Brilliant Lady Tigers win regional championship

HANCEVILLE — The Brilliant Lady Tigers will be advancing to the Final Four after defeating the Marion County Lady Red Raiders on Monday, Feb. 17.
The Lady Raiders controlled the first half of the game, leading 12-9 after the first period and 23-18 at half time.
But the Lady Tigers had started to close the gap in the second period.
In the third quarter, the Lady Tigers opened the second half with a couple of 3-point shots to close the gap to 26-24 with a little over five minutes to go.
Brilliant’s Hadlee Sanderson tied the game 26-26 with 3:30 to go in the third quarter, but she was fouled. The free throw put the Lady Tigers in the lead 27-26.
Sanderson added two more a minute later.
A free throw from Marion County’s Jolie Kate Cox with 28 seconds left put the Lady Raiders one point behind at 29-28 going into the final period.
Brilliant’s Laine Johnson opened the fourth quarter with a 3-point shot to put the Lady Tigers ahead 32-30.
Marion County’s Alecia Shack-Donaldson tied the game 32-32 on a layup with 5:45 to go.
Brooke O’Mary scored three for the Lady Tigers with 5:30 to go, taking the lead back 35-32.
Lily Robinson and Cox scored two baskets to give the lead back to the Lady Raiders 36-35 with 4:15 to go.
Macy Moore handed the lead back to the Lady Tigers 38-36 with a 3-point shot with 2:17 to go.
Moore brought in three more after a basket and a free throw to put the Lady Tigers ahead 41-36 with just over a minute remaining.
Donaldson was fouled on a shot and closed the gap to 41-39. Another basket from Cox tied the game 41-41 with just over 30 seconds remaining.
Brilliant’s Aubrey Moye and Marion County’s Shack-Donaldson scored in the closing seconds, leaving the game tied 43-43.
With under 10 seconds to go, Moore got the ball and took a shot from the 3-point line.
The buzzer sounded, but the shot was perfect! The Lady Tigers won the regional championship 46-43.
The Lady Tigers will advance to the Final Four and play in the state semi-final on Monday, Feb. 24, at the BJCC Legacy Arena.
The Lady Red Raiders ended their season with a record of 23-9. This will be the first season in four years the Lady Raiders have not advanced to the Final Four.
Three Marion County teams survived into the regional semi-final round: the Marion County Lady Red Raiders, the Brilliant Lady Tigers and the Hackleburg Panthers.
Marion County played Hubbertville in the regional semi-finals on Tuesday, Feb. 11.
The Lady Red Raiders raced to an early 22-8 lead in the first quarter, and were able to hold that lead and win the game 66-38, bringing the Lady Lions’ time in the tournament to an end.
Cox scored 24 points in that game, and Bekah Junkin scored 20. Shack-Donaldson grabbed 10 total rebounds.
The Brilliant Lady Tigers also won their semi-final game with a comfortable 49-21 lead over Lynn.
The Lady Tigers went up 12-6 in the first quarter, and were leading 22-9 at half time. The Lady Tigers held Lynn to only 6 points scored in each of the final two quarters while keeping their own points rolling in.
Sanderson scored 17 points and made 13 rebounds, followed by O’Mary with 11 points and 6 steals, and Moore with 10 points.
The victories by Marion County and Brilliant led them to the regional final on Monday to determine who would advance to the state tournament.
The Hackleburg Panthers also played Hubbertville on Tuesday, Feb. 11, in a game that was much closer than the others that day.
Hackleburg held a narrow 18-16 lead at the end of the first period, only to fall behind the Lions 33-29 at half time after numerous lead changes through the second period.
Hackleburg’s Jaquan Reeder hit two shots in a row to tie the game 33-33, but the Lions re-took the lead from there until the fourth quarter.
The Panthers started to close back in when an and-one from Cameron Ingram put the Panthers back in the lead 53-52 with 6:28 to go.
The Lions gained a few more points to lead again, but back-to-back baskets from Victor Marchan put the Panthers in the lead again 59-56 with 5:30 remaining.
The Panthers held the lead up to 63-60 on a dunk from Reeder, but the Lions connected with several shots to regain the lead.
With 1:21 to go, the score was tied again at 64-64. With time running low, a layup from Hubbertville’s Blaize Wakefield seemed like it would seal the deal for the Lions at 66-64.
Hackleburg’s Daughtry Gober made a steal and tried to take a shot as the seconds counted down, but it was blocked.
Then, at the last possible second, Gober got the ball and scored to send the game into overtime at 66-66.
From there, the Lions did manage to retake the lead and hold it until the buzzer sounded on a 76-70 victory for the Lions.
Reeder and Gober scored 18 points each, followed by Marchan with 14 and Ingram with 9. Blaise Vickery scored 8 points, and Maddox Vickery scored 3.
Marchan also recorded 15 total rebounds during the game.