Ten schools do battle at Wallace Lady Lions hoops playday:
Holly Pond goes 1 & 1 on the day, Scottsboro has impressive game:
GDW Analysis:
HANCEVILLE: Of the 10 teams that were involved in the Wallace State Lady Lions' playday Tuesday, 8 of them came to Tom Drake Coliseum with impressive credentials from reaching the regional round of the AHSAA playoffs last season.
Holly Pond Lady Broncos were part of this group. The Lady Broncos won the 3A, Area 11 title and finished 2nd in the Northwest Regional in 3A to Lauderdale County.
Another team that stood out for a great 2024/25 season was Scottsboro. The Lady Wildcats won their first 5A title after they took runner up the year before in a close game with Jasper High School.
Gameday Weekly took in 8 assignments to analyze where each of these programs could be headed when the new season begins in early November.
GDW scoreboard:
Ider 41, Holly Pond 32
Sardis 55, Belgreen 26
Mortimer Jordan 46, Sulligent 23
Arab 35, Ider 26
Holly Pond 34, Belgreen 32
Ramsay 63, Oak Mountain 32
Sulligent 31, Sardis 25
Scottsboro 55, Mortimer Jordan 31
Arab vs. Ramsay
Scottsboro vs. Oak Mountain.
Holly Pond is developing a team with the Lady Broncos optimistic to make another run in the 3A division.
Mary Hartline has experience returning with Madison Butts and Maggie Nail sharing time at the PG position. Giving them strong play inside is Sadie Nail, entering her freshman season.
The Lady Broncos do not have talented forward Ava Thomas as she is recovering from ACL surgery and will be ready for preseason workouts in the fall.
Unfortunately, the Lady Broncos have lost a talented shooter via the transfer portal.
Millie McBee reportedly has moved to Albertville according to information provided to GDW through sources.
Holly Pond had a case of good plays and mistakes with Ider.
The 2A state winner from 2024 took a 22 to 12 lead at the half, ending the period on a 10 to 4 run.
Holly Pond battled but missed short range shots kept them from pulling off a comeback verdict.
Playing a stout Belgreen team that appeared in the 2A Northwest Regional semis last season, the Lady Broncos sprinted out to a 10 to 0 lead only to see Belgreen catch a surge and grab a 16 to 15 edge at halftime.
What mattered for Holly Pond was steady play in the last half by Hartline's veterans in Butts, Maggie Nail and Sadie Nail.
Milly Huddleston, Kendra Wood, Kylie Twilley provided contributions for the Lady Broncos to split their assignment at the Coliseum.
Free throws in the closing seconds from Sadie Nail and good defense were a key for Holly Pond vs. a visitor from Franklin County.
Scottsboro clicked on all cylinders in a highly anticipated good matchup with Mortimer Jordan.
That never developed for the Lady Wildcats had a good shooting stroke in the first half, ending it with a 37 to 18 lead on the 6A, Area 13 champion from Jefferson County,
Scottsboro's steady play was due to good personnel back from the state championship unit the Lady Wildcats have.
Ella White enters her senior season, Isabella Nelson will be a junior, Carlone Dawson a junior, Abigail Shelton a senior and Tatum Shelton a senior.
The 37 points scored by Scottsboro was the most in the opening half of the games covered by GDW Tuesday.
Presenting good performers for Mortimer Jordan were senior to be Mattie Machen at 6'3" in the middle, sophomores to be Kaylani Scotland and Baya Roman in the backcourt and freshman to be Taelyn Russell as a forward.
Arab, a squad that got hot in the 5A playoffs with upset victories over Sardis in the sub regional and West Point in the Northwest Regional, is having to fill vacancies with nine players graduating off of Terrance Maze's first team last season.
Carrying the Arabian Knights with experience and leadership are junior to be Lauren Lambert, junior to be Jill Stapler and senior to be McKennah Tidmore.
Against Ider, Arab found itself in a good advantage to get a 20 to 14 lead when the half closed out.
Ider, sporting a pair of good guards in Makinley Traylor and Addison Hared plus forward Heaven Posey and center Maleaha Posey, went to work in the last half. But the Lady Hornets were defeated when Arab got a respectable lead and took it to the buzzer.
A good matchup with Sardis and Sulligent had Sardis in front 17 to 13 at the half.
Sulligent, a team that faced Cold Springs in the Northwest Regional semifinal, allowed Sardis 8 points in the final half and scored 18 to go home 1 & 1 on the day.
Girls playday set for Good Hope Wednesday:
Good Hope vs. Jasper 9:55
Minor vs. Jasper 11:45
Good Hope vs. Minor 1:35
Elkmont vs. Meek 2:30
Meek vs. Cordova 4:20
The Lady Raiders deal with Jasper in their first game from Good Hope Gymnasium and in the afternoon, will be tested by the Minor Lady Tigers out of Birmingham.
Good Hope was 3 & 1 in a playday at Wallace State Monday with the only loss for the Lady Raiders coming to Hillcrest Tuscaloosa who is now guided by former Wallace State and Cullman coach Jessica McBrayer.
Photo of Holly Pond coach Mary Hartline visiting with Ider coach Jamie Pruitt prior to their playday game Tuesday at Wallace State CC.
GDW photo by Johnny Thornton.
