Hartshorne rolls to district title against Calera
Feb. 18—HARTSHORNE — Dominant defense and efficient offense helped Hartshorne to a 30-point halftime lead on the way to a huge win.
The 2A-No. 18 Lady Miners got 14 steals and hit 6-of-12 from deep before halftime and never looked back in a 72-28 win Saturday at home against Calera to claim the District 1 championship.
Hartshorne girls basketball coach Shane Hackler said the team's defensive effort in a man-to-man scheme made the difference.
"We just try to be aggressive give a lot of effort and keep it simple," Hackler said. "We try to play at a high pace with high intensity and we did a good job of that."
Hartshorne (15-6) advanced to the winners bracket in the 2A Area IV tournament at 6 p.m. Feb.23 at Hartshorne against Latta (12-14).
Latta was ranked No. 18 when it handed Hartshorne a 40-31 loss in the Lady Miners' second game of the year. Hackler said Hartshorne showed some of its inexperience early in the season with some losses to ranked teams, but seems to be getting in a groove at the right time.
"We're a totally different team," Hackler said. "The girls have just bought in and they believe."
Hartshorne dominated from the tip on Saturday with Lexis Vicars getting a bucket in the paint and Jayda Moore converting a steal to a layup to force an early Calera timeout.
But the Lady Miners kept momentum and ran away to score the first 15 points of the game — highlighted by Alanna Williams hitting a corner three and converting a steal to a layup, and Brooke Surginer making a euro-step layup through the paint.
Calera scored its first point with 2:26 left in the first quarter and Hartshorne pulled away to a 23-4 lead heading to the second frame.
Both teams traded buckets to start the second quarter, but Hartshorne used a 15-2 run to close the half and take a 43-13 advantage into the break.
Moore hit two 3-pointers during the closing run on the way to 14 first-half points to outscore Calera heading into the break.
"She is shooting well," Hackler said of Moore, who finished with 21 points and shot 5-of-9 from deep. "She can really shoot it."
Hartshorne inched further ahead to open the second half before closing the third quarter on an eight-point run.
Surginer got two buckets in the paint on the way to a 61-23 lead through three quarters and cruised the rest of the way.
Hackler said his team's shooting has become more consistent late in the season and he thinks consistent defensive consistency will be key in the playoffs.
Surginer finished with 21 points and nine rebounds, while Williams had 18 points and Vicars added 13 rebounds and two points.
