In a thrilling finish that saw the Wildcats boys come from behind to take out the Trask Titians, 51-49, on a last second shot by Justin Armwood, the Hobbton varsity teams split with the Trask Titians Tuesday night.
Wildcat varsity coach Jeff Byrd said, “We like to make things interesting. If you play hard good, things are going to happen.We stepped it up on defense in the second half and finally made a few shots that we weren’t making the first half. I’ve told them all year the shots will soon fall, I hope. We missed some easy layups. They could have laid their heads down but they kept it up.”
The Wildcats won on a shot by Justin Armwood with about 30 seconds left to go up 51-49. Armwood missed the second of two foul shots but got the rebound and scored on a turn-around jumper. Hobbton outscored Trask 20-9 in the last quarter to squeak by. Trask led until late in the final period. They were up by 11 at one point in the third quarter and Hobbton was down by 9 at the end of three.
Johnathon Faison led the Wildcat scoring with 17 points. Arell Owens added 11 and Armwood chipped in 10.
In the girls’ game, Trask dominated the Wildcats although Hobbton had a 4-point lead at at the half. The final was 43-35.
Wildcat coach Alphonso Hooper said, “I had a scouting report on one of their players and told the girls she made them go. Our defense had them where we wanted them at the end of the first half. In the second half, we let their star player get away from us. We started off flat and just didn’t improve. Turnovers were a factor also. When they went to a full court press, we started making turnovers. We put another guard in the game but we just kept losing turnovers. Sasha (Martin) picked up her fourth foul and we had to pull her. Michaela (Wilson) had 3 and then Martin hurt her ankle in a collision and they made a run. I know we can play better than we did. My hat is off to Trask because they turned up the pressure. We just have to be more aggressive.”
Wilson led the scoring with 10 points and 6 steals. Casey Hobbs had a double-double with 10 points, 10 rebounds and 4 blocked shots. Martin had 8 points and 6 assists.
Hobbton’s JV lost 44-47, although, late in the game they had cut the margin to 2 points a couple of times. They had a problem making foul shots. The were 12 of 25 in the game and lost by 8 points.
Hooper said, “We are working hard and getting better. Trask just made more free throws than we did.That was the difference in the ball game. Overall, I am pleased with the way my boys are playing. They are playing hard from start to finish. And, that is all you can ask. Defensively, we are getting better.”
Gregory Herring led the scoring effort with 15 points while teammate Tyja Gray added 12. Hunter Britt also had 10 points.
The Wildcats travel to Lakewood Friday night.
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