Hawks fall in opener

TEXARKANA, Texas — A great second half slayed a good first half.

Pleasant Grove (0-4) built a 10-point halftime lead, but Lindale (2-1) came back to win, 53-48, in a varsity boys basketball game at Hawk Gym on Monday.

“The guys played hard like they have all season, like they are supposed to do,” Hawks head coach Dwight McCowan said. “A couple of things came back to bite us. The mistakes we made are fixable. We didn’t communicate well on defense, and they got two layups on us. We didn’t make jump shots.

“I preach to the kids about not turning the ball over; we didn’t turn the ball over much. We’d have one guy get hot but another guy would be cold. We need the whole team making shots together.”

Pleasant Grove shot 36 percent from the field on 18-of-50 shooting, while Lindale hit on 17 of 39 shots for 44 percent. The Hawks turned the ball over just seven times, while the Eagles had 12 turnovers.

The Hawks started the game on a 7-0 run on Brett Carmony’s shot from downtown, a Tre Stuart layup and a T’vondrick Henry layup.

Henry’s two charity shots were the start of a 6-0 scoring spurt for Pleasant Grove in the second quarter. Layton Jackson hit a putback and a layup to complete the run.

The Hawks went into the locker room up, 26-13.

Lindale outscored Pleasant Grove, 25-7, in the third quarter. The Eagles put together a 11-0 run at the end of the third and took a 41-33 edge into the final stanza.

Jackson’s hook shot and a 3-pointer by Sam Bradshaw helped the Hawks get out to a 6-0 spurt to start the fourth to make it a 2-point game, 41-39.

A 3-point play on a putback by Jackson knotted the game at 46-all for Pleasant Grove. But Lindale scored the last five points of the game, all on free throws, to seal the win.

Jackson had a double-double for the Hawks with 14 points and 10 rebounds, while teammate Henry had a game-high 20 points.

Lindale out-rebounded Pleasant Grove, 31-27.

Rylan Hopkins and Martin Haley each scored a team-high eight points for the Hawks in the junior varsity game, but the Eagles won, 40-28.