It was a frustrating first half for West Limestone guard Carlie Belle Winter in Friday’s Limestone County Tournament semifinal game against Tanner. Her shots weren’t falling, she forced passes that led to turnovers, and as if that weren’t enough, her hair tie broke.

A search for a hair tie at the beginning of the third quarter turned up nothing, and Winter had to be briefly subbed out of the game seconds into the quarter as a good Samaritan from the stands gave the freshman their hair tie.

It turned out to be the assist of the game. Winter scored 17 of her game-high 27 points in the third quarter as the Wildcats pulled away to rout the Rattlers 51-23.

“I haven’t ever had to do that before,” West Limestone coach Chasity Legg said when asked about subbing a player out for a hair tie change. “There’s a first time for everything, I guess.”

Athletes are generally superstitious by nature, and Winter wasn’t about to part with the hair tie once the game was over.

“I’ve got it on my wrist,” she said. “It’s my lucky hair tie now.”

While the tie’s lucky status wasn’t scientifically confirmed, West did start making the shots it was missing in the first half. The Wildcats hit five 3-pointers in the third quarter, with Winter making four of them. West wound up outscoring Tanner 25-4 in the third quarter to put the game completely out of reach.

“We started moving the ball around better and got some open looks at the basket and the shots started going in,” Legg said. “When the shots start falling, our confidence just goes up. It was a great team win, and I’m so proud of them.”

Winter wasn’t just on point offensively. She forced numerous Tanner turnovers with her quick hands and anticipation.

“In practice, we scrimmage a lot defensively,” she said. “We’ve really focused on defense and played real well today.”

Winter’s older sister, Cassidy Winter, added 10 points for West. Tanner was led by Keyera Jeans and Bryonna Castrejon, who each scored five.