Belgreen bow out to Hackleburg, 55-47 in area tourney
Injuries and foul trouble were just too much for the Belgreen Lady Bulldogs to overcome as they lost to the Hackleburg Panthers 55-47 in the finals of the 1A Area 15 tournament.
Jasmine Martin, one of the top outside shooters for the Bulldogs, struggled with a recent ankle injury. Brianna Wood went down in the fourth quarter with an ankle injury. The Bulldogs’ top two scoring threats from inside, Laken Bragwell and Allyson Bragwell, both fouled out by the fourth quarter.
“I think we played with more heart and more toughness tonight than we have all year,” said Belgreen coach Patrick Odom. “We had to overcome a lot of adversity tonight. We got close a couple of times but just could never get over that hump. I think if we could have got the lead we could’ve hung on but we didn’t.”
Hackleburg jumped out to a 16-10 first quarter lead. In the second quarter the Bulldogs made a concerted effort to get the ball inside to Laken Bragwell who scored six points in the paint in less than two minutes. This helped Belgreen trim Hackleburg’s lead to 22-21. Two quick three-pointers by the Panthers, however, increased Hackleburg’s lead back to 30-21. Hackleburg would take a 30-24 lead into the locker room at halftime after a three-pointer by Allyson Bragwell.
Belgreen stormed back in the third quarter outscoring Hackleburg 17-13 to trim the Panthers lead to 43-41. Belgreen cut Hackleburg’s lead to one point in the fourth quarter but injuries and foul problems plagued the Bulldogs as the Panthers pulled away to claim the area championship.
Allyson Bragwell led Belgreen with 20 points. Shelley Barber added 11 points for the Bulldogs. Others scoring for Belgreen were Laken Bragwell (8), Brianna Wood (5), and Hannah Taylor (3).
Belgreen had defeated Covenant Christian to get to the finals against Hackleburg.
The loss sent the Bulldogs to Berry where they played in the sub-region and lost and their season came to a close.
“These girls have given their all this year,” said Odom. “The seniors were great leaders and I’m proud of them all.”
