NEW HOPE — After one quarter, LJ Hackman had 6 points as the New Hope High School boys basketball team took a 24-13 lead over Caledonia.
Both Hackman and the Trojans were just getting warmed up.
Hackman erupted for 13 points during the second quarter and finished with a game-high 26 as the Trojans rolled to an 84-37 win over the Cavaliers.
“They had a couple of guys injured,” New Hope coach Drew McBrayer said of the Cavaliers, who lost to the Trojans for the second time this season. “First time we played them it was a lot closer at halftime. That was the second game of the season for both of us, and we were still trying to figure out who we were.”
Who the Trojans are is a group that knows how to force tempo and make the flashy play while at the same time fighting for every loose ball.
“We kind of have a motto: if it’s on the floor, you better be getting it or somebody else is going to be getting it,” McBrayer said.
Although Hackman led the way, much of the roster got in on the act from the start, with seven players already in the scoring column by the end of the first quarter. A dominant second quarter, during which New Hope outscored Caledonia 29-12, featured six Trojans scoring points.
That quarter also saw the Trojans start to put on a show. The lead reached 30 with 2:45 to go in the half when Hackman lobbed a perfect pass to Caleb Parr for a dunk.
Hackman had a crowd-pleasing slam of his own midway through the third, soaring through the lane to give the Trojans a 64-46 lead. The next basket was just as smooth, with Matthew Stennis blowing past a defender and driving for a layup.
It was those types of plays that were missing just a week earlier, when a physical Noxubee County team made the Trojans win ugly, as much as 78-52 can be called ugly.
“Pushing the basketball and playing with a lot more fluidity than we did the other night” was how McBrayer described “New Hope basketball.”
Sophomore Isaac Grady scored 11 points for the Trojans (9-1), while Parr also was in double figures with 10. Senior Javon Hopkins led Caledonia (8-6) with 9 points, while senior Tramorris King came off the bench to score 7.
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