SAWMILLS, NC (January 3, 2017)…Recently, Girls Varsity Basketball Head Coach Jeff Parham spoke of teaching moments following the loss at North Gaston early on in the season. He possibly pondered that similar concept following the loss in the championship of the Dick’s Sporting Goods Tournament last week, where the Lady Tornadoes prevailed.
The scenario was much different at Spartan Gym this Tuesday evening as it appeared that these young ladies learned from their missed free throws, handled the Lady Tornadoes press 100% better and three players scored in double figures where ironically, no Lady Tornadoes players scored in double figures which is indicative of the way they took better care of the basketball, much better defensively, and shooting 34-40 from the free throw line, all resulting in the Lady Spartans impressive bounceback win, 60-31.
Mackenzie Starnes lead all scorers with 15 points, along with Brooke Williams with 14, 10-10 from the line (how about that for nerves of steel kids) and Jordan Kale with 10. And once again, Lacey Annas (do not be deceived by her smile friends) was brutal in the paint, pulling down numerous rebounds and making Hickory players change their shots. Worth noting too is the way Lyrec Evans is a very reliable “sixth man” who made clutch free throws and a sweet five footer the way Maya Moore did during her years at UConn.
The second varsity matchup featured the South Caldwell boys facing a very athletic and talented Hickory squad who recently won the Boys Championship in the Dick’s Sporting Goods Tournament. Undoubtedly, Hickory would be favored entering tonight’s game given their body of work in the first month of the season.
South had their own ideas, and they showed in that they jumped out to a 12-5 lead capped by a Ryder Martin slam in transition at the 2:10 mark. This led to the Spartans going into the locker room with a 28-9 halftime lead. Needless to say, Spartan Nation was rocking the house and many disgruntled Red Tornadoes fan base headed for the exits. Might their early departure been a bit hasty?
Remember, there are four quarters in high school basketball as well as foul trouble (duhhhhh). Though Alex Haigler had twelve at the half and J.C. Byland made some key plays with and away from the basketball, they spent a good bit of the third frame on the bench to avoid disqualification. The Red Tornadoes took notice and caught their second wind and a fire in the second half.
What was a nineteen-point lead by the Spartans became a one-point lead by the Tornadoes in the last 30 seconds as shooting guard Kaleb Hewitt nailed three treys consecutively to make that happen. But Byland and Haigler hit crucial free throws in the waning seconds and a Hickory turnover in the last three seconds resulted in a Spartans “nail-biting” 57-56 win over Hickory, their first since 2012. Coach Darren Hart was very pleased with the heart and passion shown by the guys tonight.
Haigler led the Spartan scorers with 19, along with Byland with 13, ever reliable Jody Spears with 11 and Martin with 10.
Teaching moments say that while the wins tonight can and should be enjoyed, lest we remember Freedom, another girls and boys basketball powerhouse, visits Spartan Gym this Friday evening. What they learned tonight……let’s see if this turns into replicated success three evenings from now.
Girls:
HHS- Abernathy 6, Cardoza 2, McClain 8, Eckard 8, Knox 3, Hill 3, Byrd 1
SC- Starnes 15, Williams 14, Kale 10, Annas 9, Lail 7, Evans 5
Boys:
HHS- Hewitt 26, Amos 15, Young 6, Byrd 4, Freeman 3, Chisolm 2
SC- Haigler 19, Byland 13, Spears 11, Martin 10, McCloud 4