woodall with 2.
For the lady Blue Devils, Tarryn Woodall scored 6 points on the night to go with 7 each from Tori Pyles and Ryleigh Hodges. Farrah Hawkins would lead Springville with 20 points followed by Bella Bullington with 12 and Leah Bowden with 10.
“The team came out early with a lot of energy,” said Springville Coach Warren House. “The girls did a good job working the ball for good looks at the basket in the first half. To go along with her 20 points, Farrah had 6 assists and 9 steals.”
The win gives Springville it’s seventh consecutive county championship. They will host Gadsden City on Tuesday night.