It had been a long time coming, but Tanner finally hoisted the Limestone County Championship trophy Saturday night at East Limestone. Despite winning last year’s Class 2A state championship, the Limestone County Tournament trophy had eluded the Rattlers until Saturday’s 66-55 win over East Limestone.

The victory was harder than the score would indicate as the game-went-back and forth until late in the fourth quarter. Chris Harris pulled the host within two possessions at 57-51 with under two minutes to play, but it was all Tanner from that point on. Following Harris’ score, Matt Hines started a 10-0 Tanner run to seal the win.

Hines finished with a game-high 26 points while East Limestone transfer Justin Smith scored 12 and Greg Maclin added 10 for Tanner.

Harris led East Limestone with 16 points. Jordon Gandy scored 14 and Andrew Uselton added 10 in the loss.

See Tuesday’s print edition for the complete game story.

Varsity girls championship game

Clements 52, West Limestone 49

Autumn Bates’ 3-point attempt as time expired fell just short as Clements held on for a 52-49 county championship Saturday night in East Limestone. It was a historic fifth consecutive Limestone County championship for Clements.

Lacey Hampton sealed the win for Clements with some clutch free-throw shooting late in the game. After a several fouls against Clements’ Lou Lou Malone in the post, the Lady Colts were able to get the ball in the hands of Hampton, their best free throw shooter, when it mattered most.

Hampton scored a game-high 20 points and Malone added 16 hard-earned points in the paint for Clements.

West were fortunate to get the final shot after Malone grabbed a loose rebound following a missed 3-point attempt with two seconds remaining. Malone was called for traveling as the buzzer sounded, giving West 0.4 seconds and one last chance.

Bugg Grizzard led West Limestone with 16 points while Bates added 14 in the loss.

See Tuesday’s print edition for the complete game story.

2012 Limestone County All-Tournament Team

Boys

Robbie Stevenson – Ardmore

Devante Williams – Clements

Cole Glass – Elkmont

Dan Logan – Elkmont

Austin Adams – West

Preston Herring- West

Jordon Gandy – East

Chris Harris – East

Adam Saylor – East

Jace Haggermaker – Tanner

Greg Maclin – Tanner

Matt Hines – Tanner

Girls

Stratton Hobbs – Ardmore

Lou Lou Malone – Clements

Lacey Hampton – Clements

Le Le Anderson – Clements

Shelby Rouse – Elkmont

Brennan Crabtree – East

Paige Pettigrew – East

Samara French – Tanner

Sydney Houston – Tanner

Abigale Gilbert – West

Kayla Carter – West

Bugg Grizzard – West