Girls prep basketball: St. Bernard wins its invitational tournament

Cullman finishes second; Good Hope is third

By Brandon Shields

Cullman High and St. Bernard Prep may not be allowed to compete in the Cullman County Tournament in a couple of weeks, but some might say the schools' girls basketball teams were able to decide a Cullman City Championship.

If that were the case, then the Lady Saints can claim the city championship after defeating Cullman 43-39 in the championship round of the Lady Saints' Invitational Saturday.

St. Bernard had a 41-37 lead with a minute remaining when Cullman's Danielle Dean hit a pair free throws to cut the lead to two with 35 seconds remaining. Dean stole the ball on the ensuing possession and Cullman coach Amy Springer called timeout.

Cullman was unable to hit a shot to tie the game in the next 15 seconds, but Dean was fouled once again. This time, the freshman was unable to convert either free throw, forcing the Lady Bearcats to foul after St. Bernard's Natalie Kelley got the rebound.

"I called timeout between Natalie's shots to talk about after the free throw, and then I asked her if she was going to hit the shot," said St. Bernard coach Adam Bavar. "She said probably not since I asked, but she was able to do it."

Kelley connected on both shots to put the Lady Saints up by four with eight seconds remaining, and Cullman could not hit another shot before the game ended.

Cullman held a slight lead for most of the first half before St. Bernard took over late in the second quarter. The Lady Saints got out to a 10-point lead in the third quarter before Cullman quickly came back to cut the lead to one late in the quarter.

"A win like this shows how far St. Bernard has come in athletics," Bavar said. For a long time, St. Bernard was known as an academic school with athletics not being a high priority, and the basketball facilities and success the school has seen in recent years show that the school does care about how its sports teams do.

"This is hopefully something we can build on and keep improving the program."

Kelley had a tournament-high 29 points to lead the Lady Saints to the championship, and Jordan Burt finished with nine.

Jennifer Cooper led Cullman with 11 points, and Hannah Bales finished with 10. Dean scored seven.

Cullman 78, Randolph 21

The Lady Bearcats allowed Randolph to score only two points in the first and third quarters while they had their most offensively productive game of the season so far.

After taking a 25-11 lead into halftime, the Lady Bearcats turned up the scoring in the third quarter with 26 in the period.

Dean led Cullman with 17 points, while Cooper finished with 15. Seniors Cassie Gable and Alison Meriwether had 10 and nine points, respectively, in the win.

Good Hope 56,

Randolph 25

Good Hope avoided a winless day as Cullman County's Lady Raiders held the Lady Raiders from Huntsville to two points in the first quarter and four in the second while scoring 35 in the first half.

Jessica Raper and Katie Junkin each had 11 to lead Good Hope. Brandi Hudson and Samantha Duke each had six, while Breana Posey had eight.

St. Bernard 61,

Good Hope 56

The Lady Saints opened the day with a win over Good Hope to get to the finals of the tournament.

Good Hope led after the first quarter, but St. Bernard was able to stay with the visiting team and take a 23-21 lead into halftime.

St. Bernard took advantage of Good Hope's foul trouble in the third quarter and pull out to an eight-point lead after three quarters of play.

St. Bernard extended the lead to as many as 13 before Good Hope was able to make a comeback in the closing minutes, but time ran out before Good Hope could get any closer.

Brittany Schaefers hit nine of 14 free throws to lead St. Bernard with 23 points, and Natalie Kelley and Jordan Burt finished with 15 apiece. Oakley Garnett scored eight for the Lady Saints.

Nina Mills led Good Hope with 16 points, while Samantha Duke and Breana Posey each had 10. Ashley Stanley finished with eight.