A new week of prep basketball playdays is here:
New look Good Hope the same GH, Cold Springs is making progress:
GDW Analysis:
Good Hope Raiders have a new look with new coach Griffin Morris and four new starters.
The Raiders were analyzed by Gameday Weekly Monday in a playday series from the Cullman Basketball Complex.
GDW also saw the latest on the floor by the Cold Springs Eagles.
Under new commander Drew Adams. the Eagles have moved it upward since they started the playday season last Tuesday going 0 & 2 vs. Corner and Boaz at West Point HS.
Cold Springs got the schedule off and running by outgunning the Fairview Aggies 49 to 32.
A low scoring first half with the Eagles up 14 to 11, became shootout with the two county rivals in the final 20:00.
Cold Springs tallied 35 points on the scoreboard with Fairview getting 21.
Standout performers for Cold Springs: Breydon Hallman, Ethan Day, Tyson Kilgo.
In their 2nd game, the Eagles and East Lawrence went to war with East Lawrence getting a 28 to 23 advantage by halftime.
Cold Springs hung around and had a chance to tie the game as time expired, but missed a three pointer and fell 52 to 49.
That stopped a 6 game winning streak for Adams' Eagles. Cold Springs went 5 & 0 last weekend at the University of Alabama with quality wins coming over Sulligent and Tuscaloosa Academy.
Morris putting his Raiders on the floor for their first encounter Monday was against Tim Willoughby's Holly Pond Broncos.
The new look Raiders have a similar pattern like they did under Adams as Morris has taken the lead role.
Good Hope loves up tempo and three point shooting.
Making an impact in the Holly Pond game was Kye McSwain and Owen Armstrong, who got playing time the previous season. Both are now in the starting lineup.
The lone starter back from last season is in the middle, sophomore Tucker Screws. His presence in the post will be counted on for the Raiders will be guard oriented.
Up front they look to get good play from Tucker Keef.
Good Hope was hot from long range in the first half with Holly Pond, shooting out to a 35 to 20 lead.
The Raiders kept a good scoring pace. Holly Pond was much better by outscoring the Raiders 32 to 28 in the last 20:00.
Holly Pond used the perimeter scoring of Asher Thrift and Fox Westall while center Cade Allbright was displaying a good outing in going head on in the paint against Screws.
Falkville then dealt with Good Hope after the Blue Devils had scored a 51 to 30 victory against Fairview.
In what was the best of the six varsity games on the agenda reported by GDW, Good Hope surged ahead and gained a 26 to 23 lead by the break.
Falkville used very good scoring from long distance as they went on a 21 to 14 run and led 47 to 37 with time winding down in the last half.
Good Hope was able to go on a 10 to 0 run with McSwain and Armstrong hitting from the outside while Screws worked his way in the paint as the momentum had shifted to Good Hope.
But Falkville went on a 7 to 1 surge in crunch time and finished the tour of the CBC Monday, 2 & 0 and winners over Good Hope 54 to 48.
No local team has gone undefeated in one day of playdays covered by GDW a week into the 2025 schedule.
Another playday will be at the CBC on Friday with Cold Springs hosting the event and Good Hope participating.
Photo of Good Hope Raider coach Griffin Morris with his team before a playday game Monday at the Cullman Basketball Complex.
GDW photo by Johnny Thornton.
