Calhoun cranks up the pace in dominant home win over Warriors
It’s still early in the season for the Calhoun boys basketball squad, but they appeared to be in midseason form in a 62-19 dismantling of the LFO Warriors on Friday night.
Offensively, the Yellow Jackets ( 2- 0) often capitalized on the Warriors’ (1-5) mistakes, converting turnovers into easy transition buckets. In the first quarter, Calhoun utilized this rapid pace to put together an early 9-0 run to take control of the game and earn a lead it would not relinquish.
The Jackets followed that up by going on a 7-0 scoring run to open the next quarter, and closed it out on a 5-0 run. In total, Calhoun tacked on 29 points in the second to the open up the team’s lead. At the end of the first half, the Jackets had gained a comfortable 35-13 advantage over the Warriors.
“I was really pleased with our transition game,” Calhoun head coach Vince Layson said. “You don’t really have to be as fine-tuned when you can get up the floor like that, so I think scoring quickly on breaks really helped our cause tonight.”
Senior Chapin Rierson proved to be the biggest offensive threat for the Jackets by scoring 16 points. Rierson played a variety of roles for the team by hitting deep jump- ers efficiently from the wing, handling and distributing the ball and slashing into the lane to finish off lobbed passes at the rim.
Calhoun guard Rhett Abernathy was the team’s best sharpshooter, knocking down three shots from beyond the arc in the first quarter to help pull away from LFO. He finished with 13 points total.
The Jackets were also proficient on defense, swarming to the ball in the second half and ulti- mately frustrating the Warriors with pressure. Calhoun held LFO to six total points in the third quarter and none in the fourth.
Zach Thompson was the only player to reach double-digit points for LFO, scoring 12.
“We always use the motto that you can have off nights on offense, but you can’t have off nights on defense,” Layson said.
“They have really stuck with that, and I think overall we have played really well defensively so far.”
Calhoun returned to their home court on Tuesday to host Coahulla Creek. (For details on that game, see Saturday’s Calhoun Times.) They will visit Ringgold on Friday at 8:30 p.m. in a Region 6-AAA crossover game.
In the Calhoun-LFO girls game earlier on Friday:
LFO girls 60, Calhoun 50
The Lady Jackets didn’t fare as well as the Calhoun boys on Friday night against LFO, suffering a 60-50 defeat.
Calhoun’s ( 4- 2) offense was lead by solid performances by senior forward Cassie Henderson, who scored 13 points, and senior forward Jana Johns, who netted 12 points.
However, the team had trouble slowing the LFO (5-0) dynamic offensive combination of forward Jazzmyn Elston and point guard Macey Gregg. Elston finished with a staggering 27 points, while Gregg tallied 23 points.
Both teams traded impressive runs during the contest, but it was a late 7-0 LFO run down the stretch in the fourth quarter that sealed the victory for the Lady Warriors.
The Lady Jacket were back home on Tuesday, hosting Coahulla Creek. ( For details on that game, see Saturday’s Calhoun Times.) They visit Ringgold on Friday at 7 p.m. for another Region 6-AAA crossover matchup.