Calhoun hands rival Sonoraville first loss
It might not be a region matchup anymore with Calhoun now in Class AAAAA and Sonoraville still in Class AAA, but any time the two Gordon County rivals get together it still carries plenty of weight.
That was definitely the case on Saturday afternoon as they squared off in front of a lively crowd at The Hive, but it was the Jackets that had more energy and success on the court as they used some big offensive runs in the second and third quarter and some lockdown defense to earn a convincing 55-28 victory and deal Sonoraville their first loss of the season.
After trailing 8-7 early in the second quarter, Calhoun (9-8) took control of the game with an impressive 20-0 run to stretch their lead to 27-8. Sonoraville reeled off seven straight points to finish out the half, but they still trailed the host Jackets 27-15 going into the locker room at the break.
Calhoun’s defense once again clamped down in the third quarter as they limited
the Phoenix (16-1) to one bucket in the period. The Jackets offense, on the other hand, scored the first nine points of the period to go up 36-15 and eventually led 38-17 going to the fourth.
The Jackets didn’t let up as they put the game completely out of reach early in the fourth quarter as they grew their lead to as much as 50-19 at one point, and the reserves for both teams took over with the result no longer in doubt.
“This was a big game and our last non-region game of the season,” said Calhoun head coach Vince Layson. “To play a quality team and an undefeated team and be able to play well enough to pull away for a comfortable win like that, it has to give us the mindset that we can play with and beat some really good teams. I think we’re finally starting to hit our stride these past few games, and we need that to continue into the second half of the region schedule.”
Layson said he was especially proud of the way his team defended a balanced and experienced Sonoraville team that has put up some big offensive totals in the past several weeks.
“This whole past week I feel like our defense has stepped up,” said Layson. “We’ve been playing solid man-to-man,
hard-nosed defense, and it’s because these guys have been buying in at practice. They’ve done what we’ve asked of them and more, and it showed tonight.”
The offensive star of the contest was Calhoun’s Dylan Faulkner, who showed off his strong inside-outside game with a combination of savvy points in the paint as well as knocking down three 3-pointers for a game-high 24 points.
“Dylan is as solid as they come,” said Layson. “I thought they would do some things to try to take him away, and they did by giving a lot of help but he was still able to get position and finish some tough baskets. He played like a grown man tonight.”
The next highest scorer for Calhoun was Blaze Hammett with eight points. Peyton Law also added seven, and Brendan Gray scored six.
Orry Darnell was one of the few bright spots in the tough loss for Sonoraville as he scored 12 points. Kevin Morrison added six for the Phoenix, who brought a tough four-game in sixnight stretch to a close with Saturday’s loss.
Calhoun will jump back into 7-AAAAA play this week with two tough home games as they welcome Blessed Trinity to The Hive at 6 p.m. on Tuesday and then host Hiram on Friday at 8:30 p.m.
Sonoraville will look to put Saturday’s loss quickly behind them and focus on maintaining the top spot in Region 6-AAA on Tuesday when they travel to LaFayette at 7:30 p.m. for another huge game. They then host Murray County on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. and North Murray on Friday at 8:30 p.m.
Calhoun’s Blaze Hammett floats to the goal for a layup late in the game against Sonoraville Saturday. Hammett had eight points in the Jackets 55-28 win over the Phoenix.
Left: Calhoun’s
Dylan Faulkner battles by Sonoraville’s Murray Summers to sink the opposite side layup. Dylan led the Jackets with 22 points in a 55-28 win over Sonoraville.