Clean Sweep: Varsity Patriots take care of business against Hooper
Published 10:15 pm Friday, January 18, 2019
- Javon Christian goes up for a three point shot against Hooper on Friday night in Troy.
The Pike Liberal Arts varsity Patriots swept the Hooper Colts on Friday night in Troy.
The Lady Patriots had to withstand a strong Colt comeback in their 49-48 win over Hooper. The Patriot boys had an easy time when the knocked off the Colts in their 54-14.
The win for the varsity boys improves their record on the season to 13-5.
“Our guys came out and played hard,” said head coach Allen Ponder. “I thought defensively we did a good job at rebounding the basketball tonight. We came out and knocked down some shots in the first quarter to separate. They played very hard tonight and it was very encouraging to see.”
The Patriots scored the first nine points of the ballgame. They took a quick 9-0 after Ty Singleton knocked down six of the nine points. Singleton finished with a team-high 14 points.
“Ty needed to come in and get some confidence,” Ponder said. “Our gameplan tonight was to come in early get him the ball very often. We understand if we have a chance to go where we want to go, then Ty has to be a big part of it.”
The Patriots went into the second quarter holding a commanding 25-2 lead. They hit a total of five three pointers in the first quarter before finishing the game with 10.
“The three-point shot can always get you going, especially when you are consistently making them and that is what we did in the first quarter,” Ponder said. “We built a lead that was hard for them to cut into. When your able to hit some threes and play well on the defensive end and not give up any second-chance opportunities, that’s very positive.”
The Patriots outscored the Colts in the second half 24-6.
Javon Christian finished with 13 points, while Drew Nelson finished with six points. Levi Sikes and Jeff Knotts both finished with five points.
The Lady Patriots led by as many as 25 points in the second half, but it took a last second stand to earn the win. After entering the third quarter leading 35-15, The Patriots surrendered long scoring runs to the Colts in the second half. In the third quarter the Patriots were outscored 13-6 and went into the fourth quarter leading 44-28.
The Patriots stretched their lead to 18 points at 47-29. The Colts outscored the Patriots the rest of the way 19-2.
The Colts had possession of the basketball with 0.2 seconds remaining. After an inbound pass, the Colts failed to get a shot off, preserving the Patriot win.
Shelby Renfroe finished the game with a team high 21 points. Tiffany Johnson also finished in double figures with 13 points, while Ansley Adams had five points.
With the win, the Patriots improve to 11-11.
Earlier on Friday night, the junior varsity boys knocked off the Colts 37-21.
The win improved the Patriots record to 12-1 on the season.
Nelson led the way for the Patriots with 19 points.
The Patriots will be back in action on Thursday when they host Northside Methodist.