The Walker Valley Mustangs headed into the Christmas break on a high note Thursday as they took care of business on the basketball court in a big way as they demolished East Hamilton 85-41.
The Lady Mustangs were not quite as fortunate as too many missed shots on easy looks proved to be costly in a 47-40 loss to the Lady Hurricanes.
Cash Coates carried the hit hand for the Mustangs (9-4) with a team leading 20 points that included a pair of 3-pointers. Graham Campbell lifted in three treys and finished his night with 11 points.
Donovan Harris led the Hurricanes (2-11) with 15 points
Campbell got the Mustangs started with an opening 3 as Walker Valley rolled to a 16-12 first quarter lead.
The second quarter was where the Herd essentially put the game away as Cael Coates, Isaac Sausville, Campbell and Cash Coates all put away 3-pointers for a total of 15 points behind the arc. The Mustangs held a comfortable 36-22 lead at halftime.
“We shot it well tonight. That's the first time we've shot it that well all season, I'd say,” said Mustangs head coach Will Campbell.”If you make a bunch of 3s it helps out. I thought we did a good job of that. We moved the ball well and got a lot of good, open looks and that helped too.”
Walker Valley kept the strings hot in the third quarter piling in 29 points while holding the 'Canes to only nine while pushing the lead to 67-31
Campbell went to his bench often in the final eight minutes with a running clock as the Mustangs closed out the night with 18 fourth quarter points led by three 3s from Zach Davi
“We moved the ball so well it was just open looks. Even with a pretty big lead in the second half I thought we still executed well and didn't get sloppy which was good,” said Campbell. “I was proud of them. It's a good win going into the break.
The Mustangs and Lady Mustngs leave for Pensacola Dec. 26 and play the Innisfree Hotels Classic Dec. 27-29.
East Hamilton Girls 47, Walker Valley 40: The Lady Mustangs (6-7) got the shots they were looking for, but were unable to find the bottom of the basket too many times in Thursday's loss to 11-6 East Hamilton.
“That's what it comes down to You don't win games if you can't hit shots. We got a lot of good shots and I think that's the most frustrating thing when it doesn't go when you're getting exactly what you want.” said Lady Mustangs head coach Paul Sausville of the plethora of missed chances.”
The Walker Valley girls started on a positive note leading at the end of the first quarter, 9-8 and fighting with the Lady 'Canes to a 17-17 tie at halftime.
Even as shots continued to miss the mark in the third quarter, the Lady Mustangs and Lady Hurricanes were a single point apart at the buzzer. Ashlyn Pierce found the bank open from the left corner for a 3 with just under two minutes left in the period and hit from distance with 59 seconds left to give Walker Valley a 28-27 lead when the buzzer sounded.
East Hamilton's Arianna Calhoun opened the final eight minutes for the 'Canes with a 3 that gave the visitors a 30-28 lead they would not relinquish. East Hamilton build a 38-31 cushion with 3:52 left and led 42-38 with 2:12 to go. The Lady Hurricanes finished the night from the free-throw line making good on 5-of-5 shots to lock up the win.
Calhoun led the Lady 'Canes with 14 points followed by Makayla Maddox with 12.
“We're going to see some stats. Our field goal percentage and our two point percentage is what we really focus on. It's going to be really low. You can't win games that way,” said Sausville. “We were getting shots we wanted. The execution part was there and we can build on that, but that skill development we're still in the midst of. We're going to Pensacola, we have three games there. We're hoping for good weather and a little bit of basketball. We'll enjoy Christmas together. We've still got good things coming.”
GIRLS SUMMARY
|
EAST HAMILTON
|
8
|
9
|
10
|
20
|
-- 47
|
|
WALKER VALLEY
|
9
|
8
|
11
|
14
|
-- 40
|
EAST HAMILTON (47) — Arianna Calhoun 14, Makayla Maddox 12, Jame, Cooperwhite 3, Price 5, Eller, Woodruff 5, Daniel, LaBoo 8.
WALKER VALLEY (40) — Blackaby, Pierce 6, McDonald, Poe 9, Young, Hicks 3, Woods 4, Bischof 8, Sims, Southerland, Earls 1, Araguaer, Cox 7, J. Lindsey 4, M. Lindsey.
3-point goals: East Hamilton 4 (Maddox, Price, Calhoun 2); Walker Valley 4 (Pierce 2, Poe, Hicks).
Free throws: East Hamilton 10 of 18; Walker Valley 5 of 12.
Records: East Hamilton 11-6; Walker Valley 6-7.
BOYS SUMMARY
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EAST HAMILTON
|
10
|
12
|
9
|
10
|
-- 41
|
|
WALKER VALLEY
|
16
|
22
|
29
|
18
|
--85
|
EAST HAMILTON (41) — Donovan Harris 15, P. Harris 8, Dawson 6, Wise 2, Hunter 2, Wiley 2, Duffy 4, Haywood 2.
WALKER VALLEY (85) — Cash Coates 20, Graham Campbell 11, A. Davis 7, Z. Davis 9, Taylor 2, Cae. Coates 9, Green, Green, C. Sausville 3, T. Campbell 6, I. Sausville 6, Smith 2, Clayton 6, Keeton 4.
3-point goals: East Hamilton 3 (P. Harris 2, D. Harris); Walker Valley 11 (Davis 3, G. Campbell 3, Davis, Cae. Coates, C. Sausville, I. Sausville 2. Cas. Coates 2, Clayton 2).
Free throws: East Hamilton 4 of 4; Walker Valley 4 of 6.
Records: East Hamilton 2-11; Walker Valley 9-4.
(Contact Richard Roberts at richardvol55@yahoo.com)