By ALEX DRISKELL / Special to the Reporter

MONTEVALLO – On Dec. 21, the Montevallo Bulldogs hosted cross-county rival, the Shelby County Wildcats. This matchup was an offensive shootout that saw the Bulldogs walk away with the 87-76 win.

Both offenses started out strong as Montevallo was able to hold onto to a 12-10 lead early. The offense for both teams kept flourishing, but it was the Bulldogs who took the 26-21 lead into the second quarter.

Shelby County used a quick 4-0 run to cut the lead to 26-25 early in the second period. The Bulldogs then responded with a 10-3 run to lead 36-28 midway through the second quarter. Both teams continued to play effective offense, but it was Montevallo who took a 41-37 lead into the break.

Another quick 4-0 run from the Wildcats tied the game at 41 early in the third quarter of play. Both offenses slowed, but the Bulldogs lead 49-47 with 3:46 left. The Bulldogs then pulled away with a 14-5 run to make it a 63-52 game going into the final quarter.

Montevallo started off red-hot in the final period as they started things off with a 7-3 run to lead 70-55 early. The Bulldogs never looked back as they walked away with the 87-76 victory.

Brandon Green from Shelby County led all scorers with 37 points on the night, good for nearly half of the entire Wildcats offensive output. Montevallo was conversely led by the three-headed offensive attack of Tae’ Smith, Tavarus Hall and Undreaz Lilly, who each finished the game with 16 points. Smith added nine rebounds and seven assists while Hall added eight boards and seven assists, while Lilly finished with four boards as well.

Montevallo moved to 13-3 with the win and is now 3-0 in area play.