Cold Springs Escapes Sumiton Christian's Upset Bid

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COLD SPRINGS - An upset nearly took place Friday night in the second semifinal of the 2A, Area 11 basketball tournament between top seed Cold Springs and fourth seed Sumiton Christian.

The visitors from Walker County gave an all-out effort and almost pulled it off. Cold Springs escaped with a 42-39 victory, having to win the game without the services of shooting guard Chayse Elliott who was out of the contest in the final 4:00 with five personal fouls.

Cold Springs was able to get enough production from others while Elliott had to be a spectator. Mason Harris clinched the win for the Eagles when he scored a layup with 16 seconds to play that gave Cold Springs a three-point lead as a final shot by Sumiton Christian's Allen Beasley missed with time running out.

The No. 1 seed struggled to take a 10-7 lead after the first period. Elliott managed to score three field goals in the opening stanza, but the rest of the team couldn't find their rhythm thanks to good defense from Sumiton.

Sumiton took advantage when Elliott was guilty of a personal foul that was followed by a technical foul midway in the second period. His absence allowed the visiting Eagles to rely on the scoring of Beasley who had eight in the period, sending Sumiton on top at the break by the score of 21-17.

Elliott returned to the floor, but stayed only 3:00. He was hit with his fourth personal foul, a player control foul, with 5:00 to play in the third. Despite the adversity the Eagles managed to get the game tied, heading into the fourth with the score 28-28.

Cold Springs was able to move ahead on a basket by Layne Rice and raised the lead to 40-36 with 2:00 to go. But the Eagles missed three front ends of a one-and-one opportunity to give Sumiton a chance to hang in the game.

Sumiton got a three-pointer with less than a minute left to trail 40-39 and had another possession with a chance to move ahead. But good defense on the sidelines by Rice forced Beasley to go out of bounds and give up the ball.

Moving the ball down court, Colton Henderson saw Harris open near the basket, hit him with a perfect pass as he made his only basket of the game.

The Eagles didn't allow Sumiton to get a good look at trying to tie the score. Beasley, who had two treys in the fourth, was off target with the clock running down to zero.

Rice led the Eagles, now 17-10, with 13 points, Elliott finished with only nine, Henderson and Cody Vandiver scored seven and Harris, Terry Campbell and Brandon Whaley tossed in two.

For Sumiton, Beasley netted 15 while Andrew Rhodes scored 12. The Eagles end the season at 11-15.

Cold Springs gets American Christian Academy in the title game Monday at 7:00 p.m. The Patriots defeated Oakman 51-39 in the first semifinal. ACA comes from Tuscaloosa with a 24-5 record and winners of nine straight.

Before the Eagles meet the Patriots, the Cold Springs Lady Eagles will tangle with Sumiton Christian in their championship division. That game will begin at 5:30 p.m.