Hobbton-Princeton boys

By Andrew Stevens
Published in Sports on December 8, 2011 1:53 PM

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PRINCETON -- Princeton head coach Jeff Davis paced, shook his head in frustration and vented to anyone within earshot.

Davis watched as his Bulldogs struggled to find a rhythm offensively for more than three quarters. In the end, Princeton used a 12-4 run to close the game and grinded out a 46-34, non-conference win over Hobbton on Wednesday night.

The Wildcats' 2-3 zone frustrated the Bulldogs' throughout the first half as Davis pleaded with his team to be patient offensively. The Bulldogs led 8-7 after one quarter with point guard CJ Jefferys on the bench with two fouls.

"We've struggled offensively all year," Davis said. "We're still a work in progress. I'm trying to get us to be more patient. We make bad decisions some times and I want us to calm down and work the ball. We haven't seen a lot of zone. I think we're better against man-to-man and we've got to be more patient against a zone."

Gabriel Barksdale's layup late in the second quarter kept Hobbton within striking distance as the Wildcats trailed 22-15 at the half.

Princeton (4-3 overall) built a 31-18 lead with an early 9-2 run in the third quarter. Brandon Parker's three-point play pulled Hobbton to within 34-25 with fewer than 60 seconds left in the third quarter.

Parker's layup early in the fourth quarter cut the margin to 34-30.

Jefferys knocked down a jump shot and a 3-pointer on consecutive possessions to push the lead to 39-30. His three-point-play with fewer than two minutes remaining stretched the cushion to 44-31 and sealed the victory. Jefferys finished with a game-high 16 points.

Dalvin Stancil added nine points and nine rebounds. Aaron Simpkins had eight points.

"Finally, in the fourth quarter we slowed down," Davis said. "We got a win. We've won and we've gotten better, and now we've got to have a great practice on Thursday because we've got North Johnston on Friday."

Jonathon Faison led the Wildcats with 12 points.