WEST POINT — The New Hope High School boys basketball team started with the simplest of game plans Friday night.

“My game is attacking and getting the ball to the rim,” New Hope sophomore guard Terryonte Thomas said. “Our game plan was to get the ball to the goal and draw some fouls. We were really aggressive early, and that helped us get the win.”

While New Hope struggled to hit the free throws, the Trojans established the paint as their territory. The 3-point shots then started falling and New Hope was on its way to a 77-64 win against West Point in Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 5A, Region 2 action at West Point Gym.

“We had a real struggle at the free-throw line, but the fouls were certainly mounting,” New Hope coach Drew McBrayer said. “We had not played in a week, so I thought we would come out rested and ready to give a great effort. We did that and got a big road win in region play.”

The win was especially sweet for McBrayer because it was his first at West Point in five seasons as head coach at New Hope. The region rivals have played numerous thrillers in that time. However, a balanced offensive attack kept the Trojans in good stead throughout the latest chapter.

“Drew had been saying this was the year he would finally get one at my place,” West Point coach Brad Cox said. “They are so long and athletic. When New Hope is playing at its highest level, they are close to impossible to guard. I am really proud at how hard my kids played. We simply missed too many shots close to the goal.

“We were down six or eight and had to switch to a man because time was running out. We really didn’t have a chance to come back when we did that.”

New Hope (16-5, 3-0 region) placed four players in double figures. Demyis Mayberry led the way with 21 points, while Jaylon Bardley followed with 16. Shemar Johnson had 13 and Thomas had 11.

“When everybody is scoring, it is awesome to be on the court,” said Johnson, a senior forward. “It is fun when you look out there and you know

everybody is scoring. You feel like every shot that goes up is going to go in. That may be why we don’t rebound as hard as we need to because of our offensive confidence.

“But we will keep working on that because we know we need to rebound better. Coach stresses that to us all the time.”

McBrayer knows his team is at its best when the offense has multiple scoring options. It is one thing to have multiple players scoring, but it is another to have unity on offense.

“Our passing of the basketball was really special,” McBrayer said. “That is what makes this team special and fun to watch. Nobody is selfish out there. It is great when several players are on at the same time. It is even better when you see the sharing of the ball to get looks to different players.”

Still, the tone was set down low early. Thomas was fouled three times in a stretch of four possessions. While he only hit 2 of 6 free throws, the tone was being established. West Point was called for nine fouls in the first six minutes as New Hope built a lead.

West Point (9-9, 0-3) overcame the early lack of cohesion on defense to stay in the game. Down by as many as 11 points early in the second quarter, West Point came all the way back for a 26-26 tie on a 3-pointer by Ecurb Forest.

New Hope regrouped for a 37-32 halftime lead. The Trojans held that slight push before the early foul trouble caught up with the Green Wave, as two players fouled out in a final attempt to rally early in the fourth quarter.

“We played with a lot of confidence,” said Mayberry, a senior guard. “We want to run the district, and to do that you have to beat everybody. West Point likes to run. We know the style of play they like, so we had to come out and match that intensity. Other than getting beat on the boards too much, we did a really good job with that.

“We had a lot of energy. It felt good to finally get a win here.”

New Hope turned the fun meter up a notch with six dunks. Johnson had two steals and breakaway dunks rammed home with authority. Mayberry leaped high to slam home a dunk, leaving a defender wrapped up in the net. A highlight-reel alley oop would have led to one more dunk but it was called off on the floor by a foul.

The highlights weren’t all for the visitors. Forest led West Point with a game-high 28 points and kept his team afloat on several occasions.

“They have a lot of great players,” Thomas said. “That is why this win means a lot to us. We wanted to come out here and impose our will early. Getting to the basket opened the offense up.”

On the heels of victories against Saltillo and Oxford last week, New Hope enters the final three weeks of the regular season as the leader in the region. Saltillo upset Oxford 66-63 Friday night, also aiding the Trojans’ cause.

“We are playing well,” McBrayer said. “The kids understand how hard we will have to work to keep that up.”

Girls

n West Point 51, New Hope 47: In the opener, the Lady Wave overcame early foul trouble to post a critical region win.

“We have had a lot of ups and downs this year,” West Point coach Dash Daniels said. “We have had to mix the lineup up. We lost some players to discipline issues, so we had to bring some ninth-graders up. The main thing is getting these younger players used to the fast tempo. The speed of the game is different. We have been re-learning a lot of things, but I am proud of the effort.”

West Point (11-10, 2-1 region) took the lead for good midway through the first quarter. The Lady Wave led 26-20 at halftime but had to hang on after a furious fourth-quarter rally brought New Hope back within two points with possession.

“I felt like we fought hard to get back in the game several times,” New Hope coach Laura Lee Holman said. “But we could not convert on the offensive end on crucial possessions nor could we convert on the free-throw line. We missed nine free throws in the fourth quarter.”

Down 48-40, New Hope (3-18, 0-3) went to the line on four straight possessions but was only able to hit 1 of 2 free throws on each possession. The full-court pressure defense forced some turnovers and gave New Hope a final chance.

“It was a really tough game,” West Point sophomore Tia McCrary said. “We didn’t play our best in the fourth quarter, but we dug deep when we had to. We got some really big rebounds and everybody was excited about that.”

West Point junior Qiayon Bailey had a team-high 15 points, while McCrary added 13 points and six assists. Freshman Ty Johnson was saddled with early foul trouble that forced the Lady Wave to do some things differently.

Already having bypassed last season’s win total, West Point is excited about the stretch run and a chance to play host the region tournament next month.

“The attitude on this team is real good,” Bailey said. “It wasn’t that way earlier in the year. I think the new players have come up and really helped us with more depth. We are having more fun out there, and I think that shows. In this game, we just had to make sure we held the ball and didn’t turn it over.”

Kennedi Stephens led New Hope with 17 points. Janae Topps had nine.

Follow Scott Walters on Twitter @dispatchscott

Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.