Defense sparks Holly High win

The Holly Springs Hawks were looking to right the ship Friday night.

The mission was accomplished.

The Hawks halted a fourgame losing streak with a 7641 win at Ashland. More importantly, it came just before Region 2-3A competition begins.

“The game was very important leading up to district play,” coach Andre Jones said. “We have not been playing our best the past few games, and we had a few injuries. Friday night, the young men seemed to change the narrative.”

The Hawks trailed briefly in the first when Ashland’s Quentavious Cotton drilled a three from the corner.

Holly High responded with a big run to go up 22-12 at the end of the first. Cordarrius Isom and Tarian Draper hit a couple of long-range shots, while Jabez Jones and Jabari Johnson hit shots in the lane.

The lead was as many as 16 twice in the second quarter when Jaylen Sims cashed in a put-back and Anfernee Lesuer scored three the old way (a two-point basket, fouled and a free-throw).

Holly High was up 37-23 at the half.

Jones opened the third with back-to-back buckets to push the lead to 18, and the Hawks soared from there.

The score was 61-34 at the end of the third, and the visiting squad won by 35.

It was the Hawks’ second win over the Devils this season.

Hitting in double digits for Holly High were Johnson with 20, Jones with 18 and Isom with 15.

Top guns for Ashland were Lavarious Nunnally and Cotton with 13 each.

“Our energy was high on defense, and that created numerous transition buckets,” Coach Jones said. “The young men played hard and had fun doing it. This was probably the best game we’ve played so far as a team.”

The Holly Springs girls let a halftime advantage slip away and lost a 31-30 heartbreaker to Ashland Friday.

Both teams struggled to score from the opening tip.

Morgan Crutcher’s basket put the Lady Blue Devils up 7-2 at the conclusion of the opening period.

In the second, Holly Springs outscored Ashland 12-0 to take the momentum and a 14-7 lead to the locker room. The Lady Hawks full-court pressure led to points on the offensive end. Carleassia Jeffries hit a couple of shots, and Ar’Kajah Sims scored on a putback to spark the surge.

But the Lady Devils bounced back in the third, outscoring Holly High 154. Megan Crutcher connected on backto-back shots to end the quarter, and Ashland had snatched a 22-18 advantage.

The fourth was back-and-forth. Ashland led by five. Holly High led by three. In the end, Megan Crutcher’s free-throw with 28 seconds left won it for the Lady Devils.

The two teams split their games this season.

Morgan Crutcher and Megan Crutcher were the top point producers for Ashland with 15 and 10, respectively.

For Holly Springs, Chamilya Watson scored 12, including a couple of threes in the fourth quarter.

Holly Springs-Booneville Holly High teams dropped a pair of games on Tuesday of last week at Booneville.

The Lady Hawks struggled in the early going and went on to fall 58-34 to the Lady Blue Devils.

Holly Springs could muster just one free throw in the first eight minutes of the contest and fell behind 19-1 at the end of the opening quarter. The visiting squad was down 39-8 at halftime and went on to lose by 24.

Watson had 12 points for the Lady Hawks, while Sims contributed 10.

The Holly Springs boys had trouble producing points, too, and dropped a 99-41 decision to Booneville.

The Lady Hawks (2-8) and Hawks (3-7) hosted Independence Tuesday in District 2-3A. They travel to North Panola Friday for district games, and then welcome Southaven to town next Tuesday, Dec. 14.