Strapped Wolves down Jays
PEARCY — Sharp shooting and remaining cool under pressure led Lake Hamilton to a 73-66 win over Nevada Thursday night at Wolf Arena.
The Wolves (3-2) took a 38-23 lead heading into the half after an impressive shooting performance from sophomore point guard Zac Pennington and junior guard Cade Robinson. The pair kept the drive alive in the third quarter as Robinson found junior Gavins Robbins on the right corner for a quick 3-pointer to spread the lead to 41-25 at the 6:31 mark of the third.
Blue Jays’ 6-7 big man Kobe Edwards hit several key shots inside for Nevada (6-3), but Pennington helped lead the Wolves out to a 56-42 lead going into the final eight minutes.
The Blue Jays came out with intense full-court defensive pressure in the fourth period. After a steal and layup by senior Dontavious Watts, they closed the gap to six points with six minutes remaining.
Senior Javontae Pearson hit several buckets to pull the Blue Jays within
3 points of the Wolves. Lake Hamilton held on down the stretch with free throws from sophomore K.J. McDaniel to ice the game.
“You know, we knew Nevada County was the defending state champions in
1A, and they had four starters back,” said Lake Hamilton head coach Scotty Pennington. “For a school that size, they have a lot of size. … That’s why we scheduled the game with them, you know. We believe, in non-conference, scheduling up and not scheduling down and just trying to get wins, but just scheduling up and trying to play good people. … Tonight our kids were able to step up, and I think the Magnolia game prepared us for this. We had already seen the type of athletes we saw tonight.”
The Wolves fell to Magnolia 52-81 on Tuesday.
“(I’m) just tickled to death with our team and how they came back after
that loss to Magnolia, and how we showed some toughness and some grit in some adversity tonight,” Pennington continued. “When they got up and they pressed us, and pressed us and pressed us. … You know, we’re only playing six kids now because of COVID. We’re down two starters right now due to COVID or injury and a couple of backups. So right now, you know, every win’s a good win. So (this is) a really big win for us to give us some confidence, especially we’re playing so many young guys.”
Nevada head coach Bobby Mullins said he was proud of the team’s hustle but was still disappointed with the loss.
“I mean, those kids play hard,” said Nevada head coach Bobby Mullins after the game. “They just had a slow start for some reason — didn’t get off the bus ready to play. … It’s still early in the year. Usually by now we’ve (already) played 15 or 20 games. This is just our eighth or ninth game, so we’re behind and a lot of mistakes we’re making now, hopefully, we won’t be making in a couple months.”
Mullins said he challenged his team in the locker room at halftime.
“‘You’re the defending 1A state champs.’ And I was like, ‘The heart of a champion: If you want to be a champion, you don’t walk from the other end; you’ve got to play.’ So I mean, that’s why I challenged them. They stepped up, and I’m proud of that. But coming out with an L, I don’t like that too much. But we learned something,” he said.
Pennington led the Wolves with 25 points, four assists and two rebounds while Robinson added 18 points, five rebounds and three assists. Robbins finished with 11 points, two rebounds and a steal, followed by Quinton Speer with 8 points, one rebound and one steal. McDaniel tallied 5 points, four rebounds and two assists while Elijah Smith had 5 points with two rebounds and one steal.
Pearson was high man for the Blue Jays with 16 points, two rebounds, one assist and a steal, followed by Trevon Gulley with 15 points, two steals and one assist. Edwards added 14 points with four rebounds, three blocks and one assist, while Jared Todd tallied 13 points with two rebounds and Watts had 8 points, two rebounds, two steals, one block and an assist.
The Wolves will host Vilonia Monday night at Wolf Arena.