Lady Tigers clobbers Columbia 75-27

Hartselle dominated the Lady Eagles for the second time in three weeks, rolling to a 75-27 win. The 75 points scored in the victory are a season-high, besting the 73 points put up in the Tiger girls win over Cullman earlier this month.

The Lady Tigers jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead, as Gracie Hill hit a three-pointer and two free throws. Hill finished the first quarter with 10 points after connecting on a second three to help power an 18-0 run.

Masyn Marchbanks added five points before the starters were taken out, leading 15-0.

Leyanne Cera and Karleigh Shipley each scored four points in the last four minutes of the first quarter to help the Lady Tigers build a 23-5 lead heading into the second quarter.

Kaitlyn Hogan scored the first five points, helping the Lady Tigers extend their lead to 28-9. After the teams traded buckets, Hill scored four in a row to push the lead to 34-11.

After the Lady Eagles cut the lead to 34-14, Hartselle responded with a 7-0 run: Emma Roden scored four straight and Shipley hit a three-pointer to give the Lady Tigers a 41-14 lead. Shipley added two points to close out the second quarter scoring, with Hartselle leading 43-16 at the half.

The Lady Tigers kept the pressure on as they started the third quarter with a 15-0 run to extend their lead to 58-16. Mary Frances Itsede and Shipley started the run with six combined points, as the Hartselle bench began the third quarter.

The starters returned with about three minutes left and quickly scored seven straight points, including Hill’s third three-pointer of the game.

After Columbia ended the 15-0 run, the Lady Tigers closed out the quarter with four more points and a 62-21 lead.

With the Lady Tigers leading by 41, the fourth quarter played with a running clock – but it didn’t slow down the Hartselle offense. Shipley, Itsede, Cera and Sage Patrick scored points as the Lady Tigers outscored the Lady Eagles 13-6 in the fourth quarter to finish off the 75-27 win.

Hill finished with 19 points to lead Hartselle followed by Shipley with 14 points.

Cera and Patrick each scored a career-high six points.

The Lady Tigers are 9-1 in their past ten games, with their last loss coming to Bob Jones in the semifinals of the DOC Classic in late December.