Sunday, December 14, 2008
PRINCETON — If Hopkins County Central’s towering post players Dan Croft and Chuck Jones weren’t enough to overcome undersized Caldwell County, 5-9 guard Je’Vonte Hughes certainly pushed the Storm over the edge and onto victory on Saturday night.
Hughes slashed the length of the floor and used his speed and aerobatics to create havoc for the Tigers defense, propelling Central (3-1) to an 85-46 win against Caldwell (0-4).
“Je’Vonte has an outstanding quickness with the ball and he’s a heck of a reader off that high ball screen,” coach Matt Bell said. “If you try to take one away, he’s going to go the other way.
“We’ve really been working a lot on that. We’re trying to put him in spots where he can use his quickness to make things happen and he’s learning as he goes and doing a great job of it.”
After a rather slow start , Hughes quickly brought the contest to a pace he favored and never let up.
“I just attacked the basket aggressively like I usually do,” Hughes said of his
play. “I gained confidence and just did it for the rest of the game.”
Just minutes into the contest, Hughes hauled in a defensive rebound and sprinted the length of the floor, zig-zagged Tiger defenders and moved in for a lay-up in the first of many similar plays.
Also in the first half, Hughes sped to the middle of the lane and stopped to let a floater continue on toward the basket for two more points. Two possessions later, Hughes left his feet as he raced to the hoop and dropped the ball down near his feet before lifting it back up and going strong to the rim.
Hughes’ teammates picked up his frenetic pace as well as the first quarter progressed. At one point Central scored six points in less than a minute all the while preventing Caldwell from getting on the board.
The Storm ended the first quarter of play on an 11-2 run to take command.
More of the same followed throughout the rest of the half and Central led 44-18 at halftime. Hughes led the way at the break with 11 points.
Although Hughes’ tenacious effort shined through, the Storm utilized a rather balanced effort. As a team, Central combined to force 17 Caldwell turnovers in the first 16 minutes.
With the Storm ahead comfortably, the second half turned into a free-throw shooting contest of sorts for Central and Caldwell County. The two squads combined to shoot 32 free throws during the third quarter. By game’s end, the Storm shot a total of 54 free throws with 15 coming from the hands of Croft.
During Caldwell’s foul fest, three Tiger players fouled out.
“I thought our kids got caught up in the physical match-up instead of worrying about what we have to do,” Bell said of his players’ 20-plus fouls. “But it’s a good win for us and gets us ready to go into Tuesday night.”
Hughes used the opportunity to convert several “old-fashioned threes” by knocking down a few three-point plays en route to 27 points.
Offensively, Central scored a new season-high with their 85 points. On the defensive end, the Storm limited Caldwell to its season low of 46 points.
Joining Hughes in double-figures was Dan Croft with 18 points. Croft also nabbed a double-double with 10-plus rebounds.
Croft said his statistics did not come easily, but he was aware the game was going to be hard-fought in the post.
“We watched film and we knew they were physical, no matter what their size was,” he said. “We knew everybody was physical on their team.
The smaller Tigers line-up did not back down, Croft said.
“Size is a big thing, but position is the bigger thing,” he said. “Little guys can box you out no matter what your position is.”
In junior varsity action, Caldwell defeated Central 55-52.
The Storm next play 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday when they play host to Madisonville-North Hopkins.
HCCHS 24 20 18 23 – 85
CCHS 6 12 15 13 – 46
HCCHS: Je’Vonte Hughes 27 Dan Croft 18 Josh Riley 9 Cory Coble 8 Chuck Jones 8 Nikee Caldwell 6 Cameron Tabor 6 Connor Moore 2 Jessie Almon 1
CCHS: Tron Gray 20 T.J. Miller 8 Kody McGregor 5 Brad Dixon 4 Jared Choate 3 Marcus Wimbleduff 3
No comments:
Post a Comment