Wildcats downed by Wolves
Lake Hamilton locked up the conference championship Tuesday. But, El Dorado made sure the Wolves earned it the hard way, 58-56, at Wildcat Arena.
Lake Hamilton improved to 21-2, 12-0 while the Wildcats fell to 11-12, 7-5.
Kanaan Williams scored an inside bucket with 25 seconds remaining to give the Wolves a 57-56 lead. El Dorado’s Joderrio Ramey penetrated and dished inside. But, the pass was deflected and last touched by a Wildcat before going out of bounds with 3.8 ticks on the clock.
El Dorado fouled the Wolves’ Lane Kersey, who made one free throw with 2.8 left. After three timeouts, two by the Wildcats, the ball was thrown inbounds to Ramey, whose half court heave was off the mark at the
buzzer.
“They put a lot of pressure on you defensively,” said Lake Hamilton coach Scotty Pennington. “I was really proud of us. I’m not going to lie, with 17 seconds left and on the defensive end, with how they’d broken us down all night, I was a little concerned. But, give credit to Kanaan Williams for finding a way to stay in front of Ramey and making him take a tough shot and get a big rebound. I’m just proud of us for finding a way to gut out a tough road win.”
B.J. Johnson led El Dorado with 23 points with Brendan Simmons scoring 12. Ramey scored seven with Tyler Everette, Jarmel Love and Alex Boone adding four points apiece.
Kersey scored 20 and Mondo Watkins added 12 for the Wolves.
Lake Hamilton led by nine early in the third before Ramey fed Johnson for back-to-back buckets, halting a 10-2 run. The Wolves led 45-38 before Johnson hit two free throws to close the third and added a jumper to start the fourth.
The Wildcats trailed 52-47 when Johnson converted a three-point play and Ramey scored on a drive to tie the game with 3:45 remaining. After Kersey hit a free throw for Lake Hamilton, Johnson gave El Dorado a 54-53 lead with a jumper at the 2:46 mark. Kersey hit two at the line for the Wolves but Ramey’s drive gave the home team the lead with 1:39 left to play.
After Lake Hamilton built it’s lead, the Wildcats clawed their way back with pressure defense in the second half.
“We got a little stagnant, turned the ball over a couple times. We usually don’t turn the ball over much with our senior guards. But, we had people in the wrong places on press offense because we had some subs in the game,” said Pennington. “And, they don’t quit. At our place, we made a run and got up 15 or 16 points and they came right back and cut the game to one. Give their kids credit for fighting right back and making plays.”