Hoops rivalry continues for Cullman with Hartselle on Friday:
Bearcat Arena will be buzzing Friday evening for Cullman vs. Hartselle:
GDW Analysis:
Basketball for January for Cullman High School closes out Friday with arch rival Hartselle visiting Bearcat Arena.
Two hotly contested games are expected between the long time rivals.
Both games will be carried live on cullmanbearcats.com
Lady 'Cats preview:
5:30 p.m.
Hartselle 16 & 10
Cullman 20 & 6
Last meeting: Cullman won at Hartselle 56 to 46 on December 5.
Tammy West's Lady 'Cats are 6 & 3 in January and currently on a 3 game winning streak.
Cullman is playing for the first time since the Lady 'Cats defeated Jasper 54 to 33 at Bearcat Arena January 22 to clinch the regular season title in 6A, Area 13.
Hartselle is 5 & 2 this month.
The last time Gameday Weekly saw Hartselle was in the Border Wars Classic in Athens December 30 beating Lee Huntsville 70 to 32.
Coach Amber Deline was pleased to have starting forward Hannah Burks back after missing at least 4 weeks of the regular season with an injury.
Cullman's last victory was anchored by 17 points scoring from Rachel Hoffman in the low post, 14 by Molly Wilson in the middle and 10 from PG Catherine Ugarkovich, a 7th grader.
Clutch baskets in the 4th by Molly Dorough and Cadence Hanback provided a spark with Cullman going on a 22 to 7 run to break the game open.
Bearcats out for revenge against Hartselle:
7:00 p.m. tipoff
Hartselle is 13 & 13
Cullman is 19 & 5
Last meeting: Hartselle defeated Cullman 57 to 50 in Hartselle December 5.
Hartselle has lost 2 in a row, falling to area rival Muscle Shoals 63 to 60 on January 23 and 82 to 74 at Hayden January 27.
Cullman suffered a 56 to 54 loss to Jasper January 22 that leaves the Bearcats 3 & 3 for games in January.
The Bearcats suffered woes from the FT line missing 6 of 10 in the 4th period. Cullman was called for 2 lane violations in the final seconds that nullified scoring opportunities.
Sam Dorough and Brooks Loftin were the mainstay for the Cullman offense in this game. Dorough tossed in 19 with Loftin working inside the paint scoring 8 times for 16 points.
Cullman's motto is to create "Chaos." When the 'Cats face teams that play deliberate hoops, they have been unsuccessful at claiming victory.
Two of the three losses in January have been where the team has managed to score just in the mid 40s. Jasper had the 'Cats down 28 to 24 at the half last Thursday.
They did score 30 in the final half, but the FT problem was an issue and for Stu Stuedeman's team to lose at Bearcat Arena for the first time in the current season.
The loss to area rival Jasper sent the 'Cats out of the Top 10 in the state 6A poll. Cullman had reached No. 3 in the rankings recently.
Photo of Cullman coach Tammy West with her Lady Bearcats during the 2025/26 season at Bearcat Arena.
GDW photo by Johnny Thornton
