Feb. 20—HANCEVILLE — It was a game of conflicting styles Thursday, and this time, fast and furious won out.
Less than a week after upsetting Scottsboro, the No. 1 team in Class 5A, Priceville's girls faced off with No. 4 West Point in the semifinals of the Northwest Regional tournament. However, unlike against Scottsboro, when the Bulldogs were able to control the pace of play, Thursday's game got away from them resulting in a 65-32 loss.
"They like to slow it down, and we want to play as fast as possible. We knew it would come down to whoever could will the game to go their way," said West Point head coach John Welborn.
While West Point led just 15-14 after the first quarter, things changed in the second when the Warriors built a 33-24 lead at halftime. A 9-0 run to start the second half put the game out of reach for Priceville.
"The pace of the game got away from us early, and once it did, we were stuck playing exactly how they wanted to play," said Priceville head coach Shane Childress. "That happened to us last year here, and that's on me. I didn't give them the best chance to win the game."
Everything that went right for West Point in Thursday's game went just as badly for Priceville. West Point shot 50% from the field and 42% from 3-point range, while the Bulldogs shot 29% from the field and 12% from 3-point range.
"It was like there was a lid on the basket," Childress said. "And it wasn't like we were taking bad shots. I kept telling them they were eventually going to fall, and they just didn't.
"Then (West Point) just didn't miss."
Abby Langlois led Priceville with a double-double, grabbing 16 rebounds and scoring 14 points. Camryn Faulkner led West Point with 33 points.
The game wrapped up the Priceville career for Langlois, The Decatur Daily's 2024 Player of the Year, who started every year for the Bulldogs except last year, when she was out with an injury.
"Priceville is a great school and community, and it's meant so much to me," Langlois said after the game as she wiped away tears. "This team wasn't just a basketball team to me, they were my best friends."
Childress said people will remember Langlois for a long time to come.
"I've been coaching for 25 years, and I've never coached a player like her," he said. "When people think of Priceville, they're going to think of Abby Langlois."
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