AHSAA 3A Area 11 semifinal at the Pinnacle:
Hanceville 12 4 17 16 - 49 (8 & 20)
Vinemont 14 15 14 15 - 58 (18 & 11)
VM: Bryson Bush 26, Colton Gillis 14, Will Conquest 8, Sam Marsh 5, Cheston Wilhite 7
HV: Sam Abney 24, Drake Bentley 7, Nick Davis 4, Shawn Pilman 5.
AHSAA 3A Area 11 semifinal at the Pinnacle:
Locust Fork 6 20 20 15 - 61 (14 & 9)
Holly Pond 7 10 12 14 - 43 (11 & 12)
LF: Noah White 23, Nicholas Horn 19, Tate Swindle 10
HP: Asher Thrift 19, Cade Allbright 10.
GDW Analysis:
Vinemont prevailed due to Hanceville getting one field goal in the 2nd period. It was a 3 by Abney with 0:05 left in the period that saw Hanceville go from being down 14 to 12 after one to 29 to 16 at halftime.
The Eagles kept the lead in a respectable position for the rest of the evening.
A highlight was a scoring matchup between Bush of Vinemont and Abney from Hanceville.
Bush would deliver 26 to the winning side while Abney had 24, two nights after he had 23 with 6 treys in a semifinal rout of JB Pennington.
Vinemont defeated Hanceville 4 times this season to overcome losing 4 times to the Bulldogs the previous year.
The Eagles' wins against the Bulldogs have been by finals of 46 to 41, 68 to 55, 61 to 57 and 58 to 49.
Locust Fork goes on a scoring spree against HP:
Forty points from the Locust Fork attack between the 2nd and 3rd period was enough for the Hornets to eliminate Holly Pond in the area playoffs Saturday evening.
A 20 point 2nd period gave Locust Fork a 26 to 17 lead at the half. Adding 20 during the 3rd sent the Hornets to the final 8:00 with a 46 to 29 advantage.
White and Horn were a deadly duo for the Blount County visitors, combining for 42 points.
The Hornets avenged two losses to Holly Pond from the regular season schedule and now have won 5 of their last 6 assignments.
Championship game Tuesday:
Locust Fork at Vinemont 6:00 p.m.
From the Pinnacle in Vinemont.
Vinemont defeated Locust Fork 69 to 64 at home December 9 and won at Locust Fork 61 to 56 on January 6.
The Eagles have an 8 & 4 record at the Pinnacle in the current season.
Photo of the Vinemont Eagles Cheston Wilhite (14) and Colton Gillis (24) defending against Appalachian in a game at Appalachian February 02. Vinemont won 51 to 47.
Photo courtesy of Cathy McSwain.
