Trojan Basketball News

January 23, 2008 03:32 pm

— Submitted
The Hamilton County High School Trojans’ varsity boys’ basketball team won 3 out of 4 games last week.
Their first game of the week was in Lake Butler Tuesday night against the Union County High Tigers. It was a tough, well-fought game between the teams with neither team taking more than a 10-point lead at any time.
Hamilton played the game without starter Josh Jones and back up center Anthony Stevens. The score was tied at halftime, 30-30. Hamilton used pressure defense to take a 10-point lead in the middle of the 4th quarter but the Tigers fought back to tie the game at 46 entering the final period of play.
The lead switched back and forth in the last quarter with Union taking the lead 61-60 with 10 seconds remaining in the game. Union’s Jernigan (17 points) went to the free throw line. He made the first one and missed the second free throw. The Trojans rushed down the court and missed a tough shot in the baseline corner. The Trojans grabbed the rebound but missed the free throw. Union defeated the Trojans 62-60.
In spite of the loss, Coach Patrick Murphy was encouraged with the play of the Trojans saying, “It’s hard for me to be too disappointed in this loss because I am so extremely pleased with the way we played and the way we fought in this game. We played with a lot of heart and intensity. I’m proud of the effort.”
Senior Malcolm Pollock led HCHS in scoring with 20 points. Senior Howard Webb scored 12 points. Other Trojans who scored were junior Vion Lanier (9), junior Ti’Wan Cooks (6), senior Jermaine Walker (5), senior Robin McClain (4), senior Mark Jolly (2), and senior Ryan Mathis (2).
In the rebounding category, Cooks led the team with 8 boards. Junior Jacaris Stubbs had 5 rebounds and Jolly had 4.
Webb led the team in both assists and steals with 4 of each. Cooks also had 4 assists and Lanier ended the night with 3 dimes. Three other Trojans had 3 steals each - Cooks, McClain, and Lanier.
Stubbs led Hamilton in blocked shots with a career high 5 rejections.
With the loss, Hamilton dropped their second close game in a row. Their record dropped to 10-6 for the season.
Thursday night was senior night for HCHS as they took on the Buccaneers of Branford High School. On the strength of a 30-4 run in the second quarter, Hamilton cruised to a 69-33 victory over the Bucs. It was a fun night for the Trojans, especially for the seniors.
Mathis led Hamilton in scoring with a career-high 17 points. Mathis also sunk a team season-high 5 three-pointers. Pollock scored 12 points and Jacaris Stubbs had 10.
Other players who scored for the Trojans included Jolly (9), Paul (6), Lanier (5), Walker (4), Stevens (2), McClain (2), and senior Gareth Johnson (2).
Hamilton out-rebounded Branford 44-29 for the game and was led by Jolly, who collected a team season-high and career-high 14 boards. Paul also grabbed 9 rebounds. McClain and Pollock each had 4 boards.
Walker led the team in assists for the night, matching a team season-high with 8 dimes. Jolly chipped in 4 assists.
Lanier led the team in steals with 4. Jolly and Paul each added 3 thefts on the night.
With the win, Hamilton raised their record to 11-6 as they prepared to travel to Madison to take on rival and district foe, Madison County High on Friday night.
The crowd was big and it was senior night for the Madison County High School Cowboys. Hamilton knew it was going to be a tough one. However, Hamilton came ready to play.
After Madison scored on a jumper to start the game, the Trojans went on a 10-0 run. Jones scored on a drive and assist by Pollock. After Jones’ 2 free throws, Pollock blocked a shot. The ball was rebounded by Webb who passed to Jones for a nice reverse layup. Cooks would then passed to McClain, who sunk a jumper from the wing. On the ensuing inbounds pass, Jones stole the ball and made a finger roll. Hamilton led 10-2.
After Madison’s Xavier Tillman scored on a putback, Jones came right back with a finger roll on a nice pass from Pollock. That made the score 12-4 HCHS.
Madison would then go on a 6-0 run themselves, cutting the Trojan lead to 2. Jones ended the run with a three-pointer from the wing giving Hamilton a 5-point lead.
Pollock made a three-pointer that was sandwiched between two Madison free throws and the score was Hamilton 18, Madison 12.
The Trojans ended the quarter with a 6-2 run highlighted by three- pointers from Jones and Cooks. The Trojans led the Cowboys 24-14 at the end of the first quarter.
The Trojans began the second quarter scoring the first 9 of 12 points in the quarter. Cooks made a three-pointer. Madison scored on a putback. McClain sunk two free throws. Jones made a jump shot. After a Madison free throw, Walker canned a jumper. Hamilton led 33-17 midway through the second period.
After the Cowboys made a jump shot, Jolly made a three-pointer in the baseline corner that gave Hamilton its biggest lead of the game, 36-19.
The Cowboys scored on their next possession but Webb came right back with a steal and layup. Webb would then make a free throw to give Hamilton an 18-point lead.
Unfortunately, the spread wouldn’t stay there for long as Madison scored the games’ next 4 points. At the end of the half, Johnson scored the last point on a free throw. Hamilton led 40-25 at halftime.
HCHS started the third quarter scoring the first 3 points of the half. McClain made a free throw. Then, Webb made a nice steal and assist to Jones for a layup and a 43-25 lead.
After a Madison free throw cut the Trojan lead to 17 points, Pollock made a pretty back door pass to Cooks for a layup. Cooks then made a steal and another layup and Hamilton led 47-26 with 6:51 to play in the third quarter.
The two teams exchanged baskets for the rest of the quarter until Madison made a three-pointer to end the quarter with Hamilton leading 53-38.
The Cowboys began the last quarter of play strong, outscoring the Trojans 7-2 and cutting the HCHS lead to 10 with 5 minutes to play.
The Cowboy run was put to an end with a huge baseline jumper by McClain. Madison came right back, however, to cut the lead back to 10 points. This time, Jones found Pollock underneath the basket on an inbounds play to give Hamilton a 59-47 lead with 3 minutes left in the game.
Things looked like they were getting tough for the Trojans as three different players for Hamilton fouled out in the next 30 seconds, including starters Pollock and McClain.
Hamilton withstood the challenge, however, on the heels of tough defense and pulled away for a convincing 69-53 victory.
The Trojans had 2 players scoring in double figures. Jones led the team with 24 points. Cooks also scored 13. Other Trojan scorers included McClain (9), Pollock (7), Webb (6), Walker (4), Jolly (3), Lanier (2), and Johnson (1).
McClain led HCHS in rebounds with 10 for the night. Jones had 7 rebounds and Lanier had 5.
For the second night in a row, the Trojans had a total of 20 assists. Webb and Josh Jones led the team with 4 assists for the game. Pollock and Cooks each pitched in with 3 dimes.
On a night that saw Hamilton make 16 steals, Lanier led the charge with a total of 4 thefts. Jones and Cooks also had 3 steals. In addition, Jones led the team with 3 blocked shots.
It was a total team victory that improved Hamilton’s overall record to 12-6. Hamilton ended district play with a 3-3 record, which tied them for 2nd place in the district for the regular season.
For the third day in a row, Hamilton had a basketball game. This time it was at home against cross-the-state-line rival Echols County High School. The Wildcats came in prepared for battle and kept the game close in the first period of play. Hamilton led 20-16 at the end of the quarter, which was highlighted by a 6-0 run to start the game along with Cooks’ 8 points, Webb’s 4 assists, and Jones’ 2 steals in the quarter.
Using pressure defense, the Trojans expanded their lead in the second quarter, taking a 47-29 halftime lead. Jones scored 8 points in the quarter. Cooks had 3 assists and 3 steals.
Hamilton’s relentless pressure resulted in a 68-47 after three periods of play. In the third quarter, Hamilton out-rebounded the Wildcats 17-8. Jolly had 4 rebounds in the quarter.
In the fourth quarter, it was all Hamilton as they pulled away for a final score of Hamilton 90, Echols 62. Walker scored 9 points in the final quarter. Jolly chipped in 4 assists and Stubbs collected 4 rebounds in the final period of play.
Hamilton had 3 players scoring in double figures and, for the second consecutive night, was led in scoring by Jones, who had 25 points. Walker scored 17 points off the bench after coming back from a head injury. Cooks also added 13 points.
Other Trojans who scored included McClain (7), Stubbs (7), Pollock (6), Paul (5), Jolly (5), Webb (4), and Mathis (1).
The Trojans out-rebounded the Wildcats 47-35 for the game and was led in the category by Jones’ 11 boards, giving him a double-double for the game. Several other players grabbed rebounds - Jolly (6), Pollock (6), Paul (5), McClain (5), Walker (4), Stubbs (4), Cooks (3), Mathis (2), and Webb (1).
Hamilton shattered third team season high in assists with a total of 30 for the game. The previous season high was 22 assists at Branford. Senior Howard Webb led the team in assists with a team season-high and career-high 10 assists. Cooks added 5 dimes. The starting guards ended the night with a total of 15 assists to go along with only 1 turnover. It was an exceptional game in terms of ball control for the two.
Other players who garnered assists for the game were Jolly (4), McClain (3), Jones (2), Walker (2), Stubbs (2), Pollock (1), and Mathis (1).
Hamilton was led in steals for the game by Jones who had 5. Cooks added 4 steals.
With the victory, the Trojans improved their season record to 13-6. Coach Murphy was pleased after the game. “I am extremely proud of the intensity and focus with which we played tonight. We have played that way all week. It’s important for us to bring the same intensity to every game we play for the rest of the year.”
Upcoming games include Bradford County High in Starke on Thursday night, at home on Friday night against Melody Christian and at home on Saturday night against Jefferson County High. The Trojans play their final regular season game at Fort White the following Tuesday night.