The Cullman girls’ basketball team picked up their second straight win on Monday night with a dynamite performance against Mortimer Jordan.
The Bearcats (3-3, 1-0 in Class 5A, Area 15 play) were led by Morgan Smith’s 26 points and seven rebounds. Smith’s point total put her over the 1,000 point mark in her high school career at Cullman. She currently has 1,011.
“I was pretty happy all the way around,” coach Jonathan Hayes said. “It was good for Morgan to get to 1,000 points. She was pretty excited about it.”
Baylee Johnson contributed with 15 points of her own in the runaway win for the Bearcats.
Teammate Emily Tucker had seven points and five rebounds, while Oakleigh White and Blair Nall each scored four points.
Nall, along with teammates Hayden Short, both had five rebounds apiece. Short threw in four steals as well.
“We shot the ball well again,” Hayes added. “We also ran the floor well and got some good playing time for everyone on the team. Everyone played well.”
Cullman will look to make it three-in-a-row when they travel to West Point on Friday night to take on the Warriors in the its second area game of the season.
Varsity Boys
% Mortimer Jordan 63, Cullman 59: The Bearcat boys dropped another close one on the road Monday night, falling to Mortimer Jordan by four points.
With the loss, Cullman’s record falls to 5-4, including an 0-1 mark in area play. All four of the Bearcats’ losses have been decided by less than eight points.
“It was a tough loss,” coach Bobby Meyer said. “That’s a couple in a row now. We’ve got to find a way to play better.”
The Beacats dug themselves into a hole midway through the third quarter, trailing by as many as 14 points.
A spirited fourth quarter effort by Cullman wasn’t enough, however, as the Bearcats couldn’t quite get over the hump.
“We closed it to two points late in the game,” Meyer said. “We just couldn’t ever take the lead.”
Lawson Schaffer led all Cullman scorers with 16 points.
Teammate Lane Donaldson added 11 points, including three 3-pointers, while Keaton Dean dropped in nine.
Houston Turner also contributed with seven points and Troy Forrest did his part with six.
Meyer said he’d like to see improvement in future games.
“We aren’t clicking completely right now,” he said. “We are looking to improve and create opportunities for all of our players in order to become a more balanced team.”
% The Times’ sports writer Jake Winfrey contributed to this report.
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