By Michael A. Cummings

HANCEVILLE — Five years of frustration? Not anymore — not after eight minutes of perfection.

Playing to erase the program’s five-year county title drought, Good Hope High’s boys basketball team turned in its best first-quarter performance of the season on the way to a 48-35 victory Saturday in the Cullman County tournament championship game.

The Raiders wasted no time taking control of the game, outscoring West Point 20-8 in the first quarter. After the Warriors cut the lead to two points early in the second half, Good Hope rediscovered the magic, outscoring West Point 23-12 down the stretch.

“I think we were just so ready to play that we just came out and did it,” said Blackmon, who finished with nine points to go with seven rebounds.

“We were definitely ready to go,” added senior Brody Whitlock, who picked up the Joe Shults Award after posting a game-high 14 points. “They responded with a big run in the second quarter, but when it got to the second half, it was just all about execution.”

West Point got back into the game with a 9-0 run capped by Drew Butler’s two free throws that trimmed the deficit to 20-14. After heading into the break down by six, the Warriors got two straight 3-pointers from Mason Beck to make it 25-23.

They would come no closer.

Following a Good Hope timeout, Raiders senior Tyler Rutledge nailed three consecutive jumpers in the lane to put his team up 36-25 — and they never looked back.

“There was a stretch of five or six possessions where I think we took control of the game by giving it to Tyler,” said Good Hope coach David Hulsey. “Tyler gives us another dimension in the post.”

The Raiders took a 37-28 lead into the final quarter, where they scored all 11 of their points on free throws. West Point, meanwhile, could only manage two points before the game was out of reach.

“I’m proud of our kids — they were down but they pulled themselves out of it,” said Warriors coach Heith Yearwood. “We had to use a lot of energy to catch back up, and we didn’t have much left to get us over the top.”

The championship is Good Hope’s first since 2004 — when this year’s crop of seniors were in middle school. After waiting so long, several of the seniors made a county title their top priority this season.

“We’ve been talking about it for a long time,” said senior guard Trace Moody, who finished with six rebounds and four points. “We haven’t won one since we were in sixth grade, and we knew this was our last chance.”

“We talked about it all the time,” added Blackmon. “When we were still playing football, we were talking about it.”

Rutledge finished with 11 points and sophomore Kyle Aycock added eight for Good Hope, which connected on 17 of 25 free throw attempts. The Raiders shot 40 percent from the field while holding West Point to 32 percent shooting.

Beck tossed in 11 points to pace the Warriors, who went 3-for-14 from beyond the three-point line and 6-for-15 at the charity stripe. McKinley Jones added nine points and six rebounds.

Michael Cummings can be reached by e-mail at michaelc@cullmantimes.com or by telephone at 734-2131, ext. 258.