Hobbton men down Rosewood in non-conference clash

Published in Sports on January 13, 2005 1:56 PM

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NEWTON GROVE - With their offense struggling to make shots and set up plays, the Hobbton men's basketball was able to fend of Rosewood on Wednesday night for a 47-39 non-conference win.

The victory was the Wildcats' third straight.

The Hobbton Lady Wildcats were not as fortunate. The Lady Wildcats lost 67-22 to the visiting Lady Eagles. This victory for the Eagles was not as lopsided as the Wildcats' loss to the Eagles at Rosewood last week.

From the tip-off, the Wildcats put on full court pressure defense that had the Eagles, committing turnover after turnover. The Wildcats went on a 6-2 run in the first quarter. The Eagles had problems moving the ball with the Wildcats pressing them.

The Wildcats (7-4) went on an 8-2 run to start the second, but the Eagles battled back on a 5-2 run. Rosewood's Kyle Bunn hit a big three to keep the Eagles in the quarter, but Wildcat JoJuan Faison hit a three of his own and Mike Lee hit two field goals to keep the Wildcats up by seven at the end of the half.

Faison opened the second half in an explosive fashion. He hit back-to-back treys to give the Wildcats a 13-point edge at beginning of the third.

But the Eagles would not let Faison and the Wildcats pull away. The Eagles' rang up a 15-4 run in the third quarter to pull within two points. . The period ended with the Wildcats up 29-25.

The Wildcats again tried to pull away with a shot from Lee, but Rosewood's Bunn nailed another trey to cut the lead to three. Good shooting from A.J.

Currie in the fourth quarter gave the Wildcats some breathing room and they went on to win.

Hobbton coach Jeff Byrd said that his teamâs defensive performance was great.

"We are just struggling offensively," said Byrd, adding that the past several games the Wildcats have played they have failed to score over 50 points. "Rosewood is scrappy. We have to have a breakout night in order to get these guys back in line offensively."

The winless Lady Wildcats (0-11) did not stand a chance against the Lady Eagles. The Eagles ran the floor, forcing turnovers and kept the Wildcats from getting any clean shots off.

The Eagles went on a 12-0 run to begin the game. The Wildcats did not score until there were about three minutes left in the opening period.

Shakala Williams hit a field goal and Ashley Crumpler knocked down a shot and Tracey Williams hit a free throw to score the Wildcats' only points in the first quarter.

Rosewood's Jessica Hill had a tremendous second quarter, scoring nine of her 15 points in that period. Her points coupled with six points from Courtney Hill allowed the Eagles to pull away.

Rosewood did not allow the Wildcats to score more than seven points in any period and every player on the Eagleâs team scored at least two points.

For the Wildcats, Morgan Farrell scored three points and Tina Oates scored four.

Hobbton Coach Mike Peedin said that his squad played decently for the night.

"The score doesn't indicate that," said Peedin. "But we have a real young squad. We have struggled quite a bit this year. It is a growing process."

Peedin only has two players that are in their junior and senior years. He said the majority of his squad is made up of freshmen and sophomores.