By Johnny Sanders, Sports Editor
MOODY – They say “defense wins championships.” If that is the case, the Springville Lady Tigers are well on their way to winning a championship. At the very least, they are in the championship game of the Saint Clair County girls basketball tournament after dominating the top-seeded Saint Clair County Saints on Thursday night.
Springville started the night by doubling up the Saints by a score of 14-7. Bella Bullington scored 7 of those points, getting a head start on her great night. Olivia Carroll would add 3 points and Leah Bowden and Abby Byrd would contribute 2 each in the first period of play.
In the second quarter, the Tigers would smother Saint Clair on the defensive side of the ball, allowing just 6 points from the number one seed in the tournament. On the offensive side, a host of Tiger girls got involved with Bullington leading the way once again with 4 points. Carroll and teammate Audrey Talton would both add 3 points each to put Springville up 30-13 heading into the halftime break.
The Saints would put up a bit of a fight in the third quarter, scoring 13 points on the Tigers’ defense, but Springville would answer with 17 of their own. Farrah Hawkins would explode on the scene for the night, scoring 9 of the 17 points for the Tigers while Bullington and Carroll had 4 apiece. With the score now 47-26, the Lady Tigers could taste that county tournament final heading into the final quarter of the game.
With that taste in their mouths, they held the Saints to a single point in the final quarter of play, an absolute lights-out defensive performance by Springville’s young ladies. On the offensive side of the ball, Bullington joined teammate Ava Vaughn with 4 points to close out the game as the Lady Tigers put up 16 points in the fourth quarter, sealing the 63-27 win and punching their ticket to the championship game in the Saint Clair County tournament.
No surprise, Bella Bullington was the leading scorer on the night, steadily putting up points in each quarter and scoring 19 points total on the night. Olivia Carroll had 12 points to help out her team. Both young ladies have really come alive in the latter part of the season. “Both are playing better as of late,” said Coach Warren House of both girls’ play. Farrah Hawkins had a nice game as well, scoring 11 points on the night.
Springville will now play the winners of the Moody vs Victory Christian game which will take place Friday evening. The championship game will be held on Saturday afternoon at 4:00 pm at Moody High School.