Hawks take two from rival Devils


Thursday, November 16, 2006
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Hawks take two from rival Devils

By BARRY BURLESON
Editor

The Holly Springs Hawks and Lady Hawks earned their first wins of the young season on Tuesday night of last week at home against neighboring Ashland.

Coach Naylond Hayes’ Hawks rebounded from a season-opening loss to Coldwater and knocked off the Blue Devils 56-47.

“I thought we played well for a quarter and a half,” said Hayes, who is in a rebuilding campaign after back-to-back state titles in 2004 and 2005 and a runner-up finish in 2006. “We looked a little tired later on in the game. We will be OK. We just have to continue to improve.”

Long-range bombs sparked the Hawks in the first half. They led 35-27 at the break, and 21 of their points were on “threes.” Timothy Oliver hit four three-point shots in the first 16 minutes.

Oliver and Thaddeus Johnson sank back-to-back “threes” just under the two-minute mark of the first quarter to put Holly High out front 11-7. Jeremy Jeffries also connected once from downtown in the first period.

Oliver’s second “three” of the game put the Hawks on top 16-9 after one period.

He added two more in the second quarter, including one with 7:09 to go that upped the margin to 21-9 and erupted the home crowd. Then Justin LeSueur joined the three-point barrage and upped the lead to 26-9.

But the Hawks weren’t the only one dialing up long distance. Ashland’s Quinton Hampton found his spot in the corner and drilled four “threes” in the second quarter, including one to cut the Devils’ halftime deficit to seven.

“We should have gotten him the ball more,” said head coach Jessie Terry about Hampton’s scoring spree. “He was hot.”

The scoring slacked off for both teams in the second half. Holly High (1-1 with the win) outscored Ashland 14-10 in the second quarter, and then the Devils outscored the Hawks 10-7 in the fourth.

“We have some kids out hurt, but we’ll be there later on (in the season),” said Terry, whose team dropped to 1-3. “We’re inexperience – in a growing process.”

Oliver gunned in 16 points to lead the Hawks. Big man Daniel Burton, fresh off the Holly High football team, followed with 12.

For Ashland, Q. Hampton tossed in a game-high 17, and Darnell Anderson had 14.

Three-point shots also played a key role in the girls’ contest, which the Holly Springs Lady Hawks won, 60-42.

Coach Wilbert Beard’s Holly High crew trailed early but rallied, thanks to its full-court pressure, for a 25-20 halftime advantage.

Ebony Taylor and Katia Isom fired in back-to-back “threes” in the third quarter, and JaShanta Walker sank a layup off steal. The Lady Hawks led 39-32 with 2:31 to go in the period. Isom hit another three-point shot to up the margin to 42-32.

Holly Springs pulled away in the second half for the 18-point victory. The Lady Hawks went to 1-1, while the Lady Devils dropped to 0-4.

Scoring in double figures for Holly High were Taylor and Isom with 13 each and Walker with 12.

Leading Ashland was Sandricka Bowen with 22 points.

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