STARKVILLE — The New Hope High School boys basketball team had few answers offensively Friday afternoon in a 50-41 loss to Jackson Olin (Ala.) in a final-round game at the Travis Outlaw Slam Dunk at the Hump tournament.
New Hope (7-5) started slowly and never got its transition game going. The Trojans had only four field goals in the first quarter and trailed throughout the contest.
Despite seeing a two-game winning streak snapped, New Hope will take several positives from the experience. Thanks to a win against East Oktibbeha on Thursday, New Hope went 1-1 at the Humphrey Coliseum.
“This was such a great opportunity for the kids,” New Hope coach Drew McBrayer said. “Some of the players will never have another chance to play in an arena such as this. All coaches are looking for good competition. You can learn a lot about your team from tournament situations like this.”
New Hope remained within striking distance even though the 3-pointer wasn’t kind to the Trojans. New Hope closed within four points midway through the second quarter only to fall down 31-20 at halftime.
Trailing 44-30 entering the fourth quarter, New Hope scored the first seven points. However, the Mustangs got an offensive putback, stole the ball, and converted a fast-break layup with 3 minutes, 35 seconds left to move back out of danger.
“We have a lot to work on to get ready for the second half of the season,” McBrayer said. “Offensively, we have made strides. We just have to be more consistent. This team has to learn to play with more intensity on defense, and we need to become a better rebounding team.”
Lawrence Brown paced the Trojans with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Jock Pilgrim added eight points, while Derrick Sherrod had seven points.
Olin received 21 points from Kieston Standfield.
Louisville 67, East Oktibbeha 45
A whirlwind holiday for the Titans continued with a loss in the opening game. The game was the fifth in five days for East Oktibbeha, which also was scheduled to play West Lowndes late Friday night in the East Oktibbeha Invitational.
“We were really flat for whatever reason,” East Oktibbeha coach Barnett Robinson said. “We may have been playing too early in the morning. We just did not have our legs. It was hard to get anything going.”
The Titans and Wildcats were close early before Louisville found a second gear and reeled off a 16-2 run to build a 34-15 halftime lead.
East Oktibbeha had scored 64 points or better in each of its first two games in the tournament. However, the answers weren’t there Friday as the Titans had difficulty getting back on defense.
Jamere Eichelberger led Louisville with 19 points, while Terry Carter had 18 and Hillard Smith had 12.
East Oktibbeha received 14 points from Devontae Lucious, 12 points from Davalyn Bell, and 10 points from Chris Harris. Harris and Lucious were in double figures in all three games at MSU, where the Titans went 1-2..
Carroll, La. 75, Strong, Ark 45
John Carroll High rode a fast start to the easy victory in the second game of the day. The Louisiana-based Bulldogs hit eight 3-pointers in the first-half, including six in the opening quarter.
Back-to-back 3-pointers started the scoring for Carroll, and the lead grew to 15-2 less than three minutes into the game.
JaCarre Crockett hit four 3-pointers and had a game-high 18 points, while James Donahue followed with 15 for Carroll.
Stetson Billings led Strong with 29.
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
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