Jessieville gets rolling, puts away Nemo Vista

JESSIEVILLE — Jessieville parlayed a 33-22 halftime lead into a 45-34 victory over Nemo Vista in the Jessieville Holiday Classic on Saturday.

“I thought we might have a little letdown there because we played pretty well last night,” Jessieville Coach Eddie Lamb said. “They played really hard, Nemo did, and it was a little tougher matchup. They were a little smaller, and overall, we didn’t shoot it like we’ve been shooting it.”

Jessieville ( 7-3) jumped out to 14-5 lead with leading scorer Hunter Daley scoring eight points mostly on hitting the first two 3-point shots he took. But Daley missed every other three-point attempt.

The Lions shot 13 of 25 (52 percent) from the floor in the first half, leading to a 33-22 halftime lead.

But it all ground to a halt

in the second half when Jessieville hit just 4 of 16 from the field. Nemo Vista wasn’t much better, connecting on 5 of 17 field goals.

The Red Hawks were unable to make much of a dent in the lead, closing to 41-31 in the opening minute of the final quarter.

Still, Lamb was proud of his team for playing stout defense throughout the final 24 minutes.

“We gave up 22 points at halftime, and our goal was to not give up 40,” Lamb said. “We gave up six in the third and six in fourth, and defensively

I was very proud in the second half. We talked all about our defense at halftime because I wasn’t concerned about our offense. I feel like our offense is pretty good but it will be off and on because that’s the way shooting is. I feel like defense can be there every possession, and it was there in the second half.”

Lamb said his team’s brightest spot was junior post Steven Benson staying out of foul trouble to score a gamehigh 14 points.

“Steven has been playing well, and he’s capable of that,” Lamb said. “Benson is such a critical part of our team because of his strength and his inside game. So I was happy to see Steven have such a good game, that’s for sure.”

Daley finished with 12 points, only two coming in the second half. Justin Brown paced Nemo Vista with 13 points.

KIRBY 68, PARKERS CHAPEL 48

Kirby bounced back from an opening-night loss with a victory over Parkers Chapel.

Kirby (10-7) got off to a blazing start, leading 31-16 after one quarter, increasing that to 50-23 at halftime and 59-34 by the end of the third.

Lee Whisenhunt led Kirby with 27 points. Cannon Morgan led Parkers Chapel (5-7) with 17 points.

GIRLS

KIRBY 71, PARKERS CHAPEL 25

Parkers Chapel suffered the mercy rule again. Kirby led 29-4 after the first quarter, 38-11 at halftime and 55-15 after three quarters.

Cammie York led Kirby (18-1) with 15 points, Gracen Smith adding 10. Bailey Norwood paced Parkers Chapel (5-6) with 13 points.